User reviews

It's a dark movie - literally. At the first look at the vileness Hilda Blake (Helen Thimig) you will probably think: this is very bad acting. Than you realize Mrs Thiming is a great actress and that Hilda is a very scary character. There is an interesting romance between a soldier and a woman doctor suffering with a little community prejudice. All the action happens around a very big picture of a beautiful young woman, and the sinister Hilda give orders all the time to her submissive "friend" Ivy Miller (Edith Barrett). It's a pity that in the end the screenplay turns a little dumb in important details. This is the sixth film from Anthony Mann, and its style reminds me the very early Alfred Hichcock.

When you think actresses, the name Helen Thimig doesn't pop right up. But here for a crippled old lady she's scary as heck. And what's this with her daughter Rosemary whose portrait looks like a dolled up version of Laura (1944). Poor Sergeant Johnnie, he's back from the war all bunged up, but can't wait to meet the portrait girl who sent him such beautiful letters but has since gone missing.

Meanwhile he has to content himself with the lovely Dr. Leslie (Grey) who's got her own problems being a woman doctor in a man's profession. And finally there's poor Ivy (Barrett) who acts like a frightened bird, frightened even of herself let alone her employer Mrs. Blake (Thimig). Actually, Barrett and Thimig are alumni of the great Val Lewton's horror series, so it's not surprising that their compelling turns form the movie's gripping core.

Director Mann's noirish touches are evident throughout and perfectly suited to the dark subject matter. Something's up with Blake and daughter Rosemary, but what. That's the crux of the plot. Also, I like the way we get a feel of how the war is affecting the home front, while the obscure William Terry makes a good happy-go-lucky GI in contrast to the sinister mansion. I expect the movie remains obscure because of its sub-60-minute runtime and lowly Republic pedigree. But there's a lot of talent involved in a suspenseful story, making this a minor noirish gem.

A seriously wounded Marine is given the will to live again through letters from a girl he's never met. He arranges to go and visit her when he's home on leave. Aboard a train to where Rosemary lives he mistakenly thinks for a moment that their paths have physically crossed before he arrives. A woman sitting opposite is carrying a copy of 'A Shropshire Lad' book of poems by Alfred Edward Houseman. That is the very book that had brought about the correspondence between the marine and Rosemary.

The woman on the train is Dr Ross who has just become the doctor for Rosemary's household. As Johnny the Marine is about to explain his mistake to Dr Ross the train crashes and many of the passengers are in need of her medical treatment. This brings these two strangers close and romance would have seemed to have blossomed if it wasn't Johnny's love for Rosemary who had saved his life through those letters. But Rosemary is not at home when Johnny finally gets to his destination.

Rosemary's house is on a remote clifftop. There lives Rosemary's mother and her nervous companion Ivy Miller. Rosemary becomes a mystery and her disabled mother is shown to be the kind who may live in a fantasy world for some reason. Tension builds as 'Rosemary's mother' becomes capable of endangering others in her bid to keep the romance between her daughter and Johnny alive. Not one moment is lost in this deft telling of a poor deranged woman who needs to imagine an alternative reality for herself.

This nifty little noir-gothic B picture throws everything but a "dark and stormy night" at you. WW2 combat, a train wreck, a foreign-accented scheming recluse, cliff top mansion, poisonings, booby traps and terrified female retainer. The dramatic action turns on what has happened to the mysterious pen pal daughter Rosemary? Returning Marine Johnny wants to know. The new lady doctor (Virginia Grey) is baptized by fire during a convenient train derailment just outside town, which occurs at the very moment when said Marine is about to tell the "Lady Doctor" about Rosemary. (Yes Director Anthony Mann moves the plot along quickly.) The wreck is dramatically presented then promptly forgotten about, as the marine-a combination of Van Johnson and Don DeFore- knocks on the cliff top manse door looking for Rosemary. Eventually we see a "Rebecca"-style boudoir, purportedly that of Rosemary.

This is not a criticism. The performances are very good, the sets well done, Virginia Grey is luminous as usual, Helene Thimig is very creepy in a proto-Dark Shadows role. It's an easy hour of entertainment.

The economical 56 minute- leave yer seat to buy a choc-ice and miss most of it- running time seems just about right for this low budget, low key noir, which quickly settles into an efficiently haunting groove.

Injured marine, William Terry, invalided out of service, is lured by a series of letters to the residence of lonely, disturbed Helen Thimig to meet her lovely daughter, who exists......only in the form of an imposing portrait, which dominates a wall of her gloomy, austere home.

Frustrated by the mounting excuses for the girl's prolonged absence, Terry begins to form a close friendship with local doctor, Virginia Grey.

The irrational, insane jealousy of the increasingly deranged Thimig, triggers alarm bells in her companion (Edith Barrett). A naturally timid and guileless character, will she have the necessary chops to alert the couple of the impending threat, as Thimig's conduct grows ever more unpredictable?

'Strangers' retains a darkly sombre resonance throughout. Nobody appears to be in the mood to break into a 'doodee-doobee-doo' or a 'dah-dah-dah-dah-dah' any time soon!

The movie is most notable for the negative, suspicious attitude of the time, expressed towards Virginia Grey's character, as a female doctor.

"Strangers in the Night" is a very unusual B-movie. It's a bizarre story about a seriously deranged old lady, Mrs. Blake and the weird secret she hides.

When the story begins, Dr. Ross (Virginia Grey) is introducing herself to the folks in the seaside community where she'll be taking over for the old doctor. However, when she meets Mrs. Blake (Helene Thiming), the old woman is overtly hostile towards her...inexplicably so.

Soon after this, Dr. Ross is on a train and meets Sgt. Meadows (William Terry). It seems he is headed to the same small town where Ross now works...and he's going to the Blake household to see Mrs. Blake's lovely daughter. It seems that when he was off fighting in the war, he corresponded with the lady and he's totally smitten with her. However, once he arrives at the Blake household, they inform Terry that she isn't there. And, they invite him to stay until she returns. However, days pass and it's obvious something is going on here...and the return of the girl seems to very, very vague.

In the meantime, Mrs. Blake's nervous housekeeper, Ivy (Edith Barrett) knows some sort of secret and seems to always be on the verge of telling the Doctor. What is the secret? And how does it relate to the missing daughter? And, what does a painting of the lady have to do with all this?

I really loved this film. While most folks think all B-movies are bad movies, they are not. A true B is a short film (about an hour in length) and is usually cheaply made. The purpose of the film is to be the second film in a double feature--with the A (or prestige picture) being accompanied by this B. But just because a film is short and often hastily made doesn't mean it's bad...and "Strangers in the Night" is simply terrific. In fact, it's one of the best Bs I have ever seen. The writing and acting and direction all work together perfectly and the solution to the mystery is sufficiently dark and sick to satisfy. Well worth seeing and Helene Thiming is simply terrific as this sick, disturbed and nasty old 'lady'!

My score of 9 is because the film is so good and because of how it compares to other Bs....and it's head and shoulders better than about 99% of them.

I really like Director Anthony Mann's no nonsense approach. Albeit at the start of his career in STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (Frank Sinatra wrongly but persistently comes to mind) he manages to imbue this 57' production with a sense of quiet, insidious evil from the outset, and maintains it throughout, with the atmosphere in Helen Thimig's house very cleverly exploited and adding to the inevitable enigma: who really is Rosemary, the woman in the painting, and is she alive? Why does she compare Rosemary's beauty to that of Leslie (Grey)?

Well, we get the answers at the end, even if I thought the trap less than convincingly set up, because good old Thimig never leaves the house.

Superb cinematography. The train crash scene really came out of nowhere and shook me. Very good acting, especially from Thimig and Grey. Credible script and sharp dialogue.

Minor B pic but definitely worth watching!

Sergeant William Terry (Johnny) survives WW2 by clinging to the hope of meeting up with Rosemary, the girl he has been corresponding with despite never having met her. On his return to the USA, he seeks her out in California. Well, he gets to see her portrait courtesy of Helene Thimig (Hilda) who is Rosemary's mother. But Thimig seems to be putting off a meeting between her daughter and Terry. Why?

This film is a nice discovery. It contains a disturbing story, a disturbing character (no need to guess who), other likable characters, an atmospheric setting and a short running time that keeps you watching from the beginning. You'll guess what is going on – sort of – but it doesn't take away the enjoyment of the film. A nice surprise.

I'm actually surprised that this movie hasn't resurfaced as a kind of cult classic in recent years of the digital age. We are all familiar with social media and what "catfishing" is. Strangers In The Night is a wonderfully eerie catfishing tale as it would have taken place in the 1940s before social media. In a way the movie was ahead of its time. For being just under an hour long, though, it sure does have a lot of story packed into it. There's also a feminist element to it (female doctor).

Anthony Mann's brief (56 mins!) is a lightly enjoyable thriller that is more old house mystery than strict Noir (even if it's often pitched as one). William Terry plays Sgt. Meadows, a WWII vet, who returns stateside to finally meet the girl of his dreams who he's only known through the letters they exchange while he was in the South Pacific. Virginia Grey plays a -- (better sit down for this) WOMAN doctor named Dr. Ross! They meet cute on a train. When the Sergeant gets to the secluded cliff side mansion of his pen pal, she's not home. Instead, he is met by her grumpy mother Hilda (Helene Thimig) and a mousy live-in housekeeper (Edith Barrett). At under an hour, there isn't much time for true intrigue (and the mystery isn't all that difficult to decipher), but Grey, Thimig and Barrett all deliver entertaining performances. Mann keeps it moving, the script based on a Philip MacDonald story is dotty fun and Reggie Lanning's camerawork is suitably moody. Mann made much better true Noirs like RAW DEAL and BORDER INCIDENT, but, STRANGERS isn't a bad time killer. And, a pretty good title song by Sinatra to boot. :)

A watchable film. Nothing deep or which requires any analysis or thought. I was going to give it a 6 until the final scene which, unfortunately, made me laugh.

Sgt. Johnny Meadows (William Terry) and Dr. Leslie Ross (Virginia Grey) are "Strangers in the Night" when they meet on a train. During his time fighting his war injuries, Johnny fell in love via mail with a Rosemary Blake, whom he tells Leslie he's en route to meet.

Leslie doesn't tell him that he's met the very strange old Mrs. Blake (Helene Thimig) who seemed very put off that Leslie was a doctor, and a pretty one at that. In those days apparently a woman doctor was very unusual and off-putting.

Johnny visits Rosemary, but she's away. Instead he meets her mother and, while looking at Rosemary's portrait, he faints, still weak from not only his injuries, but an accident that occurred during the train ride. When the doctor is called, Leslie arrives. When Mrs. Blake realizes that Johnny and Rosemary know one another, she is visibly upset.

Mrs. Blake is odd, but the woman working for her, Edith (Edith Barrett) is a total wreck. She actually comes to see Dr. Ross, wanting to tell her something, but can't seem to get it out.

However when Johnny realizes that he's fallen for Leslie in Rosemary's absence, Mrs. Blake takes action.

This is quite a story, with Grey an absolutely beautiful, radiant young woman. I only have seen her as she was twenty years later, still beautiful but not as young. She is charming as the doctor.

Directed by Anthony Mann, Strangers in the Night is an atmospheric, absorbing film, short but entertaining.

Grey's story is a sad one - she had an on and off relationship with Clark Gable, and when Gable married someone else post-war, Grey was devastated and never married herself.

William Terry is affable as Johnny. Helene Thimig makes a terrifying Mrs. Blake.

There's something about Strangers in the Night that annoys me beyond boundaries... It is hard to say quite what, because there is a very beautiful camerawork going on here and there is some nice acting as well; but what can we say about all of this?? It is just sad. That's what it is. And the ending is surprising but silly in my eyes.

Recently Released on Blu-ray, this Obscure Anthony Mann Film has been in the Shadows of His Top-Tier Film-Noir and James Stewart Series of Westerns.

Moving on From the 1950's Mann Chose Big-Budget Historical Epics Popular in the Early 60's like "Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964) and "El Cid" (1961).

So the Trifecta of Film-Noir, the Neo-Realist Westerns, and Behemoth Blockbusters, Pushed this Little Film to the Back of the Pack in the Mann Filmography.

It's a Strange One that Features a Gothic, Psychological, Demented Story of a German-Accented, Cripple (Helene Thimig) well in Her 80's, Suffering from Numerous Disorders of the Freudian Nature.

She Dominates this Bizarre Movie as She is a Force of Nature Trying to Control the "Regular" People in Her Spinning Out-of-Order, Out-of-Sync Orbit.

Played Today it has a Familiar Vibe Utilized in many B-Movies and TV Anthologies.

Not So in 1944. It Displays its Unnatural Universe of Secret Worships and Devastating Dementia with Things Modern Audiences can Hardly Relate.

Pen Pals, Huge Painted Portraits over the Fire-Place, and Misdirected Manipulation by an Old Hag Destroyed by Nature's Unwillingness to Cooperate with Her Demands.

Virginia Grey as a Doctor Confronting Her Peers and Patients Double-Takes because of Her Profession does add a Modern Twist to the Feminine Mystique.

Edith Barrett as Ivy, the Live-In Spinster Companion Forced to Bow and Curtow to the Dynamic Personality of the Old Woman is Simply Superb in a Difficult Role.

A Wicked and Wonderful Movie that has Finally been Given its Due.

Servicable at best film-noir that doesn't quite resonate with me. Strangers In the Night deals with a recovering GI, whose road back to full health was strengthened by letters from a female pen pal whom he has never actually met. Their correspondence begins when he obtains a book, whose previous owner, a "Rosemary" leaves her mailing address and some kind words within, in hopes that the next owner will enjoy it as much as she did. He decides to write, she replies back and through time a romance begins to blossom.

Once he is discharged, naturally him and Rosemary have arranged to finally meet and that's when Strangers In the Night really begins.

It really is predictable within the first 20 minutes, I hate to be a stickler, but its full of plot holes and doesn't have alot of build up and seriously lacks in suspense. Notable really if only for Anthony Mann as director who is pretty darn good.

Its missing alot of ingredients that define what works best in film-noir movies. A nice title for the genre but doesn't aptly fit what's going on here.