Three Strangers

1946
Approved
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.6K

YOUR RATING

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1 Video

15 Photos

Film Noir Crime Drama Thriller

Three strangers, each dealing with a serious problem, share a sweepstakes ticket which they wished upon together before a Chinese idol.Three strangers, each dealing with a serious problem, share a sweepstakes ticket which they wished upon together before a Chinese idol.Three strangers, each dealing with a serious problem, share a sweepstakes ticket which they wished upon together before a Chinese idol.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

2.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
According to Robert Osborne of TCM, this film was at one point intended to be a sequel to The Maltese Falcon (1941). Following the success of that film, Warner Bros. wanted to make a sequel. "Falcon" writer/director John Huston said he'd previously written an un-filmed script for Warner Bros. that would be appropriate and would only require the character names to be changed to the Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Mary Astor characters. However, Warner Bros. discovered they did not own the rights to the characters except for their appearance in "The Maltese Falcon."

Goofs
When David is in Crystal's apartment - she kisses him, he turns away, and she burns the back of his right hand with her cigarette. He yanks it away and yells in pain while holding it, yet later that day when he's sitting at a table with his girlfriend Janet, the back of his right hand can briefly be seen a few times and there is no burn or mark of any kind on it at all.

Quotes
Johnny West: Don't ever get mixed up with a Chinese goddess. That's the worst thing that can happen, the very worst.

Alternate versions
Also available in a computer colorized version.

Connections
Featured in Frances Farmer Presents: Three Strangers (1959)

Soundtracks
Waltz No. 15 in A-flat major Op. 39
(uncredited)
Music by Johannes Brahms
Played on the piano by Johnny

User reviews50

Review

Featured review

A clone that goes one better

Obviously meant as a "Maltese Falcon" ripoff, this is in many ways a much better film, and definitely one of Huston's best. Though set in 1938, it has a strongly pessimistic, existentialist post-WWII feel to it. The three strangers seem to symbolize the forces of greed, cruelty, and self-destruction at the heart of war and human misery in general--and note that in this version there is no Sam Spade to intervene when things go horribly wrong. The hero of the story by default is the romantic alcoholic Johnny West (a tour de force by Peter Lorre in one of the few true lead roles allowed him by the vindictive Jack Warner.) Not that he's morally superior to the vicious Crystal Shackleford or the crass Arbutney, just that he's too apathetic and detached to intentionally harm anyone.