The Intimate Stranger (1956 film)

The Intimate Stranger is a 1956 British film-noir, drama film directed by Joseph Losey, under the pseudonym Alec C. Snowden, and starring Richard Basehart, Mary Murphy, Constance Cummings and Roger Livesey.[1] It was released in the U.S. as Finger of Guilt.[2]

The Intimate Stranger
Spanish poster (1969)
Directed byJoseph Losey (as Alec C. Snowden)
Produced byAlec C. Snowden
Written byHoward Koch (as Peter Howard)
StarringRichard Basehart
Mary Murphy
Constance Cummings
Music byTrevor Duncan
CinematographyGerald Gibbs
Edited byGeoffrey Muller
Production
company
Anglo-Guild Productions
Merton Park Studios
Distributed byAnglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK)
Release date
  • June 1956 (1956-06) (UK)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Reggie Wilson's Hollywood career as a film editor ended after he had an affair with his boss's wife. He then moved to England, became successful and married the daughter of a producer . They are both working on a new film 'Eclipse'. His new life is threatened when he starts receiving intimate letters from a woman. She reminds him of a relationship they had some time ago but he genuinely has no knowledge of it . Has he a sick mind or is he the victim of an evil scheme?

Cast

Production

Losey was blacklisted in the United States at the time when he made the film. Along with a number of other American directors and screenwriters, he moved to Britain and began making films, disguising his real identity behind an alias. The screenplay was written by Howard Koch who had also been blacklisted, and wrote under the name Peter Howard. The film was made at Shepperton Studios.

Losey has a small cameo part in the film, playing a film director.

Critical reception

Allmovie wrote "Perhaps Koch and his director Joseph Losey...were too drawn in to the plot's semi-metaphorical take on blacklisting to see that the scenes are not properly focused, the dialogue lacks enough sparkle and that the string of coincidences causes some plausibility problems. Fortunately, Finger is helped immensely by the on-target performance of leading man Richard Basehart and the beautifully wicked one of Mary Murphy, as well as the solid turn from Constance Cummings";[2] Derek Winnert wrote "It is one of the least well known of all Losey’s films, but then it is arguably also one of the least too, though far from negligible";[3] and Dennis Schwartz noted a "tightly scripted crime thriller...The conclusion comes with a pat resolution, but by that time I was engrossed in the improbable story and too much impressed with the fine acting to care that much if I was being manipulated."[4]

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References
  1. "The Intimate Stranger (1956)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
  2. "Finger of Guilt (1956) - Joseph Losey - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. "The Intimate Stranger [Finger of Guilt] *** (1956, Richard Basehart, Mary Murphy, Mervyn Johns, Constance Cummings, Roger Livesey, Faith Brook) – Classic Movie Review 7066 - Derek Winnert". www.derekwinnert.com.
  4. Schwartz, Dennis. "fingerofguilt". homepages.sover.net.


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