Three Strangers

One of eight noirs and thrillers from the 1940’s to feature both Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, Jean Negulesco’s Three Strangers teams the duo with Geraldine Fitzgerald as the titular strangers who make a pact with each other (and maybe with the Devil) to split the winnings of a horse bet. On Chinese New Year’s Eve in London, Crystal Shackleford (Fitzgerald) coquettishly picks up Johnny West (Lorre) and Jerome Arbutny (Greenstreet) in the street and brings them to her apartment, where she explains that if three ordinary strangers make a wish to her idol of the Chinese goddess of fortune, it will be granted. They sign a contract to go in on a sweepstakes ticket for the Grand National horse race and split the money if their horse is chosen and wins. We then follow each character back to their personal lives and discover their moral failings, selfish behaviors, and criminal activities. These are not nice people. Their sins span jealousy, greed, lying, cheating, even murder. Edeson’s cinematography captures plenty of noir luminescence, most notably a scene in which Johnny and his adoring girlfriend Icey Crane (Joan Lorring) eat sandwiches in the dark under a bridge like trolls.