Love from a Stranger

LOVE FROM A STRANGER begins with the news that a notorious murderer in NYC has been killed by the police. Then, a series of new murders occur in London, where Cecily Harrington (Sylvia Sidney) has just had her love life turned upside down by a man named Manuel Cortez (John Hodiak).

In a whirlwind romance, Cecily is swept away by the mysterious, passionate Cortez. Before she knows it, they're moving in to their honeymoon house.

Utter bliss ensues, right up until the secrets and strange behavior begin!

This is an effective suspense / thriller based on the story by Agatha Christie. Hodiak is sublimely devilish, and Ms. Sidney plays her clueless role to perfection!...

I saw this as a fan of Agatha Christie and I'd see any film adaptation of her work. Not all the adaptations of her work have been successful, there are some truly great ones out there but there are some that just don't work. A Stranger Walked In doesn't fit in either of these categories, it's not a bad film but it's not a good one either. It does look good, it is lavishly photographed and the period detail is evocatively and beautifully rendered. The music has the romantic melodrama feel but also a psychologically haunting quality, not an amazing score by all means but one that fits within the film. Sylvia Sidney gives a poignant performance while bringing some edge to her role, and Ann Richards plays it straight very effectively. John Hodiak however overacts quite badly particularly in the latter part of the film, more subtlety was needed, and his chemistry with Sidney never convinces. The script is trite and does get very overwrought, again it could've done with more subtlety, a little less talk and more of Christie's writing style which would have given that. The story and pacing were also major issues. The story feels very undercooked dramatically as well as dull, and the psychological aspects that would have added to any suspense was on mute, as was the suspense. The pacing is also very pedestrian, making some of the less eventful scenes a bit hard to sit through. And the ending is more ridiculous than it is satisfying, I wasn't surprised by the outcome, it was underdeveloped and it also felt unnecessarily melodramatic. All in all, not terrible not a disappointment. 5/10 Bethany Cox

As an admirer of Jennifer Jones (JJ) who has collected all her films and read all her biographies etc, I wanted to see an example of one of my heroine's idols of the stage and screen - Sylvia Sydney who plays "Cecily Harrington".I looked up this film on the Imdb and noticed another actress who had worked with JJ - Ann Richards who played Dilly Carson in "Love Letters" (1945).They appear together in this film, "Love from a Stranger" from 1947 opposite John Hodiak.Incidentally, I was very impressed with the speed of dispatch of this video to London from Amazon.com in the U.S.A. considering they acted as agents for my American vendor.Fortunatly my vcr is adapted to play both NTSC & PAL video formats so I can also obtain and enjoy films from the States which never seem available here in the U.K.

Considering Sylvia was born in 1910 in the Bronx, NYK from foreign parents i.e. not native born Americans (which I only discovered after watching this film), I marvelled at her English accent and only suspected she could be American when she uttered a short "a" instead of the longer English vowel towards the end of the film.I could well see how Sylvia could have been an influence on JJ in her portrayals of English ladies, e.g. in "Cluny Brown" from (1946).Once again Ann Richards plays the best friend role but here she is only required to do a straight reading of her undemanding part.This is one of those films where you find yourself screaming at the screen "Don't do it"!!!! when she is obviously ditching her regular fiance (no attempt at an English accent here) and goes for the "Bluebeard" she has just met (John Hodiak) whose provenance is unknown and who is obviously intent to everyone except Cecily Harrington, on relieving her of her recent Calcutta Sweep winnings of £50,000 (a National Lottery type fortune in 1901).Will he just be content with that?

I could not help thinking that with a story by Agatha Christie, what Alfred Hitchcock could have done as director if he had been given this film, (probably substituted brunette Sylvia with his usual cool blond for starters) as the direction was very average and I felt there were many points where more suspense could have been engendered into the plot than was the case in the direction by Richard Whorf.The denoument at the end had all the hallmarks of an amateur dramatic performance when the goodies arrive just in time to save the heroine.

So I agree 5.1/10 is a fair rating but it was my first opportunity to study Sylvia Sydney's work and was gratified she had such a long life, only dieing in 1999, so she was 89, and apparantly was working professionally towards the end - read her biography.Finally I try to spot jobbing actors, in this case Ernest Cossart who plays "Billings".He played the hilarious reverse snobby butler in "Cluny Brown" and a bishop in "Love Letters".

Unlike many of the writer's plots,it is not a whodunit but pure thriller ;"Philomel cottage" was a short story which was often transferred to the screen (there's another version featuring Ann Harding );It's possible that the author was inspired by Charles Perrault 's fairy tale "Bluebeard" ,the basement replacing the bedroom the heroine must not enter.(a dark room in the 1937 effort) They also hint at "Blue beard " (reportedly inspired by one of Joan Of Arc's companions,Gilles de Rais) in this adaptation.

Probably to capitalize on the success of "gaslight" ,they set the action in the Victorian era and the hero became "Manuel Cortez ". But,and it's the main flaw :one knows from the start that the handsome soon-to-be-husband will do away with his spouse to latch onto her fortune;only "where " and "when" remain and it spoils the suspense which could have been successful ,a la "suspicion" ;John Hodiak is efficient with his beaming mile and his strong appeal,and ,furtively ,a hard look in his face .But Christie buffs will be better off with the first version (aka "a night of terror")starring Ann Harding and Basil Rathbone.

Sylvia Sidney falls in love with a mysterious charmer (John Hodiak) in "Love from a Stranger," from 1947.

This is a remake that originally starred Basil Rathbone and Ann Harding, and was set in modern times. For some reason, this film is set in Victorian England. A young woman has just won a lottery and is planning what to do with her winnings. When a man, Manuel Cortez (Hodiak) comes to look at her flat as a possible rental, she finds herself attracted to him.

Unfortunately, she's engaged to someone else (John Howard). She breaks up with him and winds up marrying Cortez. He spirits her away to an isolated cottage.

There were a few signs along the way that all was not as it seems, but the happy bride doesn't seem to notice.

Okay film with not much chemistry between the two leads. The story is predictable. There are a couple of exciting moments. The film is incredibly atmospheric, particularly the cottage scenes.

Based on a story by Agatha Christie, this lacked the usual Christie pizazz.