O Desconhecido

René Ray is wonderful as Stasia, servant girl at a London boarding house occupied by a nasty landlady and a wicked bunch of boarders. Stasia was hired on the cheap from a reformatory and receives nothing but scorn and cruelty from the boarders. She longs for escape, or at least a bit of kindness: "If only there was one decent person…." Pushed to her limit, Stasia heads for the door, where—

Conrad Veidt walks in and immediately the girl senses something different in him. It's a beautiful, surprising scene: She is suddenly smiling.

Veidt is a very polite, extremely soft-spoken and apparently nameless stranger. He leases a tiny third floor apartment in the house and quickly and quietly changes the atmosphere, the relationships, the attitudes of the other boarders.

Among the group, Beatrix Lehmann stands out as Miss Kite, a not-so-old spinster who is bitter that time is passing her by—and in whom the spark of energy and love of life is perhaps re-lit. Anna Lee gives a strong performance as the beautiful young woman who is her impoverished parents' only valuable possession. Must she marry the wealthy Mr. Wright, thus solving their financial problems? It's a heartbreaking dilemma; Lee makes it seem real.

Frank Cellier is the slimy Mr. Wright, a businessman whose success is achieved through laying others low. Alone among the boarders, Mr. Wright is not affected by the stranger's mysterious presence. The action will eventually build toward a showdown of sorts…but not one in any way conventional or expected.

Although most of the action takes place in the boarding house, a joyous sequence in the film's midsection shows the group taking a boat trip down the Thames. The characters loosen up, find enjoyment, begin friendships. The wonder in Stasia's face when the boat goes under the Tower Bridge as it opens for them! It's a glorious moment.

Conrad Veidt is mesmerizing and intense; René Ray is full of fear and joy and excitement. Their scenes together are quite wonderful.

It's an oddball movie, not particularly easy to watch; it looks evil and human weakness pretty directly in the face. But it's also positively moving—it's certainly left me thinking and wondering what it's all about.

This movie is very clearly a play turned into a film--all the action except one sequence takes place in a 3-story boarding house, and during three days. Each of the characters is very distinctive. The poor "reform school" girl Stasia working in the kitchen, on whom everyone else takes out their frustrations, is the main figure. Her boss, Mrs. Sharpe, is sharp--always happy to accuse Stasia of stealing, call her a slut, and tell her to work harder. Vivian is the lovely daughter of a retired military man and his wife; they haven't paid the rent in months, because Dad can't stand the idea of taking a job in sales, and their only capital is Vivian. Vivian however is in love with an idealistic architect, Chris, who wants to design hospitals. Mr. Wright is Vivian's prospective husband, an unlovable, self-made man. Miss Kite is a genteel, snobbish, catty working woman on the wrong side of thirty; Mr. Larkcom is a pianist who works playing jazz in a record store, but can play classical music if requested.

The story begins with preparations for the engagement party. Stasia is driven to consider suicide by the general cruelty, but running out the door she runs into a stranger. The stranger wants a room, even though the only one available is quite undesirable. His politeness, and promptness in paying in advance, calm everyone down instantly. However, as he watches Vivian and Chris in the speeches leading up to the engagement, he is the catalyst in her leaving the table without putting on the diamond ring.

The next day is a bank holiday, and the stranger invites everyone to take a ride on the steamer down to Margate. As he listens to the various characters talking, or simply touches their shoulders or arms, they find their sense of themselves changing. Suddenly love seems possible. The third day, however, is Mr. Wright's day. He plants suspicions and temptations in everyone's way, and by the end of the day is close to making everyone meaner and unhappier than they were when they began.

The stranger is, basically, an angel. Mr. Wright is Mr. Wrong; he is a mortal man, with an experience and appetites, but as he says he does not want to be happy, which he could only accomplish by being generous. He sneers at the stranger that the latter is "not allowed to interfere," to solve the various characters' problems by simply giving them money (which would indeed help Vivian and her parents, Chris, and Stasia). So it seems that angels, like the Star Trek travelers, must follow the Prime Directive: just to help what's already going on in each person. The last day is a struggle between Good and Evil.

The movie is full of wonderful goofy little roles and moments, played by charming actors and actresses. Conrad Veidt is the reason I bothered to get hold of the film and he does not disappoint in the role of the angelic stranger. He radiates goodness and a kind of healing sensuality as he walks among these disappointed people. One really feels that a man like this, by paying attention to people and speaking gently to them, could wake them up to their own better selves; he's a bit like an ideal psychotherapist. At the same time, he suffers to see them suffering. Apparently he himself was fond of this role, which exploits his magnetism in such a different way from his many romantic villains.

Mr. Wright makes a little speech explaining how he has made a fortune building housing for the poor--"and don't let anyone tell you you can't collect rents from the poor. You can! It just takes character." I must admit I find this definition of "character" helpful in following the rhetoric of presidential elections.

I commend the previous comments by users and have added to most an accolade showing I found them useful.As the first comment in particular on IMDb.com is so complete regarding the plot, I will not dwell further on it, however I should like to add my personal comment.

The pianist tenant at the boarding house was heard to play Franz Schubert's Impromptu #3 followed by the first movement (adagio sostenuto) of Beethoven's acclaimed "Moonlight Sonata".I was surprised by his "jazzed-up" version of the Schubert piece in front of the good spirit/angel played by Conrad Veidt.I found the plot of the phantom stranger arriving at the boarding house slightly reminiscent of J.B.Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" when the phantom inspector suddenly arrives at the family home.Renee Ray who plays Stasia the put- upon servant girl also played a beauty queen contestant in "Bank Holiday" (1938).Here she enjoys another Bank holiday but through careless exuberance nearly drowns herself during the Thames boat ride.Jerome K Jerome certainly had a love affair with boats!I thought at first Frank Cellier (Mr Wright) was playing the Devil to Conrad Veidt's Stranger as they seemed to instinctively know each others true characters.

There are many well known actors playing support roles in this film, e.g. the Irish Sara Algood who went on to carve out a career in Hollywood.Mary Clare plays the landlady of the boarding house has to interact with all her tenant characters.She played a similar role in "A Girl Must Live"(1939).Anna Lee who played the attractive blond daughter of a couple ready to pawn her to Mr Wright for financial gain, in some lights reminded me of the beautiful Madeleine Carroll.

A film exploring the moral forces of human frailty, greed, hope, forgiveness & redemption and can be viewed in its' entirety on www.youtube.com as it is in the public domain.I awarded this rare film 8/10.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film the first time I saw it. I have seen it twice in about the last 10 years on late night TV. It's been a while since my last viewing of the film.

It has a powerful message and has elements of the hero-flick, in the personal presence, and apparent infallibility of Mr Veidt's character.

The sinfulness of our human character, in several of its guises, is on display in this film; lust, greed, folly, etc.

What is compelling is Veidt's character's dealing with such realities of our nature. Rather than blasting all the evildoers away with bullets as one might expect in a "hero-flick", he expresses patience, acceptance of their frailties and love to the unlovable house guests.

The film might prompt you to ask the question, who in history has loved humanity in such a sacrificially way?

This is a really interesting film, based on a Victorian play by Jerome K. Jerome, famous for his humorous Three Man in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) ca 1890.

Its director, Viertel, had left Germany for England, where he made several films. The Stranger is played by Conrad Veidt, famous for his roles in Dr. Caligari, and Casablanca. It is an allegory of the struggle between good and evil. I especially enjoyed the performances of Conrad Veidt and Mary Clare, and it amused me to note that the builder, Mr. Wright, also appears in The 39 Steps as the Sheriff.

It is not an easy film to find, but I think it is one of my favourite British films of the 30's, except for Hitchcock. Even so, I think's it better than some of his minor works, like Rich and Strange. It may be one of Veidt's best portrayals, which says a lot, especially if you are familiar with his work in The Thief of Bagdad, The Spy in Black and Casablanca.