Strangers in the Night movie storyline. Sergeant John Meadows, a U. S. Marine paratrooper, returns to the U.S. to meet Rosemary Blake, a girl with whom he has fallen in love with only through correspondence. On the train, he meets Dr. Leslie Ross, also a talented musician, and he tells her about Rosemary. Rosemary’s mother, a crippled and mysterious old lady, meets John and tells him her daughter has gone away for a brief time but will be returning soon.
She shows him a portrait of her daughter. Mrs. Blake seems to have a strange power of her companion, Ivy Miller, and John feels uneasy in the Blake house and can not account for it. Mrs. Blake is very displeased when she learns that John and Leslie are acquainted, and goes into a rage when John tells her he has fallen in love with Leslie. John learns that the portrait of Rosemary was painted by his friend, Paul Arnheim of San Francisco; he leaves to talk to Arnheim and in his absence Mrs. Blake poisons HER companion, Miss Ivy, asserting she died from a sleeping potion administered by Leslie. What John learns in San Francisco, from HIS acquaintance, is startling, and Mrs. Blake realizes that he too must be murdered.
Strangers in the Night is a 1944 American film noir mystery film directed by Anthony Mann and starring William Terry, Virginia Grey, Helene Thimig, Edith Barrett, Anne O’Neal, Audley Anderson, Jimmie Lucas, Roy Butler, Charles Sullivan, Frances Morris ünd George Sherwood. The film was theatrically released on September 12, 1944 in the United States.
About the Story
Sgt. Johnny Meadows is seriously wounded in battle in the South Pacific during World War Two. While recuperating, he takes comfort reading a book donated to the Red Cross by Rosemary Blake, who has written her name and address in the book. He corresponds with her, and as pen pals they fall in love. Eventually, on leave and back in the States, he heads for Rosemary’s home.
While taking the train to get there, he meets a pretty woman reading the same book, and for a moment thinks he has met Rosemary. But the lovely woman is Dr. Leslie Ross, coincidentally heading for the same town where Rosemary lives, to take over a practice being left by another doctor. They start a friendly conversation, but then there is a derailment of several cars ahead of them, and the doctor treats those who are wounded, while Johnny assists where he can. More help arrives and, both exhausted, they share a cab-ride into the town they were both headed for.
The next day, as the doctor settles into running her practice, Johnny heads up the high hill to the house where Rosemary lives. He meets the homeowner, an older disabled woman, Mrs. Blake (Rosemary’s mother), and her live-in assistant, Ivy Miller. Mrs. Blake and Miller tell Johnny that Rosemary is away, but will be back soon, and Mrs. Blake invites him to stay. The next day Mrs. Blake shows Johnny a large painting done of Rosemary, so he can see how beautiful she is. Johnny is happy, and, from the style in which the painting is done, thinks he knows the artist, but can’t fully recall whom at the moment.
After a few days of Rosemary not showing up, and no satisfactory answers forthcoming from either Mrs. Blake or Miller, who seems very nervous about the situation, Johnny leaves for San Francisco. He finally remembered who the artist was, as he had worked with him for a short time in the City before the war. Meanwhile, Miller attempts to divulge to Dr. Ross just what is going on, but her nervousness and insecurities stop her. Dr. Ross and her nurse suspect something strange is going on in the Blake house, but because Mrs. Blake had been dismissive of the doctor during an initial consult on her first day in town, they take no specific action.
Strangers in the Night (1944)
Directed by: Anthony Mann
Starring: William Terry, Virginia Grey, Helene Thimig, Edith Barrett, Anne O’Neal, Audley Anderson, Jimmie Lucas, Roy Butler, Charles Sullivan, Frances Morris, George Sherwood
Screenplay by: Bryant Ford, Paul Gangelin
Cinematography by: Reggie Lanning
Film Editing by: Arthur Roberts
Costume Design by: Adele Palmer
Set Decoration by: Perry Murdock
Art Direction by: Gano Chittenden
Makeup Department: Peggy Gray, Bob Mark
Music by: Morton Scott
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Republic Pictures
Release Date: September 12, 1944 (United States)
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