''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' is a 1935 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Berthold Viertel Berthold Viertel (28 June 1885 – 24 September 1953) was an Austrian screenwriter and film director, known for his work in Germany, the UK and the US. Early career Viertel was born in Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but later ...

and starring

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man Who Laugh ...

Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell". Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, the ...

Rene Ray Irene Lilian Brodrick, Countess of Midleton (née Creese, known as Rene Ray, 22 September 1911 – 28 August 1993) was a British stage and screen actress of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and also a novelist. Acting career Ray made her screen début ...

and Frank Cellier. The film is based on a 1908 play and short story by

Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...

and depicts the various small-minded inhabitants of a building and ways they are affected by the arrival of a stranger who works to redeem them. The work had previously been adapted into a 1918 film version by

Herbert Brenon Herbert Brenon (born Alexander Herbert Reginald St. John Brenon; 13 January 1880 – 21 June 1958) was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through the 1930s. Brenon was among the early film ...

. The film or play is referenced in

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Det ...

's 1941 novel, '' Death and the Dancing Footman''.

Plot

The film focuses on a run-down boarding house in London, home to assorted residents. Many of them cling precariously to their social positions with only one figure, the wealthy self-made businessman Mr Wright, being truly successful. The house is owned by the grasping Mrs Sharpe, who mistreats the

maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

, Stasia, a rehabilitated

juvenile delinquent Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

. The members of the household are miserable and openly sneering and rude towards each other, the one exception being the respect shown by all to the powerful Mr Wright. In the case of one couple, Major Tomkin and his wife, this involves pressuring their daughter, Vivian, to marry Wright in spite of her obvious horror at the idea. The house's familiar routine is thrown off-balance when a mysterious foreigner (secretly an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

), takes up residence. In time, he earns the respect of the others in the house, especially Stasia. He takes a room on the "third floor back" and joins the residents for a dinner being held in celebration of the engagement between Wright and Vivian. It becomes evident that she does not want to marry Wright because she is in love with one of the other lodgers, and she storms out of the room. The desperate Major later tries to convince Wright that it is a misunderstanding and that the engagement is still on. He and his wife are terrified by the loss of security if the marriage is broken off. The stranger observes the meanness shown by the other members of the house, and gently encourages them to treat each other better and to pursue their dreams rather than live in fear about their precarious social positions. This gradually begins to work, as some of the house's residents are convinced by his charisma. On a

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

, the stranger announces that he will treat them all to a boat trip to

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, surprising the more snobbish residents by insisting that the servants, including Stasia, join them. Despite the initial awkwardness, the outing soon begins to go well. When Stasia falls in the River Thames, one of the women jumps in to save her life. Once Stasia is rescued, she is looked after by the Tomkins, who treat her as though she were their daughter. They also begin to regret their bullying of their own daughter into a marriage with Wright. During the trip, various members of the household begin to enjoy themselves and treat each other with more respect. Wright resents this change, and he spitefully begins to wreck the stranger's attempts to reform the guests. The next day, the inhabitants return to their previous unhappy existence and resume fighting. Wright taunts the stranger by demonstrating how easily he has corrupted them through the simple power of his money. The stranger tries to convince Wright that he, too, should try to seek a better and happier life, but Wright rejects this. Their dispute develops into a moral battle between the stranger's goodness and Wright's evil.

Cast

as The Stranger *

as Vivian *

as 'Stasia * Frank Cellier as Wright * John Turnbull as Major Tomkins *

Cathleen Nesbitt Cathleen Nesbitt (born Kathleen Mary Nesbitt; 24 November 18882 August 1982) was an English actress. Biography Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire,Before 1 April 1974 Birkenhead was in Cheshire England to Thomas and Mary Catherine (née Parry) Nesb ...

as Mrs. Tomkin *

Ronald Ward Ronald Ward (5 April 1901 – 31 March 1978) was a British actor who, alongside his stage work, appeared in more than twenty British films between 1931 and 1956. He was born in Eastbourne in 1901 as Ronald William Ward, and made his screen ...

as Chris Penny *

Beatrix Lehmann Beatrix Alice Lehmann (1 July 1903 – 31 July 1979) was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist. Early life and family Lehmann was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. She came from a family of notable achievers: the third o ...

as Miss Kite *

Jack Livesey Jack Edwards Livesey (11 June 1901 – 12 October 1961) was a British film actor. He was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, the son of Sam Livesey, the brother of Barry Livesey, and the cousin and step-brother of Roger Livesey. He died in B ...

as Mr. Larkcom *

Sara Allgood Sarah Ellen Allgood (30 October 1880 – 13 September 1950), known as Sara Allgood, was an Irish-American actress. She first studied drama with the Irish nationalist Daughters of Ireland and was at the opening of the Irish National Theatre Soc ...

as Mrs. de Hooley *

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

as Mrs. Sharpe *

Barbara Everest Barbara Everest (19 June 1890 – 9 February 1968) was a British stage and film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film ''The Man Without a Soul''. On stage she played Queen Anne in the 1935 his ...

as Cook *Alexander Sarner as The gramophone man * James Knight as The police inspector 1908 play – London theatre cast: Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson as The Stranger; Alice Crawford as Vivian; Gertrude Elliott as Stasia; Ian Robertson as Major Tompkins; Mr.H.Marsh Allen as Christopher Penny; Haidee Wright as Miss Kite; Wilfred Foster as Mr. Harry Larcom; Kate Bishop as Mrs. De Hooley; Agnes Thomas as Mrs.Sharp; Edward Sass as John Samuels; also includes Ernest Hendrie and Kate Carlyon

Production

The film was the second British film of the Austrian director

, who had left Germany in the late 1920s and had directed '' Little Friend'' (1934). ''Little Friend'' was considered sufficiently successful for him to be awarded a three-film contract with Gaumont, the first of which was to be an adaptation of Jerome's ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' after a planned biopic of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

was abandoned. Viertel saw problems with transferring it to the screen but was interested in depicting the psychological motivation of the various characters. Shooting was scheduled to last around six weeks and was to use a very limited number of sets with only one scene, the visit to Margate, shot outside the studio. Viertel studied the recently released film ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Ka ...

'', which was similarly set in the confined location of a house. Viertel made only one further film, '' Rhodes of Africa'' (1936).

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1935,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

praised the film for having toned down "the pious note" of the original play, and noted that to his surprise he had enjoyed it. He criticized director Viertel, however, for the film's difficulty in portraying the moments of "sweetness and light" with equal truth and realism. The film was voted the fourth best British movie of 1936.

References

Bibliography

* Richards, Jeffrey (ed.) ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939''. I.B. Tauris, 1998.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passing Of The Third Floor Back, The 1935 films 1930s fantasy drama films British fantasy drama films British black-and-white films British films based on plays Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Jerome K. Jerome Films set in London Gaumont Film Company films Films directed by Berthold Viertel 1935 drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films