''The Stranger's Hand'' () is a 1954 British-Italian thriller

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Mario Soldati Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, s ...

and starring

Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage and screen actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved leading man star status in the film '' Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by '' The Third M ...

Alida Valli Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, span ...

and

Richard Basehart John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. Known for his "deep, resonant baritone voice and craggy good looks," he was active in film, theatre and television from 1947 until 1983. He won two National ...

. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

, it is based on the draft novel with the same name written by

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 novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

. The plot follows the son of a British

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

agent kidnapped in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

by agents of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

as he searches for his father. The first two chapters of ''The Stranger's Hand'' had been entered by Greene anonymously under a pseudonym to a competition in the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' to write a book in the style of Graham Greene – a competition in which Greene was amused to win second prize. Soldati had seen the chapters and persuaded Greene to complete the novella to make the basis for a film. Greene expanded it to 30 pages of a "film story", on which

Giorgio Bassani Giorgio Bassani (Bologna, 4 March 1916 – Rome, 13 April 2000) was an Italians, Italian novelist, poet, essayist, editor, and international intellectual. Biography Bassani was born in Bologna into a prosperous Jewish family of Ferrara, where h ...

and Guy Elmes completed the screenplay.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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Cast

as Major Roger Court *

as Roberta Gleukovitch *

as Joe Hamstringer *

Richard O'Sullivan Richard O'Sullivan (born 7 May 1944) is an English comedy actor. He is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the TV sitcoms ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and '' Robin's Nest'' (1977–1981) and as the title character in the period adven ...

as Roger Court *

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969) was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

as Dr. Vivaldi *

Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish f ...

as Commissioner * Stephen Murray as British Consul in Venice *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. Selected f ...

as Chief Constable *

Nerio Bernardi Nerino "Nerio" Bernardi (23 July 1899 – 12 January 1971) was an Italian stage and film actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1970. Life and career Born in Bologna, Bernardi started his acting career in 1918 with a loc ...

as Vincenzo * Giorgio Costantini as Pescovitch * Angelo Cecchelin as Luza * Nino Vechina as First Killer * Armando Papette as Second Killer * Giovanni Karuz as Third Killer * Joan Butterfield as Mrs. Harrington * Alessandro Paulon as Morgan * Remington Olmsted as Ramondo

References

Bibliography

* Spicer, Andrew. ''Historical Dictionary of Film Noir''. Scarecrow Press, 2010.

External links

* . 1954 films 1950s thriller films Films directed by Mario Soldati Films scored by Nino Rota Films based on works by Graham Greene British thriller films Films produced by Angelo Rizzoli Novels by Graham Greene Films shot in Venice 1950 British novels Italian thriller films 1954 drama films Films scored by Alessandro Cicognini English-language Italian films 1950s Italian-language films British black-and-white films Italian black-and-white films British Lion Films films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films 1950s Italian films English-language thriller films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub