Love From a Stranger

Rating:
Summary: DAZZLING PERFORMANCE BY RATHBONE
Review: Basil Rathbone has always been one of my favorite old-time actors. He is such a commanding figure on screen and delivers his lines with such strength. This british production is a bit of a lost horror but wow is it good! It's based on a story by mystery writer Agatha Christie.

It concerns a woman named Carol Howard (Ann Harding) who wins a lottery. She dumps her fiancee and then meets Rathbone playing Gerald Lovell. She is instantly charmed by him and the pair go off to Paris to be married.

The pair settle in for a nice home life but then Carol soon realizes her new husband is more than a little crazy and has a very large secret. The action builds to a tense climax as carol eventually knows she has to fight for her very life.

Rathbone is just fantastic as the charming Gerald who descends inot madness slowly. VEry much the forerunner of more modern day movies like Fatal Attraction and The Stepfather. One of Rathbone's best roles, Sherlock Holmes notwithstanding...

Rating:
Summary: Love From a Stranger
Review: LOVE FROM A STRANGER is based on the Frank Vosper play of Agatha Christie's short story "Philomel Cottage." Indeed, it feels a little stage bound and static. The plot is simple enough. Working girl Ann Harding wins the lottery, throws her fiance over for Basil Rathbone, and they move to a secluded cottage in the country, where....
But that would be telling, and one doesn't do that with Agatha Christie. It's enough to say that young Ann might have been better off if she had patched things up with her intended before marrying stranger Rathbone.
There are a few items you'll have to endure before you get to the rewarding ending. The transfer print this dvd was taken from was in pretty rough shape, and I couldn't say for sure that it contains one unblemished frame. There's also a lot of background noise on the soundtrack. Rathbone's character travels the steepest arc I recall ever seeing. If you don't buy into it (I did) I can imagine his acting would be enough for someone to turn this one off.
LOVE FROM A STRANGER is worth sticking with to the end. I thought I'd figured it out and the movie still managed to throw in a surprise or two that caught me unawares. A perfect movie for a rainy, Sunday afternoon.
LOVE FROM A STRANGER is based on the Frank Vosper play of Agatha Christie's short story "Philomel Cottage." Indeed, it feels a little stage bound and static. The plot is simple enough. Working girl Ann Harding wins the lottery, throws her fiance over for Basil Rathbone, and they move to a secluded cottage in the country, where....
But that would be telling, and one doesn't do that with Agatha Christie. It's enough to say that young Ann might have been better off if she had patched things up with her intended before marrying stranger Rathbone.
There are a few items you'll have to endure before you get to the rewarding ending. The transfer print this dvd was taken from was in pretty rough shape, and I couldn't say for sure that it contains one unblemished frame. There's also a lot of background noise on the soundtrack. Rathbone's character travels the steepest arc I recall ever seeing. If you don't buy into it (I did) I can imagine his acting would be enough for someone to turn this one off.
LOVE FROM A STRANGER is worth sticking with to the end. I thought I'd figured it out and the movie still managed to throw in a surprise or two that caught me unawares. A perfect movie for a rainy, Sunday afternoon.