Talk About a Stranger *** (1952, George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray, Lewis Stone) – Classic Movie Review 12,184

‘It Sends Chills Down Your Spine!’ MGM’s 1952 film noir mystery drama Talk about a Stranger is based on Charlotte Armstrong’s short story The Enemy, and stars George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray and Lewis Stone.

‘It Sends Chills Down Your Spine!’

Director David Bradley’s 1952 MGM film noir mystery drama Talk about a Stranger is based on American writer Charlotte Armstrong’s short story The Enemy, and stars George Murphy, Nancy Davis, Billy Gray and Lewis Stone.

Talk about a Stranger is a quite compelling, fairly persuasive minor drama about a California couple (George Murphy, Nancy Davis) with an apparently creepy new neighbour (Kurt Kasznar) who may have poisoned their inquisitive young son Bud (Billy Gray)’s dog is interesting for its atmosphere and themes, but perhaps most interesting for its stars. Murphy, who became US Republican Senator from California, is partnered by the wife of another Republican actor politician – Nancy Reagan (Nancy Davis). Both give mild but eager-to-please performances.

The family own a small orange orchard in California, where Bud has taken an instant dislike to the stranger and blames him for his dog’s death. The boy’s suspicions about the neighbour grow and he spreads vicious rumours about him to influence the locals, who begin to believe that the stranger may be a wanted killer. Then Bud endangers the crops in the valley by vandalising the neighbour’s oil tank.

There is an ample sufficiency of mystery and intrigue, and the film is nicely shot in black and white by noted cinematographer John Alton, making it a true film noir.

Also in the cast are Anna Glomb, Katherine Warren.

It is Murphy’s last film at MGM, aged 50, after 15 years at MGM, though he made a couple more movies. Murphy served from 1965 to 1971 as US Senator from California, the first notable American actor to be elected to statewide office in California, before Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He died in 1992 aged 89, from leukaemia.

Low budget though it was, the film lost $276,000 for MGM. It cost $481,000 and earned just $375,000.

Release date: April 18, 1952 (US).

Nancy Davis married Ronald Reagan in Los Angeles on March 4, 1952, following his 1949 divorce from Jane Wyman. William Holden and Brenda Marshall were the only wedding guests.

Talk about a Stranger is directed by David Bradley, runs 65 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Margaret Fitts, based on Charlotte Armstrong’s short story The Enemy, is shot in black and white by John Alton, is produced by Richard Goldstone, and is scored by David Buttolph.

Charlotte Armstrong’s short story The Enemy was published in the May 1951 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the top prize in the Mystery Magazine’s yearly selection of best stories.

Charlotte Armstrong

Charlotte Armstrong (May 2, 1905 – July 18, 1969) wrote 29 novels, as well as short stories, plays and screenplays, which include Incident at a Corner, episode of Startime, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1959, plus three episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Sybilla (dir. Ida Lupino); The Five-Forty-Eight (adapted from the John Cheever short story) and Across the Threshold, 1960.

Four well-known films were also made from her work: Talk About a Stranger, 1952 (from the short story The Enemy), Don’t Bother to Knock, 1952 (from the novel Mischief) (dir. Roy Baker), The Three Weird Sisters, 1948 (from the novel The Case of the Weird Sisters) (dir. Daniel Birt), and The Unsuspected, 1947 (dir. Michael Curtiz).

The cast

The cast are George Murphy as Robert Fontaine Sr, Nancy Davis as Marge Fontaine, Billy Gray as Robert ‘Bud’ Fontaine Jr, Lewis Stone as William J Wardlaw, Kurt Kasznar as Dr Paul Mahler alias Matlock, Anna Glomb as Camille Wardlaw, Burt Mustin as Mr McEley, and Katherine Warren.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,184

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