The Stranger's Hand
| The Stranger's Hand | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mario Soldati |
| Written by | Giorgio Bassani Guy Elmes |
| Based on | The Stranger's Hand by Graham Greene |
| Produced by | Angelo Rizzoli Graham Greene Peter Moore John Stafford |
| Starring | Trevor Howard Alida Valli Richard Basehart |
| Cinematography | Enzo Serafin |
| Edited by | Tom Simpson Leslie Hogdson Leo Catozzo |
| Music by | Nino Rota Alessandro Cicognini |
Production companies | Milo Film Rizzoli Film Independent Film Producers |
| Distributed by | British Lion Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Countries | Italy United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £164,200[1] |
The Stranger's Hand (Italian: La mano dello straniero) is a 1954 British-Italian thriller drama film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Trevor Howard, Alida Valli and Richard Basehart. An international co-production, it is based on the draft novel with the same name written by Graham Greene.[2] The plot follows the son of a British MI5 agent kidnapped in Venice by agents of Yugoslavia 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 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 and Guy Elmes completed the screenplay.[3]
Cast
[edit]- Trevor Howard as Major Roger Court
- Alida Valli as Roberta Gleukovitch
- Richard Basehart as Joe Hamstringer
- Richard O'Sullivan as Roger Court
- Eduardo Ciannelli as Dr. Vivaldi
- Arnoldo Foà as Commissioner
- Stephen Murray as British Consul in Venice
- Guido Celano as Chief Constable
- Nerio Bernardi 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
[edit]- ^ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 359. The British budget was £77,525, with the balance provided in lira by the Italian co-production partner. The certified sterling cost came to £92,235.
- ^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876055487.
- ^ The Guardian [1]
Bibliography
[edit]- Spicer, Andrew. Historical Dictionary of Film Noir. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
External links
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- 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 Italian film stubs
- Thriller film stubs