The Intimate Stranger
Encyclopedia
The Intimate Stranger is a 1956 British
drama film
directed by Joseph Losey
, under the pseudonym
Joseph Walton, and starring Richard Basehart
, Mary Murphy
, Constance Cummings
and Roger Livesey
. It was also released as Finger of Guilt.
. The screenplay
was written by Howard Koch
who had also been blacklisted, and wrote under the name Peter Howard. The film was made at Shepperton Studios
.
Losey has a small cameo
part in the film, playing a film director.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey
Joseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
, under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Joseph Walton, and starring Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
, Mary Murphy
Mary Murphy (actress)
Mary Murphy was an American film actress of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Washington, D.C. and spent most of her early childhood in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, James Victor Murphy, died in 1940. Shortly afterwards, she and her mother moved to Southern California...
, Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings, CBE was an American-born British actress, known for her work on both screen and stage.Born Constance Halverstadt in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Dallas Vernon Halverstadt, a lawyer, and his wife, Kate Logan Cummings, a concert soprano. she began as a stage actress,...
and Roger Livesey
Roger Livesey
Roger Livesey was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I'm Going! and A Matter of Life and Death...
. It was also released as Finger of Guilt.
Production
Losey had been blacklisted in the United States when he made the film. Along with a number of other American directors and screenwriters he moved to Britain and began making films under an aliasPseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
was written by Howard Koch
Howard Koch (screenwriter)
Howard E. Koch was an American playwright and screenwriter who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s.-Early Years:...
who had also been blacklisted, and wrote under the name Peter Howard. The film was made at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
.
Losey has a small cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
part in the film, playing a film director.
Cast
- Richard BasehartRichard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
- Reginald 'Reggie' Wilson - Mary MurphyMary Murphy (actress)Mary Murphy was an American film actress of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Washington, D.C. and spent most of her early childhood in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father, James Victor Murphy, died in 1940. Shortly afterwards, she and her mother moved to Southern California...
- Evelyn Stewart - Constance CummingsConstance CummingsConstance Cummings, CBE was an American-born British actress, known for her work on both screen and stage.Born Constance Halverstadt in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Dallas Vernon Halverstadt, a lawyer, and his wife, Kate Logan Cummings, a concert soprano. she began as a stage actress,...
- Kay Wallace - Roger LiveseyRoger LiveseyRoger Livesey was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, I Know Where I'm Going! and A Matter of Life and Death...
- Ben Case - Faith BrookFaith BrookFaith Brook is an English actress who has appeared on stage, in films and on television.Her father was the actor Clive Brook, and her brother Lyndon Brook was also an actor. Her first credited film appearance was The Jungle Book in 1942...
- Lesley Wilson - Mervyn JohnsMervyn JohnsMervyn Johns was a Welsh film and television character actor. He was a mainstay of Ealing Studios.Among his dozens of film roles were Walter Craig in Dead of Night , the Church Warden in Went the Day Well? and Bob Cratchit in Scrooge...
- Ernest Chaple - Vernon Greeves - George Mearns
- André Mikhelson - Steve Vadney
- David LodgeDavid Lodge (actor)David William Frederick Lodge was a British character actor.Before turning to acting he worked as a circus clown...
- Police Sergeant Brown - Basil DignamBasil DignamBasil Dignam was an English character actor.Basil Dignam, a native of Sheffield, acted on film and television between 1951 and 1975. He often appeared as an authority figure, such as a police officer, army general or peer....
- Doctor Gray - Grace Denbigh Russell - Mrs Lynton
- Joseph LoseyJoseph LoseyJoseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
- Director - Garfield MorganGarfield MorganGarfield Morgan was an English actor who appeared mostly on TV and occasionally in films.Born in Birmingham, Morgan was apprenticed as a dental mechanic before going to drama school. He started his acting career with the Arena Theatre, Birmingham...
- Waiter - Marianne StoneMarianne StoneMarianne Stone was a British character actress. She appeared in many films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s...
- Miss Cedrick, the Secretary - Peter Veness - Policeman
- Frederic Steger - Barman