Passing Of The 3rd Floor Back (1935) in Golden Age Horror Forum

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Passing Of The 3rd Floor Back (1935)

Author	Comment
Rakshasa	Passing Of The 3rd Floor Back (1935)	Lead	[-]
Aug 29 12 6:08 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Has anybody else ever seen of (or heard of) this 1935 British fantasy film starring Conrad Veidt? A buddy of mine recommended I track it down after I told him about my appreciation of ON BORROWED TIME and other such sentimental fantasy films of yesteryear. I learned that it was never released on home video but that Sinister Cinema had a DVD of it up on Amazon, so I did a blind buy. Really cool and strange old flick which I had never heard of before and couldn't find any mention of at all on the CHFB. From IMDB - In a London boarding house, a number of lives exist precariously on the edge of disaster or despair. Stasia, the housemaid, hungers for happiness but is treated like a drudge and constantly threatened with a return to the punishments of her youth. Vivian, a beautiful young girl, loves the architect Chris, but must marry the repugnant Mr. Wright in order to erase her parents' debts. Miss Kite derides all around her out of fear of aging and loss of beauty, while her friend Mr. Larkcom sells mediocre phonograph records though he'd secretly love to be a concert pianist. Into the lives of these and other unhappy residents comes a mysterious stranger, under whose influence they each begin to see the possibility of happiness. But the cynical Mr. Wright prefers to see them in misery and plots to thwart the angelic stranger who lives in the back room of the third floor. (Synopsis Written by Jim Beaver) I've since learned you can actually watch it online here: http://archive.org/details/Passing_of_the_Third_Floor_Back Any fans of this film out there? Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758 Last Edited By: Rakshasa Aug 29 12 6:27 PM. Edited 1 time.
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Rick		#1	[-]
Aug 29 12 6:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes, it's interesting with a nice cast and a predictably charismatic performance from Veidt. Last Edited By: Rick Aug 29 12 6:30 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rakshasa		#2	[-]
Aug 29 12 6:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The copy I got from Sinister Cinema is not very good quality-wise at all, which made it difficult to understand some of the dialog (British accents and all), but I'm glad I hung in there. It was well worth it. Some really cool footage of the Thames River during the ship ride sequence. Some really cool stunts in that scene as well. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758 Last Edited By: Rakshasa Aug 29 12 6:47 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rick		#3	[-]
Aug 29 12 6:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bwah ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaa! Last Edited By: Rick Aug 29 12 6:48 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rakshasa		#4	[-]
Aug 29 12 6:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
TomWeaver999		#5	[-]
Aug 29 12 8:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Anna Lee told me Conrad Veidt was a very strange man, always looking at himself in mirrors (of which he had lots!). I like the movie too. It's one of several oldies where, into the midst of a pack of louses comes a Christ-like character who's SO Christ-like that ... hey, wait a minute ... could it actually beeeeee ....... ?? I think DESTINATION UNKNOWN (1933) might be my favorite. There's STRANGE CARGO (1940) too.
Rakshasa		#6	[-]
Aug 30 12 7:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TomWeaver999 wrote: I think DESTINATION UNKNOWN (1933) might be my favorite. There's STRANGE CARGO (1940) too. Neither of which I have ever seen. I'll have to try and track 'em down. Thanks! Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
CapnDunsel		#7	[-]
Aug 30 12 7:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TomWeaver999 wrote: DESTINATION UNKNOWN (1933) might be my favorite. Tom, where would a poor slob such as myself find a copy?
Rakshasa		#8	[-]
Aug 30 12 8:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	After some quick searching online - I could not find an officially released copy of 1933's DESTINATION UNKNOWN. 1940's STRANGE CARGO is available as part of a semi-pricey Joan Crawford DVD set. It is also available as a rather pricey Region 2 stand-alone DVD. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
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TomWeaver999		#9	[-]
Aug 30 12 9:28 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I saw DESTINATION UNKNOWN in 35mm at a Cinefest in Syracuse, NY -- never had a video copy. STRANGE CARGO is on TCM regularly.
Geezermonster		#10	[-]
Aug 30 12 3:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Another good "Christ-figure" film is the silent FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE with Valentino. I don't recall enough of the sound version with Glenn Ford to remember if that aspect was retained.
CapnDunsel		#11	[-]
Aug 30 12 5:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Geezermonster wrote: Another good "Christ-figure" film is the silent FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE with Valentino. I don't recall enough of the sound version with Glenn Ford to remember if that aspect was retained. I watched the Glenn Ford version recently, and while the monstrous 4 Horsemen appear briefly to signify war, I dont recall any characters playing a significant Christ-like role. I've seen "Strange Cargo" on the Crawford dvd set (wuz okay), and only saw mention of "Destination Unknown" from people who saw the film festival. I was hoping Tom had a copy of the latter. "3rd Floor Back" looks pretty interesting. I wonder if Serling based his TWZone "One for the Angels" on "On Borrowed Time." I dunno if Rakshasa would be interested in other sentimental films with children, but (sort of scifi) "Lost Angel" was very sweet - a light comedy about scientists who try to fulfill the human potential by raising an orphan baby girl (Margaret O'Brien) rationally, but ignore her imaginative and emotional side (ie think Data on Star Trek). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036120/ I agree with the IMDB review titled Schmaltzy but amazingly endearing except for the criticism of O'Brien's crying - it seemed pretty damn real to me. Last Edited By: CapnDunsel Aug 31 12 9:53 AM. Edited 1 times.
Wich2		#12	[-]
Aug 30 12 6:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's always tough to sell a piece that has a "he's-Christ-but-not-really-Christ" character; it's a little like attempting one with a "he's-Satan-but-not-really-Satan" one. But STRANGE CARGO almost works as allegory, and Hunter does his best in the basically impossible role. There's a good WWII iteration of this trope from the cult radio series QUIET, PLEASE (scroll down to BERLIN, 1945:) http://relicradio.com/otr/christmas/
Rakshasa		#13	[-]
Aug 30 12 11:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	CapnDunsel wrote: I dunno if Rakshasa would be interested in other sentimental films with children, but (sort of scifi) "Lost Angel" was very sweet - a light comedy about scientists who try to fulfill the human potential by raising an orphan baby girl (Margaret O'Brien) rationally, but ignore her imaginative and emotional side (ie think Data on Star Trek). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036120/ I agree with the IMDB review titled Schmaltzy but amazingly endearing except for the criticism of O'Brien's crying - it seemed pretty damn real to me. I be interested! Thanks for the tip, Cap ("tip of the cap"?)! I shall look into it. This genre has become a fun hobbie. In fact, I have a new flick in the on deck circle, "A Matter Of Life And Death (aka Stairway To Heaven)" with David Niven,, which I hope to check out tomorrow. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
Grant		#14	[-]
Aug 31 12 9:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The vain female character in particular sounds like it might have helped inspire Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (at least the movie; I don't know about the book). Of course, if and when they aren't actually nasty about it, I seldom have the kind of problem with vain characters that you're probably expected to have.
CapnDunsel		#15	[-]
Aug 31 12 11:02 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rakshasa wrote: I be interested! I'm sure there's a million sentimental child movies, but besides "Lost Angel" and "Curse of the Cat People," I only have 4 other titles: Journey for Margaret (1942) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034923/ (Warner Archive dvd) 3 Wise Fools (1946) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039031/ (I think this was discussed already on CHFB) Bad Little Angel (1939) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031072/ (which I havent watched yet) Petticoat Larceny(1943) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036259/ (just okay. Not as entertaining as the plot suggests)
Wich2		#16	[-]
Aug 31 12 12:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	THE KID
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Passing Of The 3rd Floor Back (1935)

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