Love from a Stranger
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Rowland V. Lee
Ann Harding
Basil Rathbone
Binnie Hale
Bruce Seaton
Jean Cadell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
British stenographer Carol Howard, who has won the grand prize in the French lottery, decides to sublet her apartment while she sails to France to claim her prize. Her fiancé, Ronald Bruce, becomes estranged from Carol when he fears that he will become financially dependent upon her. Dapper Gerald Lovell comes to look at Carol's apartment, and she quickly falls in love with him. On the ship to France, Gerald appears once again, and seduces Carol into a quick elopement in Paris. When they return to England, Gerald convinces Carol to purchase a country cottage in an isolated area. He then arranges for her will to be drawn, making him the sole heir to her new fortune. Carol becomes suspicious of her husband when he refuses to allow her in the cellar of their new home, where he practices a mysterious hobby. After Gerald has a near-fatal heart attack, Carol learns the terrible truth about her husband, that he is a serial murderer who marries women for their money, then kills them. Gerald, feeling safely alone with his newest victim, proudly proclaims his past and tells Carol his proposed date for her untimely death. After returning from the county fair on the announced date, Gerald dismisses their maid for the evening and they sit down to dinner. Carol, however, is able to turn the tables on her husband by proclaiming that she is a much better murderer than he, as she has poisoned his coffee, causing Gerald to have a fatal heart attack. As Gerald dies, Ronald and Dr. Gribble break down the door, and Carol and her true love are finally reunited.
Director
Rowland V. Lee
Cast
Ann Harding
Basil Rathbone
Binnie Hale
Bruce Seaton
Jean Cadell
Bryan Powley
Joan Hickson
Donald Calthrop
Eugene Leahy
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to Motion Picture Herald, this was Ann Harding's first British film. New York Times reported that the play was purchased by Trafalgar for $30,000, and that stage star Gertrude Lawrence turned down a role in this film. Playwright Frank Vosper, who had starred in the play in both its original London and New York runs, disappeared mysteriously when sailing back to London from New York. His battered, dead body was found on the French coast weeks after his disappearence, and the exact cause of death was never discovered. Modern sources report that United Artists had great difficulty distributing the film in the United States, as many exibitors refused the film, claiming it "was unfit to be shown." According to modern sources, the film was released in Great Britain in October 1936. The material was filmed once again in 1947 by Eagle-Lion, starring John Hodiak and Sylvia Sidney and directed by Richard Whorf.
