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 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 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
edit.
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