Stranger in the House ** (1967, James Mason, Geraldine Chaplin, Bobby Darin) – Classic Movie Review 10,056

Writer-director Pierre Rouve’s 1967 neo noir crime drama Stranger in the House is adapted from the novel by Georges Simenon, is produced by Anatole de Grunwald, and stars James Mason as washed-up alcoholic lawyer John Sawyer, Geraldine Chaplin as Angela Sawyer, and Bobby Darin as Barney Teale.

Also known as Cop-Out, it is a remake of the 1942 French film Les inconnus dans la maison [Strangers in the House].

Mason finds an ideal role as drunken, cynical, once eminent barrister John Sawyer, who has taken to the bottle since his wife left, but now has a chance for redemption when he decides to defend in court his daughter’s boyfriend, who is accused of murder.

Stranger in the House is a mixed bag of swings and roundabouts. On the plus side Mason is excellent and Simenon’s plot is sturdy and engrossing. On the downside, Chaplin and Darin are miscast and too mature for their roles, the flashy Swinging Sixties photography by Kenneth Higgins is unsuitable for the subject, and the generation-gap theme is unsubtly developed, getting in the way of the thriller. It is an old-fashioned entertainment trying to be trendy, and caught between the two.

The film is remade again as L’inconnu dans la maison in 1992 with Jean-Paul Belmondo as Loursat, and again in 1997.

Eric Burdon and The Animals recorded the song ‘Ain’t That So’ for the film, co-written by band member Vic Briggs and John Scott, composer of the film score, and produced and arranged by Briggs.

Also in the cast are Paul Bertoya as Jo Christoforides, Ian Ogilvy as Desmond Flower, Bryan Stanyon as Peter Hawkins, Pippa Steel as Sue Phillips, Clive Morton as Colonel Flower, Moira Lister as Mrs Flower, James Hayter as Harry Hawkins, Megs Jenkins as Mrs Christoforides, Lisa Daniely as Diana Sawyer, Ivor Dean as Inspector Colder and Yootha Joyce as Shooting Range Girl.

It flopped. It cost $665,000 and earned $255,000, and there was a reported loss of $795,000 – that’s more than it cost!

Stranger in the House is directed by Pierre Rouve, runs 104 minutes, is made by American Broadcasting Company (ABC), De Grunwald Productions and Selmur Productions, released by The Rank Organisation (UK) and Cinerama Releasing Corporation (US), is written by Pierre Rouve, based on the novel by Georges Simenon, shot in Eastmancolor by Kenneth Higgins, produced by Selig J Seligman (executive producer), Anatole de Grunwald and Dimitri De Grunwald, and scored by John Scott, with Production Design by Tony Woollard.

It is made at MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,056

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com