Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

In the bustling hub of a city newspaper, ambitious reporter, Michael Ward, finds his career catapulted following a chilling encounter at a local coffee shop. He becomes the linchpin witness in the murder trial of Joe Briggs, a young man he had previously seen in a heated confrontation with the now-deceased Nick. Despite Joe's vehement claims of innocence, the damning circumstantial evidence, bolstered by Michael's testimony, seals his fate to the electric chair. Michael's fiancée, Jane, however, is plagued by doubt. She harbors a nagging suspicion that Joe might be innocent, and the conviction unsettles her, casting a shadow on their relationship. Michael, too, becomes ensnared in a web of guilt and uncertainty, haunted by the repercussions of his testimony. One night, their lives take an eerie turn. After a confrontation with his nosy neighbor, Albert Meng, Michael encounters a stranger with ominously bulging eyes in the dimly lit corridor of his boarding house. This mysterious figure sends chills down Michael's spine and later, in the throes of a vivid nightmare, he envisions himself accused of Meng's murder. Awakening from his nightmare to a blood-curdling reality, Michael discovers Meng brutally murdered, his neck sliced in a chilling echo of Nick's death. With Michael as the prime suspect, he finds himself shackled by the very justice system he had inadvertently served. In a race against the clock, Jane takes to the shadowy city streets in a desperate search for the elusive stranger, hoping to uncover the truth and save her fiancé from a grim fate.

Stranger on the Third Floor is a mystery movie featuring Peter Lorre and directed by Boris Ingster.

It is possible to buy Stranger on the Third Floor on Amazon Video, Apple TV, DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Vudu and YouTube.