it be over 20 year ago that i first encounter this small cinematic treasure and on the now defunct indie khj tv and channel 9 in los angeles and but it be not at all by accident . have be enthral by the magic that be casablanca some year before and i have be seek out other film like it make by warner bros. in the late 30 and 40 and early 50 . specifically i be after more work by that classic storied support cast represent paul henried and sydney greenstreet and peter lorre and claude rain and s. z. sakall and joy page and among others . three stranger gather two of those and weave them into a unexpectedly amoral tale of the cost of reverse fortune . lorre play a fallen gentleman who fall into a bottle and thus into some dicey company and while greenstreet play a solicitor who be a tad too speculative with his trust account . the underregarded geraldine fitzgerald join them a the mysterious woman who randomly gather the other two off a london street to see if they will take a chance on an ancient chinese proverb come true . three stranger if anything go casablanca and that other huston or lorre or greenstreet classic and the maltese falcon and one better in the world weariness department and with moral ambiguity and ambivalent character straight out of film noir make five year later . unlike those other two film and though and there little likability to be find in the lead character roguishness save perhaps for lorre and who get redeem by a good woman love at the end . yet that very fact make three stranger play out like a much more modern film ( like one from the early 1970s and say ) and render it an intriguing admixture of old style character drive plot and contemporary moral waywardness and antiheroism .