Stranger on the Prowl

A great actor remains a great actor even in a small film, and I'm not talking about a short film. I am talking about this film which is not Paul Muni's best film, it is only a modest film in the style of Italian neorealism from the years after the second world war, neorealism perfected by directors such as Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Alberto Lattuada, Carlo Lizzani, Aldo Vergano, Pietro Germi and Luigi Zampa. Joseph Losey acquitted himself of the task in a more than decent way. Likewise, the unique, extraordinary Paul Muni, who didn't have much to do here, to show off his infinite talent. Excellent children, the boy played by Vittorio Manunta, and the girl, his sister, Fausta Mazzucchelli. Luisa Rossi in the role of the mother, Joan Loring, in the role of Angela, Héléna Manson in the role of the victim killed in the store, and a constant collaborator of Federico Fellini, Aldo Silvani, in the role of Peroni, are very convincing.

This is a unique film in many aspects. It is all Italian neorealism with an all Italian acting crew and filmed on location in Livorno after the war in the aftermath of the war with everything in ruins which only the small boys are at home in and can find their way in. But the director is an American, it is perhaps the oddest film by Joseph Losey, and the hunted man at large is Paul Muni perhaps also in his most unusual role, as a poor hungry man just looking for some bread and to get away by a ship. He happens to a small boy, they try to make it together, but justice is blind and after him, in the long run he has no chance, but the boy gets to understand him and actually pleads for him in the end. It is a very moving and human film, Paul Muni's sad looks and tired eyes could make anyone's heart melt, he is always excellent whatever kind of role he plays, and he had a great register, perhaps one of the greatest for an actor in Hollywood. It is a step down from Vittorio de Sica, it is more painful in depth and misery, but it is totally convincing. And all the Italian actors are perfect.

"Stranger on the Prowl" is probably the one Losey movie most people haven't heard of. He made it largely on location in Italy in 1952 from a screenplay by Ben Barzman, (like Losey, Barzman was also a victim of the blacklist), and it gave Paul Muni a late starring role as a drifter on the run who strikes up a friendship with a small boy who comes to share his hiding place. Although technically an Italian film, it's in English and while hardly a masterpiece it's still a remarkable piece of work, a cross between Italian Neo-Realism and American Film Noir and it remains an essential part of the Losey canon.

It's a story the cinema has tackled many times with varying degrees of success. This one works in large part to the fine performances of Muni and Vittorio Manunta as the boy but mainly due to Losey's mostly unsentimental handling of the material and his brilliant use of his Italian locations. It may be difficult to see these days but it shouldn't be missed if you get the opportunity.

The scariest part of this film is not the stranger on the prowl (played by Paul Muni), but the condition of Italy even seven full years after the end of WW2. After seven full years, people were still starving, still out of work, and still selling themselves to the few men who had made money during those terrible times. One of these women, Miss Loring, plays an unfortunate who tries to help Muni get away. Giacomo, a small, poor boy from the neighborhood, also tries to help the stranger.

Muni tries to sell a gun that he has to pay his passage aboard a ship he wants to take to America. He has no assets other than his street smarts. The film is a hidden gem of the Italian neo-realism period in movie history. Be sure to see it.

A drifter (Paul Muni) is kicked off a ship he'd been stowing away in and begins wandering around town. At the same time, a poor young boy named Giacomo (Vittorio Manunta) is sent by his mother to get milk. He doesn't have enough money and decides to steal it while the shopkeeper isn't looking. As he leaves the shop, he passes the drifter, who begins eating a piece of cheese. The shopkeeper objects, he grabs and silences her, and she dies. (heart attack?) Now both are on the run from the police and they stick together.

This was an interesting one. It's a sort of slice-of-life-in-Italy film, focusing on the poor and abused, who just happen to get embroiled in some very difficult circumstances. The story is decent, the scenery is nice, and performances are solid, including that of Joan Lorring as a woman who steals from her lecherous employer and is forced to pay for it his way. But it all kinda feels a little average and a bit too long. It has its moments, but there are no real big moments that grab you (save for the end, to a degree), and the empathy for, or interest in, the characters isn't strong enough to make the tension tense enough.

Certainly not Muni's best, nor Losey's, but still worth a look.