Martin Teller A woman entices two strangers to her home to fulfill an unusual Chinese prophecy, granting a wish... in this case, a horse race ticket that they hope to be a winner. With a screenplay by John Huston and appearances by Lorre and Greenstreet, and a figurine as a major plot device, you might expect a MALTESE FALCON retread. But this is a very different story. I hesitate to call it noir, although it does have some of the visual stylization and explores some of man's darker impulses. But it's really more of a triptych character study. The three represent different moral stances: Fitzgerald is conniving and ruthless, Greenstreet does something wrong but at least has enough decency to be conflicted about it, and Lorre is simply a carefree drunk who trusts the wrong people. I didn't count the minutes, but it felt like Lorre got the most screen time, and deservedly so. I don't know if I've ever seen a better performance from him, certainly not a more likable one. He's a charming character with a thoughtful outlook on life. His story also has the benefit of wonderful turns by Peter Whitney and especially Joan Lorring, a very appealing actress I've never seen before, but I'm delighted to see appears in a few more noirs I intended to see. Greenstreet's and Fitzgerald's plot threads are interesting as well, and the way all they come together and resolve at the end is satisfying. It's a quirky film with a very good script, quite fulfilling.

Hitchcoc Put together Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet and you've got me. Lorre is at his "I don't give a damn about anything" best. Greenstreet is the windbag know-it-all who dismisses everything that doesn't benefit him, but becomes the apotheosis of neediness when he starts to fail. Now you have a pact set up by a group of ne'er-do-wells, centering around a ticket for the Grand National. At the beginning they laugh about the pact because they realize the chances of winning are nil. Now we get to know them and their human failings: a drunk, an embezzler, and a self-possessed woman who set the whole thing up. Their exploits are woven together when the ticket is drawn. They each handle it in their own way and the conclusion is quite satisfying.

MartinHafer This is a "turn off your brain and enjoy" film. In other words, if you think through how silly the plot is, you'll most likely grow tired of the film and fail to see it to the end. However, if you can suppress that urge, then you might just find the whole thing quite enjoyable.The film begins with Geraldine Fitzgerald finding two strangers (Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre) and convincing them to come to her apartment (it's not THAT kind of film--relax). There, she tells them a strange tale that some Chinese goddess can grant wishes if three strangers all simultaneously wish for the exact same thing at the stroke of midnight (yeah, right). They all decide to wish for a winning sweepstakes ticket. In the meantime, they'll write up an agreement to share the proceeds equally. Then, after that's concluded, they all say a silent prayer to the goddess at midnight.Upon leaving, the film then shows the lives of all three characters--all of which turn out to be very screwed up indeed. Fitzgerald turns out to be a vindictive Borderline Personality who delights in making her estranged husband miserable. You assume that sooner or later he would kill her because her actions are so pointless and mean. Peter Lorre is hiding out with another man, as they are implicated for murder. However, Lorre DIDN'T commit the crime--he's just an alcoholic who was with the wrong people at the wrong time. Finally, Greenstreet is a supposedly reputable solicitor (sort of like a lawyer who does not do criminal law, for those other Americans out there). However, he's really begun playing in the stock markets with his client's trust fund and throughout the film this problem gets worse and worse.Actually, all three of the stories are quite compelling and I really wish the film had found some other way to string them all together other than the silly goddess plot device. I also liked how all three characters came back together at the end of the tale. But the whole wishing on a Buddhist statue at midnight angle just made my head hurt. With a bit of a re-write this could have been an exceptional film. As it is, it's goofy and strange but quite intriguing if you can slog through the silly stuff.

Prof-Hieronymos-Grost Legend has it that if three complete strangers meet up on the eve of Chinese new year and make the same wish in the presence of the Goddess Kwan Yin, their wish will come true. Crystal Shackleford is a woman obsessed by the goddess, an obsession that has grown particularly after the break-up of her marriage, she sets in motion a plan to grab two random strangers off the street. They turn out to be Jerome K. Arbutny, (Sidney Greenstreet) a rotund solicitor with serious financial issues and the possibility of being caught for insider trading, the second man is the dimunitive Johnny West (Peter Lorre), a petty criminal and drunkard on the run and suspected of being an accomplice in the murder of a policeman. The three strangers agree that their wish will be that a Sweeps Stake ticket in their possession should be the winning ticket. So in front of the mysterious statue on the stroke of midnight they place ticket inside the statue. Will their wish be granted? Written by John Huston apparently as a possible sequel to The Maltese Falcon, as this fell through, Howard Koch made some changes to the script to get the film made. The film starts with great promise, a mysterious state with supernatural powers, Lorre and Greenstreet reunited again, but it soon breaks down into odd episodic glimpses of the lives of each of the strangers, that are segued by a shimmering effect that would give you the idea it was all a dream or perhaps a flashback, it is at times a confusing muddled mess that ignores its original premise in favour of some light melodrama, a shame as in the hands of Negulesco I would have expected a more coherent film. Still though the weight of the cast can't but help make you smile and stay interested.