"Stranger on the Prowl" is an Italian film that seems to be a lot like the Neo-Realist films the country was producing in the years immediately following the Second World War. It mostly stars folks who don't look like professional actors and the setting is the streets of Italy. But it's unlike a true Neo-Realist film because it stars an American actor (Paul Muni) and an American director (Joseph Losey). In Losey's case, he had been blacklisted and needed the work. I am not sure why Muni, an Oscar winner, would be 'slumming it' in such a simple picture.
When the story begins, a man (Muni) is trying to get money for a passage out of the country. You don't know why he feels he needs to leave...but he obviously is desperate. At the same time, little Giaccomo has gambled away the money he was supposed to use to buy milk...and his family is quite poor. To try to keep out of trouble, the boy steals the milk...but thinks he's been spotted. Instead, the stranger has murdered the shopkeeper. Now both are on the run together and the boy thinks the police are after him.
The story is incredibly simple...like such Neo-Realist films as De Sica's "The Bicycle Thieves" and "Umberto D". But as I mentioned above, the film also has Americans starring in the film and directing it. Because of this, you would expect more from the film...but don't really get it. Muni's okay...but that's about all. And as for Losey, he's okay, too...but nothing more. A simple story that really isn't all that interesting overall.
When the story begins, a man (Muni) is trying to get money for a passage out of the country. You don't know why he feels he needs to leave...but he obviously is desperate. At the same time, little Giaccomo has gambled away the money he was supposed to use to buy milk...and his family is quite poor. To try to keep out of trouble, the boy steals the milk...but thinks he's been spotted. Instead, the stranger has murdered the shopkeeper. Now both are on the run together and the boy thinks the police are after him.
The story is incredibly simple...like such Neo-Realist films as De Sica's "The Bicycle Thieves" and "Umberto D". But as I mentioned above, the film also has Americans starring in the film and directing it. Because of this, you would expect more from the film...but don't really get it. Muni's okay...but that's about all. And as for Losey, he's okay, too...but nothing more. A simple story that really isn't all that interesting overall.