KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

utgard14 In order to fulfill a ritual on the night of the Chinese New Year, Crystal Shackleford (Geraldine Fitzgerald) invites two strangers (Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet) up to her apartment. The ritual is that if three strangers make the same wish at the same time to an idol of a Chinese goddess, it will come true. So they all make a wish that a lottery ticket will be a winner and they can split the winnings. From here the film explores the separate stories of the three people before tying it all back together.This is an underrated little gem directed by Jean Negulesco with a script by Howard Koch and John Huston. It's very fascinating with terrific performances from the three leads. Peter Lorre is especially fantastic. He gets most of the best lines. Any movie with Lorre and Greenstreet just has to be good on that basis alone. Definitely a great movie you should seek out.

Michael_Elliott Three Strangers (1946) *** (out of 4) John Huston wrote the short story this is based on and his also co-wrote the screenplay with Howard Koch. In the film, Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Peter Lorre play three strangers who go to an apartment where they come in front of a Chinese goddess who is said to grant a wish if three people make the same wish at midnight. After making the wish the three go their separate ways and their lives take separate paths but soon they wind up together again with that one wish in common. Some have held this as an unseen masterpiece and while I wouldn't go that far, the movie does have some great performances that make it a must see. We basically get three different stories that are told in different style but are brought together by this magical wish. I enjoyed Lorre's story of a criminal who gets in trouble when a partner gets caught killing a cop. I found this segment to be the best because Lorre is just so cold yet funny in his role. The weakest is without a doubt Fitzgerald's because it just comes off too melodramatic, although she too is great in the film. What happens to Greenstreet's character at the end was a great twist to the film and his breakdown is masterfully done. I'm really not sure if the magical goddess thing should have been in the screenplay at all because it is rather far fetched and makes the film seem campy at times. With that said, if you're a fan of any of the actors then you'll certainly want to check it out. Again, I didn't see it as a masterpiece as some have called it but the film is still quite good for what it is.

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.

jc-osms What happens when you elevate good supporting players to lead status... Here, perennial co-stars, Lorre & Greenstreet share the spotlight with Geraldine Fitzgerald as the eponymous three strangers in search of a change in their personal fortunes and frankly a believable plot. John Huston goes to the well once too often in eking out the "Maltese Falcon" template into an unbelievable tale, set for some obscure reason in immediately pre-war London, to the background of the famous Grand National steeplechase. The writing errs however by this time making the "little god" that is the idol too much the hub of the film, almost making it into a character in itself with its so-called presence and fortune-changing quality affecting the desperate aspirations of the three flawed strangers. All sheer bunkum of course, but the leads all act well in their little separate vignettes, Greenstreet as an embezzling solicitor, Fitzgerald as a vengeful scorned wife and Lorre as a reluctant alcoholic robber. Greenstreet in particular gets one very good scene when we get a shot of him filling the screen, the sweat of fear oozing from every pore as his fraudulent machinations unravel, predating Welles' Hank Quinlan from "Touch Of Evil" by over 10 years. There's some decent support playing too, just good enough to catch the eye, by the actors playing the robber's suspicious landlady, Lorre's trusting girlfriend and Fitzgerald's adulterous husband. However it's all let down by an over-melodramatic conclusion where the least likely of the three protagonists gets to live to change their spots, while of the rest, one gets a good death-fall scene and the other death by over-acting in a public-place! I'm being a little unkind perhaps as I was, in fact, roundly entertained by the movie once I disengaged my credibility-monitor. Would have probably made a good support to a really good main, perhaps like the actors themselves...