Street of Chance (1942)
Street of Chance is a 1942 American film noir mystery film directed by Jack Hively and starring Burgess Meredith as a man who finds he has been suffering from amnesia and Claire Trevor as a woman who protects him from the police, who suspect him of murder.
The story was based on Cornell Woolrich’s novel The Black Curtain. It was later dramatized three times on the CBS Radio series Suspense.
Director – Jack Hively
Writers – Garrett Fort (screenplay), Cornell Woolrich (based on a story)
Cast –
Burgess Meredith as Frank Thompson
Claire Trevor as Ruth Dillon
Louise Platt as Virginia Thompson
Sheldon Leonard as Joe Marucci
Frieda Inescort as Alma Diedrich
Jerome Cowan as Bill Diedrich
Adeline De Walt Reynolds as Grandma Diedrich
Arthur Loft as Sheriff Lew Stebbins
Clancy Cooper as Burke
Paul Phillips as Schoeder
Keith Richards as Interne
Ann Doran as Miss Peabody
Cliff Clark as Ryan, (Policeman)
Edwin Maxwell as Stillwell, D.A.
Watch “Street of Chance” (1942)
Plot
Frank Thompson awakens in the middle of the street after wreckage falling from a building in New York City narrowly misses hitting him on the head. Frank soon discovers that his apartment has been rented out for a year and his wife Virginia has been living on her own elsewhere.
Frank confronts Virginia, who is shocked to see the husband who, a year earlier, disappeared without explanation. As Frank slowly pieces together his old life, it turns out he is known by another name and is running from a murder he cannot remember committing. Detective Joe Marucci is shadowing his every move.
Looking for answers in the neighborhood where he awoke on the street, Frank meets Ruth Dillon who knows him only as “Danny”. Ruth takes Frank/Danny to the mansion of the wealthy Diedrich family, where she has been employed as a servant. Family matriarch Grandma Diedrich was an eyewitness to the murder of son Harry (this is the murder of which Frank/Danny is suspected) but she is a housebound invalid who also is mute. Through sign language, Frank/Danny learns from her that Ruth is the killer – Harry had caught her stealing. Frank/Danny’s life is in danger and a confrontation and a deadly struggle ensues. Marucci arrives to tie up loose ends.