Stranger in the House

Stranger in the House is a 1967 crime film directed and written by Pierre Rouve (from the novel by Georges Simenon), produced by Anatole de Grunwald and starring James Mason, Geraldine Chaplin and Bobby Darin. The movie was released as Cop-Out in the USA and is a remake of the French film Strangers in the House (Les inconnus dans la maison, 1942). The film was remade in 1997. Eric Burdon & the Animals recorded the song "Ain't That So" for the film. The song was co-written by band member Vic Briggs and the composer of the film score, John Scott. It was produced and arranged by Briggs. Plot John Sawyer was once a brilliant defence lawyer but his life has taken a downturn. He has become an alcoholic, his wife has left him, his sister is ashamed of him, while his daughter Angela, who still lives in his increasingly shabby large house, despises him. She follows her own life with a wild group of friends led by two rich boys, one of whom is her cousin, Desmond. Two poor boys are also part of the gang: an American criminal on the run called Barney and a Cypriot immigrant called Jo. Angela falls for Jo. After a vicious fight with Jo, Barney is immobilised and Angela hides him in the attic of her house, where he is shot dead by an intruder. The murder weapon is planted on Jo, who is arrested and put on trial. Nobody in town wants to defend him, so Angela begs her father to do so.