
            DEADLY STRANGERS-Synopsis 
A nurse prepares a syringe and wheels her med cart down the hall of a hospital. As she passes a room with an open door, we see a doctor who has just given a shot to a young man. The nurse proceeds to Room 12 where she looks through a peephole and sees what looks like a patient covered up in bed. Unlocking the door, she enters with a med tray and sets it on a table. She closes the room door and walks to the open window, closing it and pulling the curtain. As she turns back, someone grabs the syringe and gives the injection to her. There is a great struggle as the nurse is forced back upon the bed, her dress lifted up. Next we see a shadowy figure exit the room. At the exit door a man is struck down, allowing the figure to leave the building. The doctor then notices the med cart and looks in the room where the nurse was going. He opens the door and goes in. Outside we see the path taken through woods from the escapee's point of view. [TITLE SHOWS] 
A couple watching television hear a noise in the house. The woman urges the man to investigate. They go into a bedroom which has been ransacked. The window is standing open as someone obviously has gone out. 
A man driving a car stops to make a phone call and hears someone starting his car. He runs out, shouting at the driver, who then runs him over. The car stops briefly as if checking to see the man is dead, and then drives off. 
A large tanker truck pulls into a truck stop and the truck driver Jim Nicholls (Ken Hutchison) goes into the Roadhouse Diner to eat. Shown in the parking lot is the blue Austin Maxi which was stolen from the man in the phone booth. 
Jim calls for bacon and eggs as he makes his way in. Standing nearby is Stephen Slade (Simon Ward) who is playing a slot machine and nursing a glass of whiskey. Jim orders "the usual" from the waitress at the bar and tells the barman he is late because someone escaped from Greenwood Sanitarium and the roads are blocked. 
Glancing in the mirror in front of him, Stephen notices a woman entering. Belle Adams (Hayley Mills) asks the barman how to get to Greenwood Station. He tells her the last bus has just left and there are no cabs. Thinking of Jim, he asks her to wait. Jim is talked into taking Belle with him since he is going that way and no lady should be out by herself with a maniac loose. 
Jim helps Belle into the cab of the truck and gets in on the driver's side. Starting the motor, Jim looks at her legs as they drive off. Stephen, having observed all this, gets in the blue car and takes a swig of whiskey. Suddenly a police car pulls into the parking lot with siren on. Two policemen enter the Roadhouse as Stephen drives off and begins following them. Showing a picture of the escapee (not to the camera), the cop is told the person was just here by the barman. 
Down the road, Jim asks Belle what time her train leaves and she replies two o'clock. He implies that it should be no problem. Seeing a roadblock ahead, he tells her to get down and covers her with a coat so the police will not see her. The officers stop him and ask where he's coming from. One cop looks under the truck and sees nothing, giving the all-clear sign to his partner. Driving on, Jim tells her to get up. He says he could lose his job if she were found riding along. She says she can't thank him enough. He replies, want to bet? Looking again at her legs, he asks if she is a model. She replies no, and says that she is grateful. He tells her that he hoped she would say that and pulls the truck over to the side of the road. When she asks what is wrong, he tells her that they need to settle the fare. He moves on her and a struggle ensues. Belle falls out of the truck and tries to run. He meets her from the other side and attempts to kiss her. She continues to resist him until finally he shoves her against a railing and leaves, throwing her purse out onto the road. The contents fall out and Belle goes to retrieve them. 
Stephen drives up at that moment and just misses hitting her. She begins picking up her things from the road as he stops and gets out. He accuses her of almost causing a wreck and she tells him that he is drunk. They are almost hit by another car as she tries to collect her things. He asks what she is doing and she tells him she is trying to get to Greenwood Station. When he offers her a lift, she sarcastically suggests not in his condition. He goes to leave, then stops and tells her to get in. They drive on in the rain. 
She refuses a drink from his whiskey bottle and tries to dry her hair. He says wasn't she at the Roadhouse? She tells him she caught a ride but the fare was too high. He says she was asking for it trying to ride with drivers. Her car will take a couple days to fix and she can take care of herself, she tells him. She continues to comb and dry her hair. 
He asks how long does it take to boil an ostrich egg. Four hours. She looks at him as if he is crazy. He tells her he has a book about how to make friends and it says to say something. She smiles and turns on the radio. An announcer says the escaped maniac is being sought. She turns the dial elsewhere and Stephen starts talking about the crazy people at Greenwood. 
She tells him that he missed the turn and should go back. He says there is no place to turn around. She insists that he back up. Reluctantly, he backs to the intersection and turns on the crossroad. 
After some more chatter, they pull into the train station and Stephen offers to check the train schedule. She waits in the car as he walks around the building. Seeing officers across the tracks, he is hesitant to draw attention to himself. Meanwhile Belle finds an envelope under the dash of the car addressed to a Mr. Hargreaves. Inside are pamphlets on farm equipment. She looks through them and replaces them in the envelope under the dash. 
He returns to the car and tells her that she missed the train and that there will not be one the next day. He suggests they stay at a hotel in a town where he is going. She guesses that she has no other choice. 
She tells him that she grew up in Whickham and he says he knows it well, remembering the beach. This triggers a flashback from her childhood where she rode a horse up and down the beach while her parents waited. As she distracted her father from the backseat of their car, there was a terrible crash where they were killed. She tells Stephen she feels sick and he offers to stop. She says she feels better now. 
Coming to a railroad crossing, the bars come down and they stop while a fast train goes through. He confesses that he shouldn't be stopped because of drinking today on his birthday. When she says she is unsure if he is telling the truth, he assures her that he is. When she sees the train, she asks where the next stop is, and can they get there. He begins driving fast and is chased by a police car, but loses it with another roadblock and some traffic. Finding a dirt road, they turn off and the cop goes on past. 
They park on the dirt road and she tells him she knows he lied about the train. He says he likes her and didn't want to lose her company. He says that she was talking about her uncle (Peter Jeffrey) that she went to live with in Whickham after her parents' death. In another flashback we see her riding a horse at her uncle's place. She tells Stephen she wants to visit Whickham to see where she grew up. He says he is a traveling salesman from Birmingham and that everyone has their problems. She asks about his, and he has a flashback showing when he and a girl went into a bedroom to make out at a party. 
Belle informs him that they are almost out of petrol, so they pull into a station. When no one comes out to wait on him, he blows the horn. He gets out and finds the office empty. Going around the side, he comes to the bathroom window and sees a girl (Nina Francis) changing clothes through a crack in the glass. Belle comes out and sees him looking in the window. When he sees her looking, he comes and confesses that he is unable to find anyone. At that moment the girl emerges from the bathroom and he asks for petrol. They walk to the pumps and Belle enters the bathroom. When she returns she notices Stephen and the girl being very chummy. He pays and Belle sits in the car. Stephen tells her he has to make a phone call and will be back soon. 
The girl is attacked from the point of view of the killer. When Stephen returns to the car, Belle is asleep. He apologizes for taking so long and they leave. The girl's bloodied body is shown on the floor, with papers strewn about. 
Belle asks Stephen what he sells and he makes her guess. When she suggests farm equipment, she pulls out the envelope and confesses that she peeped at it. He pretends and informs her that Mr. Hargreaves had the job before him. 
They stop to eat and Stephen gets two cups of coffee. As she is eating, two bikers enter (George Collis and Ralph Arliss) and ask her to save two chairs next to her. As a joke, one of them adds a cube of sugar to each of the coffees. Stephen removes the cubes and carries them to the table. He presents Belle with a new pack of cigarettes, then turns back for matches. He bumps into one of the bikers, spilling his drink. The biker gives him a dirty look. 
They drive off but are pursued by the bikers, who make it difficult to proceed. After some maneuvering Stephen rams the back tire of one of the bikes causing it to crash and burn. The other biker stops to see. Stephen drives on as Belle protests. He refuses to aid the biker and Belle tries to wrestle the steering wheel away from him. In the struggle she falls out of the car and he comes to a stop in a muddy field. He chases after her and they struggle more. When a passing car stops to ask if she needs help, Belle tells the two men everything is all right. They reluctantly leave. 
He asks Belle why she didn't give him up and says he will go back to check on the accident. She tells him it's too late now and the police will be after them. He takes a swig of whiskey and she knocks it away, saying his breath will get them in trouble. They get back in the car with Belle driving. 
As it gets dark outside, they see another roadblock ahead and Belle turns off on a side road. They park and she suggests they wait until morning. He says he should take her to a hotel in a nearby town. He doesn't want her involved if the biker is dead. She tells him he will need a witness. Puzzled, he asks why she changes her mind about him. You helped me, she tells him. He helps her lower the seat to sleep. 
As he watches her, he has a flashback where he is making love to his girlfriend (Juliet Aykroyd) unsuccessfully. She asks what is wrong and he says it is difficult to talk about. Belle and Stephen say goodnight and settle to sleep. 
When he wakes the next morning Belle is gone. He goes calling for her but is unable to find her. He finds the highway and sees a number of cars coming. He returns to his car and calls her name again. He notices his front headlight is busted. Getting back in the car, he takes off down the highway. 
Belle is seen shopping at a local store. Through the window she sees Stephen drive by but she is unable to stop him. He drives on, cursing her. 
Belle walks down a road with a bag of apples and spies a horse. She feeds the horse an apple, which triggers another flashback where she was feeding her uncle's horse. She overhears laughter and climbs up to the hayloft where she sees her uncle and a woman rolling in the hay. Upset, she spills the apples. Ironically, she also spills the apples in the present also, and begins picking them up from the roadway. 
A man, Malcolm Robarts (Sterling Hayden), drives up in a 1929 Cord and stops to help. He feigns an accent which she quickly detects is fake, but his enthusiasm impresses her to accept a ride with plans for dinner that evening. 
Stephen is seen at a gas station where a man is adding oil to his engine. Seeing the car pass with Belle and Robarts, he slams the hood and drives off with the attendant running after him. 
Stephen turns into a parking building, takes a ticket and parks on the top level. Belle and Robarts are seen at the Grand Pier, walking and talking. He tells her they should dine on his yacht where the chef is very good and looks through a telescope. When Belle takes a look, she sees only an old freighter. Nevertheless she is impressed with his efforts. 
Stephen walks to a shop where in the window he sees porno magazines, which causes a flashback where his girlfriend finds his porno mags and suggests that maybe whipping him will satisfy his needs. As he walks past the newspaper stand, the headline reads GREENWOOD ESCAPE-GIRL MURDERED AT FILLING STATION. 
At an abandoned carnival Robarts continues to try to woo Belle. She seems impressed. Meanwhile Stephen sees them at the edge of the pier. He runs over, calling to Belle. Recognizing that this is the young man Belle told him about, he helps her rejoin Stephen. 
Belle and Stephen bicker about the separation and she says she wants her coat from his car. They walk to the parking building. 
Meanwhile, Robarts buys a paper and sees the picture of the killer on it. He drives to the parking building and looks up. Stephen sees him and thinks he wants Belle. Robarts calls and points to him. She tells him that maybe the biker is dead and they are after him. Robarts drives into the parking building and Stephen and Belle drive down. They have to stop behind a couple of cars to pay their parking ticket but just manage to get away before Robarts can catch up. 
They get out on the road but soon see Robarts chasing after them. They manage to elude him on a crowded turn where Robarts runs off the road and crashes into a gate. Stephen believes they have lost him but Belle suggests they turn off the highway a different way. Meanwhile Robarts reaches a red phone booth and calls the police. 
She asks if Stephen is hungry and brings forward a square box which she offers as a birthday present to him. He seems touched and thanks her. She says he can open it later. They arrive at Whickham and are seen riding horses on the beach. Tying up the horses, they go into the Castle of Comfort and order two beers. As they are drinking, Stephen sees the young biker, who notices him. Setting down the beers, Stephen rushes Belle out, telling her they have to leave. When the biker goes outside, he doesn't see them or their car. He gets a glimpse of them riding away on horses just as the other biker comes out with his arm in a sling. Belle and Stephen return the horses to the stable where their car is parked and leave. 
Angry again, Stephen says he will take her back to her car. She tells him that it is too far and will not be ready until tomorrow. She suggests they stay in a hotel. He says he could use a bath and she agrees. This brings up another flashback where she was bathing and her uncle came in and saw her naked. He commented about having seen it all before and threw her a towel. 
Saying he needs to take some miles off the clock, Stephen speeds up just as they are passing a motorcycle cop (Roger Nott). The cop pursues them and they stop. Approaching the driver's window, the cop tells him to turn off the motor. He asks what happened to the car and cites a broken headlamp. Stephen tells him it was a bump and that he will have it fixed tomorrow. The officer asks for his license, but after stalling, he admits that he doesn't have it with him. Telling him to get it fixed tomorrow, the cop answers the question of a nearby hotel a few miles away. 
She agrees to stay at the hotel, taking any room they can. This triggers a daydream in which Belle strips down to black underwear and hose with garters. He imagines her calling his name and is returned by her doing so. She asks for a light and notices he is trembling. 
Going to the hotel desk, the clerk (Norman Tyrrell) says they are full. Asking for anything, he is told they have a fishing cabin available for ten pounds. Stephen signs the register as Mr. Jones. When he asks for the evening paper, the clerk reluctantly gives it to him. 
They drive a short distance to the cabin and Stephen gives the key to Belle, telling her he will park the car. She unlocks the door and goes inside. They both agree the place is nice. He asks if she will take a bath, to which she replies, after you.
He goes in to run water as she lights a cigarette and brings the paper into the bedroom. When he sees the paper, he comes out and says there is no hot water until morning. They agree to go on to bed in their clothes. He says he will take the couch and gets a blanket from a drawer. Goodnights are said and Stephen goes out and closes the door. 
Belle lies on the bed, triggering another flashback. This time her drunken uncle comes into her bedroom to put a necklace on her. He tries to force himself on her. Suddenly the door opens and Stephen comes in to return the bath towel to the bathroom. Saying goodnight again, he leaves and closes the door. She gets up and puts a chair in front of the door. 
Turning out the room lights, Stephen notices Belle walking around in the room as seen under the door. He goes to the keyhole and peeps through. She begins to undress but looks at the door. Sensing he might be looking, she covers the door with her coat. He notices a bullet hole in the wall. Getting a knife, he tries to make the opening larger. Looking through, he observes her undressing. She takes the paper and sees his picture next to a headline saying KILLER STRIKES AGAIN. She turns off the light so he can no longer see her. 
Stephen turns in on the couch and pulls the blanket over him. Meanwhile the cop arrives back at the station and sees the front of the paper. He exclaims and goes into action. 
Dressing again, Belle prepares to try to leave. Another flashback shows her uncle attacking her in bed again. She quickly returns to the present and tries to sneak out while Stephen is sleeping. She rummages through his coat pockets for the lighter. When she drops the coat, she goes back in the bedroom. Stephen gets up to get a cigarette but can't find his lighter. He knocks on her door. She gets into bed and pulls the covers up to appear to sleep. She kicks the paper off the bed onto the floor as he comes in. Finding the lighter in her room, he lights a cigarette. Picking up the paper on the floor, he goes out and closes her door. 
She gets up immediately and tries all the windows, which will not open. She sneaks out of the bedroom and picks up the paper from the floor. Not seeing Stephen, she opens the outside door and he is standing there. She closes and locks the door, which angers him. He begins calling her and beating on the door. 
Hearing the sound of broken glass, he goes around to the back and sees her running away through the woods. He follows, calling her. This triggers another flashback with her uncle still wrestling with her. She runs to the car and tries to start it. Stephen hears the car starting and runs to it. A police car pulls up to the hotel with siren on. Getting to the car, he looks inside and gets the paper from the dash. The full page is seen with her picture on the right, identifying her as the escaped killer. All at once she begins strangling him, mirroring how she strangled her uncle in a flashback. The paper shows his picture on the left, saying THIS MAN IS IN DANGER. 
The hotel clerk points the way for the police. As they arrive, Belle slowly exits the car trance-like. As they take her away, one cop looks in the blue car and finds Stephen dead. Belle imagines herself riding a horse on the beach as they prepare to take her in. She produces the square box meant for Stephen and opens it, telling them that it takes four hours to boil an ostrich egg. She takes out the egg and they drive off.
    

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Where to watch Deadly Strangers (1975) movie online

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Deadly Strangers is currently streaming on the following OTT platforms in USA

Your region:
USA