Other Titles • The Stranger • Date with Destiny (1946) • Der Fremde (1977) • Die Spur des Fremden (1977)
Synopses for The Stranger (1946)
1.
The legendary story that hovers over Orson Welles's The Stranger is that he wanted Agnes Moorehead to star as the dogged Nazi hunter who trails a war criminal to a sleepy New England town. The part went to E.G. Robinson, who is marvelous, but it points out how many compromises Welles made on the film in an attempt to show Hollywood he could make a film on time, on budget, and on their own terms. He accomplished all three, turning out a stylish if unambitious film noir thriller, his only Hollywood film to turn a profit on its original release. Welles stars as unreformed fascist Franz Kindler, hiding as a schoolteacher in a New England prep school for boys and newly married to the headmaster's lovely if naive daughter (Loretta Young). Welles the director is in fine form for the opening sequences, casting a moody tension as agents shadow a twitchy low-level Nazi official skulking through South American ports and building up to dramatic crescendo as Kindler murders this little man, the lovely woods becoming a maelstrom of swirling leaves that expose the body he furiously tries to bury. The rest of film is a well-designed but conventional cat-and-mouse game featuring an eye-rolling performance by Welles and a thrilling conclusion played out in the dark clock tower that looms over the little village. --Sean Axmaker
2.
Orson Welles directed and stars in THE STRANGER, a tense black-and-white thriller that Welles made for maverick producer Sam Spiegel. Welles portrays Charles Rankin, a respected academic at a prominent Connecticut college. He seems to have the perfect life: a beautiful new wife, Mary (Loretta Young); and a charming home in a small town that holds him in high esteem. Enter Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), a detective on the hunt for Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler. The appearance of Mr. Wilson threatens to reveal that underneath this idyllic veneer is a secret that could tear everything apart.
Although many of Welles's most interesting scenes wound up on the cutting-room floor when producer Sam Speagle reedited the film, THE STRANGER is still a multilayered, complex, and fascinating film. The scenes between Welles and Robinson are intellectually gripping, leading up to the stylized, shocking conclusion. As with so many of Welles's films, he was unhappy with the final result, but the viewer won't be. It would be most interesting to see the film as Welles intended it to be, but in the meantime, this version of THE STRANGER is a marvel of wonder.
3.
This film noir classic features Orson Welles in one of his best thrillers and expertly creates white-knuckle suspense out of ordinary situations like a dog digging in the leaves, college boys on a paper chase, and a broken clock. Edward G. Robinson is Wilson, a detective in the War Crimes Commission seeking the mastermind of the Holocaust, bloodthirsty Franz Kindler (Welles). Kindler has erased his identity so successfully that only his former ally, Meinike, can identify him. Wilson and Meinike both trace Kindler to Harper, Connecticut, where Meinike is murdered. Kindler's new wife (Loretta Young) has no clue as to her husband's past evil deeds and comes within an inch of her own life when Kindler suspects her of knowing too much. The film's climactic scene is one of the most memorable in cinema history.
4.
Orson Welles directed and stars in this tightly woven drama of wanted Nazi war criminal, Franz Kindler, tracked down in a sleepy New England village where he is about to marry the daughter of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Welles as the Nazi, Loretta Young as the unsuspecting bride and Edward G. Robinson as the famous Nazi hunter.
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
