Rent The Stranger (1946)
3.5 of 5 from 100 ratings
1h 34min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Edward G. Robinson stars as a government agent tracking down a sadistic Nazi officer (Orson Welles), who has evaded justice for running Nazi extermination camps. Rankin has crafted a new identity for himself in a quaint Connecticut town by marrying Mary (Loretta Young), the daughter of a local judge; but as his past begins to catch up with him, will his wife side with the investigators or her husband...
- Actors:
- Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Philip Merivale, Richard Long, Konstantin Shayne, Byron Keith, Billy House, Martha Wentworth
- Directors:
- Orson Welles
- Producers:
- Sam Spiegel
- Writers:
- Anthony Veiller, Victor Trivas, Decla Dunning, Orson Welles, John Huston
- Aka:
- El extraño
- Studio:
- Eureka
- Genres:
- Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Instant Expert's Guide to John Huston, The Instant Expert's Guide, Top 10 Autumn Films, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 04/05/2015
- Run Time:
- 94 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- None
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Death Mills
- Bull Fight in Madrid
- Orson Welles's Wartime Radio Broadcasts
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Stills Gallery
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Reviews (2) of The Stranger
Chilling anti-nazi drama - The Stranger review by RM
made just after the second world war this Orsen Wells directed drama tells in a matter of fact way the tracking down by a war crimes agent of a nazi war criminal who sent thousands of people to the gas chambers.
It is memorable on several counts; The brilliant black and white photography which adds to the content of the story but also there is the underlying truth that many Nazi warcriminals did escape to South America and the USA. There is tension all the way through this movie, which is enhanced by the peaceful small town location which the Nazi Franz Kindler (Orsen Wells) has made his home. In order to swallow up his past identity he marries a local girl who is unaware of his background.
The agent (Robinson) follows another Nazi who leads him to Kindler.
The film ends with a gripping climax involving a gruesome end to Kindler thanks to the town clock! Well worth watching.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Shadows, Secrets & Welles Up to No Good - The Stranger review by griggs
You can feel the sting of the moment in this one — a thriller made just after the war, already nudging you toward the idea that evil doesn’t vanish; it just updates its address. The Stranger might look like Welles playing it straight, but it’s full of those sly little touches that tell you exactly who’s calling the shots.
The lighting alone is worth the price of entry. Welles carves faces out of shadows, turns small-town streets into lurking traps, and stages dinner-table chatter like covert interrogations. More than once I caught myself staring at the composition and realised I’d missed half the dialogue. The images have that kind of pull.
Welles as the villain is always a pleasure — all charm stretched thin over something sharp beneath. Edward G. Robinson makes a perfect foil, poking at the cracks in that polished exterior with quiet persistence. It’s not flawless, but the mood carries it.
What you get is a tight, moody little thriller — timely then, surprisingly fresh now — and a reminder that even when Welles coloured inside the lines, he still drew something striking enough to linger.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.