Reviews (13)

Quite a mix
This particular DVD version of "The Stranger" would have been much better without several of the so-called "extras." First, that annoying Delta logo that pops up in the lower right hand corner every so often. That should be the first to go. Second, the bizarre introduction and endnotes from Tony Curtis. What is that about? Lastly, the puny "Orson Welles On Film" documentary left a lot to be desired. It was mostly still photographs of Welles in various poses and long movie clips with some bland narration. For a much better documentary of Welles' career, I recommend "The Battle Over Citizen Kane."

You may wonder why I mentioned all this before talking about the movie itself...well, all the bells and whistles were distracting. However, I did enjoy the movie itself. Edward G. Robinson does a fine job as the Nazi hunter who has tracked down a fugitive (Welles) to a small Conneticut town. Orson Welles gives a quietly sinister performance as Rankin/Kindler; even his little "Mm-hms" are chilling, and when he scowls and glares, it's pretty intimidating. Loretta Young gets a little shrill as Rankin's dim bulb wife, but gives an adequate performance.

In summary: the film is well worth watching, especially for fans of Orson Welles. If you're going to buy it for keeps, however, you may want to look for another version that is better quality.

Aptly Titled
'The Stranger' is certainly an appropriate title. The film IS a strange one for director/actor Orson Welles ' it was uncharacteristically completed on time and under budget. It is also a fairly straight-ahead thriller that just barely has the 'Welles touch.' In fact, compared to Welles' other work, it seems'well, ordinary.

Welles plays a Nazi war criminal who has found refuge as a professor in a sleepy college town. This is the type of town where nothing much ever happens and the owner of the town's general store knows everyone and everything about them. When Edward G. Robinson comes to town looking for 'antiques,' suspicions are aroused, especially Welles'.

The best parts of 'The Stranger' are the cat-and-mouse game between Welles and Robinson as well as the relationship between Welles and his new wife Loretta Young. The film still holds up as a good thriller, but not a great one. The second half of the film feels too manipulated. You might say, 'But Welles was a MASTER of manipulation,' and you'd be right. But the difference here is in the manipulation of supporting characters who aren't given sufficient room to develop or to think.

The commentary track by Jeffrey Lyons is, unfortunately, unremarkable. Lyons spends much of his commentary giving us a resume of each film the actors made, rather than discussing the merits and qualities of the film. I was hoping that someone with the knowledge and expertise that Lyons possesses would give us more.

Although not as good as other Welles films, every film lover should watch the film to catch glimpses of greatness from Welles, Robinson, and Young.

95 minutes

Well worth the admission price
A neat thriller from Welles. Perhaps his least ambitious film, but a good story well-told and well-acted.

Welles is the nazi war criminal hiding out in a small Connecticut town where he has become a valued member of the community.

Edward G Robinson, playing a good guy for a change, is the detective who tracks him down, and then has to prove who he is.

It isn't up there with Citizen Kane, or the Magnificent Ambersons, it isn't a movie that will have your jaw dropping at its extravagant brilliance and fire-work, box-of-tricks direction. But it is solid, it is entertaining and it is well-scripted.

Certainly any project with the Orson Welles stamp is worth watching and this, on its own terms, is a well-honed and interesting minor classic.

Welles is superb in the lead role. There's a wonderful bit of dialogue when his professorial nazi character is fielding questions on the German character. Somebody asks him about Karl Marx to disprove a point.

"Ah, but Marx wasn't a German, he was a jew," comes the telling response, delivered with such arrogance and conviction it makes you seethe.

Well worth the admission price.

Well-paced thriller, atypical of Welles' style
The quality of this DVD is adequate: more watchable than the other Welles "Laserlight Classics," but nowhere near as sharp as, say, the recent DVD releases of "Citizen Kane" or "The Third Man." The bizarro Tony Curtis introduction is perhaps worth the price of admission alone! The bonus documentary is fairly perfunctory, but does contain some interesting and rarely seen trailers of Welles films.

On to the movie itself: In a scenario reminiscient of (but far less effective than) Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt," Edward G. Robinson pursues the title character (Welles), who may or may not be an escaped Nazi, through a sleepy Connecticut town. Although "The Stranger" illustrates Welles' concerns that World War II did not spell the end of fascism, the film is by his own admission more of an attempt at profitable Hollywood product than an artistic statement. Despite this and the film's failure to live up to the inevitable comparison's with "Shadow of a Doubt," "The Stranger" remains a well-paced thriller, more enjoyable when considered apart from the rest of Welles' oeuvre. The trademark Welles style is evident in the South American prologue and the drugstore scenes, and the film achieves genuine suspense during the "paper chase" scene and the grand finale.

A very good film-noir
This is a very good film and one of the lesser-known film-noirs. Orson Welles is an escaped Nazi war criminal named Franz Kindler who hides out in a bucolic Connecticut town under an assumed name. He believes he can finally put his dark past behind him since nobody knows his true identity. He becomes a teacher at a prep school for boys and marries the headmaster's pretty but very naive daughter Mary, played very well by Loretta Young. Edward G. Robinson is also terrific in his role as a war crimes commissioner on Kindler's trail who shows up in town as an antique dealer. Welles and Robinson's characters play a cat & mouse game that ends in a dramatic climax atop the town's clock tower. At times Welles' performance comes off as over the top and the film can seem slightly melodramatic, but I believe those factors enhance the dense and brooding atmosphere. This is a good film with a simple plot and on cue performances that allow us to see the characters' motivations without being distracted by unimportant details. Richard Long and Martha Wentworth also star. Recommended! ... Read more