The Stranger (1946)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Anthony Veiller (screenplay)
Victor Trivas (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Most Deceitful Man A Woman Ever Loved !

Plot:

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.

Plot Keywords:

Connecticut | War Crime | Clock | Nazi | Professor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Mr. Wilson
Loretta Young	...	Mary Longstreet
Orson Welles	...	Professor Charles Rankin
Philip Merivale	...	Judge Adam Longstreet
Richard Long	...	Noah Longstreet
Konstantin Shayne	...	Konrad Meinike
Byron Keith	...	Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence
Billy House	...	Mr. Potter
Martha Wentworth	...	Sara
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Bond	...	Student (uncredited)
John Brown	...	Passport Photographer (uncredited)
Neal Dodd	...	Minister (uncredited)
Nancy Evans	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Fred Godoy	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Joseph Granby	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Todd, Customer in Potter's Store (uncredited)
Ruth Lee	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Lillian Molieri	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Isabel O'Madigan	...	Mrs. Lawrence (uncredited)
Gabriel Peralta	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Gerald Pierce	...	Kid throwing newspaper shreds (uncredited)
Robert Raison	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Rebel Randall	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Johnny Sands	...	Jogging Student in Woods (uncredited)
Erskine Sanford	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Pietro Sosso	...	Mr. Peabody (uncredited)
Brother Theodore	...	Fairbright (uncredited)
Josephine Victor	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Directed by
Orson Welles

Writing credits
Anthony Veiller		(screenplay)
Victor Trivas		(adaptation) and
Decla Dunning		(adaptation)
Victor Trivas		(story)
John Huston		uncredited and
Orson Welles		uncredited

Produced by
Sam Spiegel	....	producer (as S. P. Eagle)

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper		(as Bronislaw Kaper)

Cinematography by
Russell Metty

Film Editing by
Ernest J. Nims		(as Ernest Nims)

Production Design by
Perry Ferguson

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Michael Woulfe		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Robert Cowan	....	makeup artist (as Bob Cowan)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Voglin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Arthur Johns	....	sound
Corson Jowett	....	sound

Special Effects by
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
David Sharpe	....	stunts (uncredited)

Other crew
Gladys Hill	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• International Pictures (I) (presents)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• Independent Releasing Organization (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Take 2 Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Master Movies (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• United American Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Music (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• FOCUSfilm Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Brentwood Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Questar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Timeless Video (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• St. Clair Entertainment Group (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Radio Filmes (????) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Castle Communications (1993) (Finland) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD) (special edition)
• Ermitage Cinema (2001) (Italy) (DVD)
• Ermitage Cinema (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• FS Film Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Finnkino (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• St. Clair Entertainment Group (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• TV3 (1990) (Finland) (TV)
• YLE Teema (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1979) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Also Known As:

Date with Destiny (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Hungary:14 | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #11353) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

United Artists Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

International Pictures (I)

Trivia:

A lengthy scene of Meineke trying to find Kindler was filmed but cut by the studio. The footage (between 20-30 minutes) is believed lost as even the original negatives have gone missing. (see alternate versions)

Goofs:

Continuity: When Wilson runs the Concentration Camp footage for Mary Longstreet we see several shots of her face with the flickering light from the screen reflected onto her face. When the film runs out of the projector the light on her face continues to flicker as if film is still being projected instead of being a bright white light.

Quotes:

Wilson: He was an obscenity on the face of the earth. The stench of burning flesh was in his clothes.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Prodigal Sons (2008)

I like Harper just the way it is even without a clock....

Loretta Young intones her provincial view of a small Connecticut town, and how everything is perfect, nothing terrible can ever happen in Harper.

Orson Welles deserves credit for this underrated gem. Richard Long is Noah Longstreet and Richard Merrivale as Young's father, a Supreme Court judge.

Edward G. Robinson is the government official, tracking down former Nazi Franz Kindler. Could he be in this perfect American town?. Welles is undercover as a local professor. He marries Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young) but soon some terrible things start occurring in Harper. Mary's dog, Red is missing. Then the body of a mysterious foreigner is found in the woods.

The clock plays a backdrop; Franz Kindler is an amateur clock collector. There are several intriguing scenes, such as when Welles is discussing Nazis and warfare, in the context of history. This is a brilliant suspense film. 10/10.