“Orson
Welles’
The Stranger features
a scintillating cast and is a thrilling
drama from the golden age of Hollywood
billed alarmingly as: ‘He was an
obscenity on the face of the Earth. The
stench of burning flesh was in his
clothes.’
Don’t
miss it...” THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT CANNOT BE FORGIVEN and Mr Wilson (Edward
G Robinson: The Ten Commandments) of the Allied War Crimes Commission
is hot on the tracks of Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler — having
negotiated the release of prisoner Konrad Meinike (Konstantin Shayne), who was
one of Kindler's contemporaries and was in charge of one of the "more
efficient" concentration camps, in order to follow him.
Luring cinemagoers into the gripping storyline from the word go, Orson Welles'
1946 Film Noir The Stranger builds up gradually into a taut and tantalising
thriller that is beautifully handled by the commendable cast. Now available
on DVD, The Stranger will become better known!
Having established the whereabouts of Kindler from a passport photographer (John
Brown), Meinike travels under an assumed name to the peaceful town of Harper,
Connecticut, in the USA — unaware that Wilson, posing as an antiques collector
specialising in clocks, is hot on his heels.
Having collected information and left his suitcase at Potters Drug Store, Meinike
goes into Harper School. But when he realises that Wilson is behind him he swings
a weighted rope from the gymnasium and believes he has killed his pursuer. In
a light touch, the camera focuses on a sign: Anyone using apparatus in this
room does so at their own risk!
Meinike asks at a house for Charles Rankin but his fiancée, Mary Longstreet
(Loretta Young: The Farmer's Daughter), says he is out and that they
are to marry later that day. She reluctantly allows Meinike to wait but he goes
out to meet Professor Rankin (Orson Welles) on his way back from the prep school
where he teaches.
At first Rankin greets Meinike warmly, but after discussing his supposed escape
with him he is suspicious that the other man was able to get away so easily
— a miracle that Meinike has put down to an act of God and a sign of forgiveness
for their past sins.
When Rankin discovers that his former friend was followed to Harper but that
Wilson is now dead, Rankin kills Meinike and buries him in the woods, determined
that his past will not cast its shadow on his new life.
Mary is the innocent daughter of Judge Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale) and
as she and Rankin marry Wilson is making a remarkable recovery and begins to
uncover clues that could tear away the veil of respectability that hides Rankin's
true and horrifying identity. Rankin will learn that the past has a habit of
catching up with you when you least expect it — particularly so as dark
and deadly a past as his.
When the body of Mary's pet dog Reb is found in the woods by her brother Noah
(Richard Long) — who has always disliked Rankin — and her husband
starts behaving in a menacing way, Mary's whole life begins to fall apart and
her life could be in danger. But does she love Rankin too much to give him up?
The Stranger is a must-see film that ticks all the right boxes and also
features: Byron Keith, Billy House and Martha Wentworth. The Screenplay is by
Anthony Veiller; Adaptation by Victor Trivas and Decla Dunning; Original Story
by Victor Trivas; Director of Photography: Russell Metty ASC; Music by Bronislaw
Kaper; Produced by S P Eagle (Sam Spiegel: Lawrence Of Arabia, The
African Queen); Direction: Orson Welles.
• The Stranger, the third film by the
legendary Director Orson Welles to be released by Network, is available to buy
now on DVD (released on 12 January, 2009). Certificate: PG | RRP: £2.99 | Total
Running Time: 94 Minutes Approximately | Screen Ratio: 1:33:1 black-and-white.
"Luring cinemagoers into the gripping storyline from the word go, Orson Welles'
1946 Film Noir The Stranger builds up gradually into a taut and tantalising
thriller" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“Orson
Welles’
The Stranger features