THE STRANGER: Orson Welles directed and starred 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 Spiegel reedited the film, THE STRANGER is still multilayered, complex, and fascinating. 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.

A Nazi war criminal is hounded across America by a federal agent after he assumes a false identity.

Theatrical Release: July, 1946

An uncredited John Huston had a large hand in the development of the script.

The producers, led by Sam Spiegel, cut many of Welles's favorite, more complex scenes. Welles was never happy with the final cut.

THE STRANGER was the first Hollywood film to use real footage from World War II concentration camps.

Welles originally wanted Agnes Moorehead to play the character eventually played by Edward G. Robinson.

THE STRANGER was the only Welles-directed film to show a profit upon its initial theatrical release.

THE STRANGER is perhaps the most mainstream of Welles's films; he shot it within the studio system, shooting it by the book.

Konstantin Shayne (Meinike) was Akim Tamiroff's brother-in-law; Tamiroff starred in Welles's MR. ARKADIN.

DVD Features:

Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.333
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1
Additional Release Material:
Commentary - Jeffrey Lyons Commentary
Trailer - Theatrical Trailer
Early Wells Film "HEARTS OF AGE"
Text/Photo Gallery:
Photo Gallery

Orson Welles: Director/Screenwriter/Actor, CITIZEN KANE
Edward G. Robinson: American actor
Loretta Young: American actress, THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER
Philip Merivale: British Actor
Richard Long: TV Actor/"Big Valley"
Byron Keith: Actor/"The Stranger"
Billy House: American Actor

Orson Welles: Director/Screenwriter/Actor, CITIZEN KANE

Sam Spiegel: Producer

Anthony Veiller: 

Bronislau Kaper: Film Composer

Ernest Nims: Editor