The Orson Welles film, The Stranger (1946), which he directed and starred in, has always been around. Without a copyright holder, it’s long been in the public domain, and has shown up on public access TV, cheap DVDs, different streaming sites, and uploaded on YouTube. Held up as a classic film noir, the first that Welles had directed before later 1950s cult classics like The Lady From Shanghai and Touch Of Evil, I read that it was his third film and basically one “for them”, the studios. Submitting to the studios’ editing and basically working on it as a commercial gig, and it was successful (The Stranger is noted as being as the one movie that Welles made that turned a high profit). Even if Welles disowned the movie as not a real “Orson Welles” picture, it is still an artistic triumph, bringing the expressionistic close-ups, high contrast lighting, camera moves and mise en scene of Citizen Kane to a thriller melodrama. Edward G. Robinson plays a government investigator who is on the trail of a wanted Nazi war criminal – Franz Kindler – hiding in a sleepy Connecticut town in America. In his first scene, Welles’ character Charles Rankin is clearly Kindler and is living a sheltered life as a school teacher with a new bride to be (Loretta Young). The main suspense comes from Welles’ character continually being backed into a corner committing murderous deeds to keep his false identity intact while Robinson pulls a Columbo around him, to the point where Young’s character is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. There are quaint, memorable touches to the depiction of the townsfolk, such as the general store owner who lets customers serve themselves while he plays checkers. There’s also many dark scenes – literally and metaphorically – that reckon with the post-war question of evil, and The Stranger’s themes of fascism setting up shop in bright, friendly corners has uncomfortable echoes now. A visually impressive, psychologically engaging, entertaining thriller that demonstrates the talent of Welles as director and actor even when cashing one out for the studios. Streaming on Kanopy. Recommended.
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