Review #1366: The Stranger.Cast:
Edward G. Robinson (Mr. Wilson), Loretta Young (Mary Longstreet Rankin), Orson Welles (Franz Kindler / 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), and Martha Wentworth (Sara) Directed by Orson Welles (#200 - Citizen Kane)
Review:
Who better to deliver a film noir with a sense of nightmarish style and purpose than Orson Welles?
Welles had come from stage productions (making his debut at 16) and a notable radio performance with The War of the Worlds (1938) to make his way onto film through RKO in 1939 with a chance to make two of his own films with complete creative control in terms of writing, directing, and performing. He proceeded to have one of the greatest debuts on film with Citizen Kane (1941), which he directed, performed, and co-wrote with Herman J. Mankiewicz, and it was his work on the script that led to his only Academy Award win. His second effort was The Magnificent Ambersons the following year, but his contract was renegotiated to revoke having final cut privilege, with a change in the RKO board eventually leading to the film being dramatically re-cut to fit what they believed would be a more commercial film. Neither were particularly big successes, but they both received praise for the time with critics and Citizen Kane is now generally considered one of the greatest films of all time. He also did work on Journey Into Fear (1943), doing parts of the script along with directing and producing that were left un-credited. He spent the war years primarily in radio (after a failed attempt of making a Latin American anthology film) before being brought into making this film after intended director John Huston left to join the military. He didn't have complete control, but he did try to give the film his own kind of tone, helping to give re-writes (as Huston did, with both un-credited) to Anthony Veiller and Decla Dunning's script alongside doing long takes to hinder edits. The film was one of the first to show documentary footage from the concentration camps, as Welles had seen this footage prior to the war ending in 1945.
It shouldn't be surprising in any case that Welles managed to make such an entertaining film, one with plenty of thrills to deliver with timely fashion that prevails just as much now as it did in the postwar era. One has likely seen a film or two before involving a murderous stranger trying to hide their true presence amongst the others of a small town (with the most immediate film coming to mind being Shadow of a Doubt, released three years earlier), but Welles infuses enough energy in stoking a chilling atmosphere, whether when directing or when on the screen. He succeeds with conviction, filled with charisma in a capably chilling performance. Young plays it just as carefully, where one can believe in the chemistry between her and Welles, a presence caught in the middle of a cat-and-mouse game of truth. Robinson reels in quite well as our focus, filled with desperation in pursuit that comes to a head with the dinner sequence, where they both are carefully studying the other. The rest of the cast are fine, filling in the details where needed, most notably with House, who gives off a few amusing but needed moments. The former vaudevillian was liked enough by Welles that he had expanded his role as production went on (much to Robinson's chagrin). The film moves on its own careful pace, moving along at 95 minutes with a clear vision towards making a web of deceit and descent come true through long takes and good cinematography by Russell Metty, and the climax pulls itself off swiftly. The film came slightly underbudget and early on schedule, although International Pictures did not make any further pictures with Welles, supposedly because they believed the film would be a flop, which of course was proven wrong (becoming Welles' first audience hit). Over the prevailing decades, Welles would go on to make numerous films in Europe and America, ones that received varied noticed from audiences and critics along with their own distinct production cycles, with his last film coming years after his death with The Other Side of the Wind (2018), which spent years in production and decades in legal trouble. In any case, one should be naturally inclined to include this among others when it comes to film noirs to view as a good example of craftsmanship and cast to go with a capable story, and the fact that it is in the public domain makes it especially worthy.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
