An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi.
The Stranger 1946 HD | Noir Film by Orson Welles | Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young
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Movie Info
Set Connecticut after World War II, The Stranger is a cat and mouse game between Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), a member of the Allied War Crimes Commission and Franz Kindler (Orson Welles), a Nazi who has assumed the false identity of Dr. Charles Rankin. To complete his new intelligentsia disguise, Kindler marries Mary Longstreet, daughter of a Supreme Court justice.
The Stranger is a 1946 American film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young. The film was based on a screenplay written by Victor Trivas, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Sam Spiegel (credited as “S.P. Eagle”) was the film’s producer, and the film’s musical score is by Bronisław Kaper.
Plot
In 1946, Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) of the United Nations War Crimes Commission is hunting for a Nazism fugitive Franz Kindler (Orson Welles), a war criminal who has erased all evidence which might identify him. Kindler has assumed a new identity, Charles Rankin, and has become a University-preparatory school#United States and Canada teacher in a small town in the United States. He has married Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), daughter of Supreme Court of the United States Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale).
Wilson releases Kindler’s former associate Meinike (Konstantin Shayne), hoping the man will lead him to Kindler. Wilson follows Meinike to the town of Harper, Connecticut, but loses him before he meets with Kindler. When Kindler/Rankin and Meinike do meet, Meinike, who is repentant, begs Kindler to confess his crimes. Instead, Kindler strangles Meinike, who might expose him.
Eventually, Wilson deduces that Rankin is Kindler, but not having witnessed the meeting with Meinike, he has no proof. Only Mrs. Rankin knows that Meinike came to meet her husband. To get her to admit this, Wilson must convince her that her husband is a criminal– before Rankin decides to eliminate the threat to him by killing her.
Rankin’s pose begins to unravel when Red, the family dog, discovers Meinike’s body. To protect his secret, Rankin poisons Red.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Rankin begins to suspect her husband, but is too blinded by love to accept the facts. She is torn between her desire to learn the truth about him, and the idea of helping him create his new life. Mr. Wilson shows her graphic footage of Nazi concentration camps, and explains how Kindler/Rankin developed the idea of genocide. But not until Mary discovers Rankin’s plot to kill her does she finally break down. In a tense moment, she dares Rankin to kill her. Rankin tries to, but is prevented by Wilson and Mary’s brother Noah. Pursued by them, he flees into a church belfry, and falls to his death.
Cast
- Orson Welles as Franz Kindler / Professor Charles Rankin
- Edward G. Robinson as Mr. Wilson
- Loretta Young as Mary Longstreet Rankin
- Philip Merivale as Judge Adam Longstreet (Mary’s father)
- Richard Long (actor) as Noah Longstreet (Mary’s brother)
- Konstantin Shayne as Konrad Meinike
- Byron Keith as Dr. Jeffrey Lawrence
- Billy House as Mr. Potter
- Martha Wentworth as Sara
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