The 1946 ‘The Stranger‘ is one of Orson Welles‘ attempts to make films within the Hollywood production system. It was a commercially successful gamble, but one that would remain an exception in Welles‘ directorial career. Many of his subsequent films either ran over budget or production time, to the point of canceling the projects in some cases, or forced him to make so many artistic concessions that Welles later disowned them and even refused the usage of his name in the credits. ‘The Stranger‘, however, produced by Sam Spiegel and John Huston (who was also co-producer and co-writer, but was not credited) manages to bring to the screens a very actual theme in the years after the war – the hunt for Nazi criminals – and does so with an elegance and economy of means that make the film a milestone for many film noir and thriller productions.
‘The Stranger‘ is one of the first films made after the war in which the main hero is a Nazi hunter. On the trail of a war criminal who has erased all traces of his identity or physiognomy from the archives, Detective Wilson frees another Nazi and pursues him, convinced that he will connect with his former partner in crime. The two arrive in a small American town where the former Nazi, under the false identity of a history teacher, is about to marry Mary, the young daughter of a judge. Trying to cover his tracks, the criminal kills his accomplice. The only person who can make the connection between the assassin and his past is his new wife, but she is both in love and faithful to the vow made at the church to be together with her husband through happiness or sorrow. Will Mary give up her adoration for the man she’s in love with? Or maybe this one will be betrayed by his passion for clocks, the hobby that was also known to be that of the wanted criminal?
Here is a commercial film that is both an art film and a film that contains a treasure trove of references for what was to come in Orson Welles‘ filmography but also in other genres of American and world cinema. It is one of the first films in the Nazi-hunting genre. Many more will follow, until the 80s, when the genre reaches its peak. For the first time in a fiction film, documentary sequences shot at the liberation of the death camps by the Allied troops are used. They will return in Stanley Kramer’s ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ for example. The cinematography is outstandin as Russell Metty, a favorite collaborator of Welles and other great directors, creates unique frames, daring perspectives, shades, makes extensive use of mirrors and of the studio space created especially for this film. Almost every frame is a lesson in cinematography. I was less than thrilled by the very intrusive musical score by Bronislau Kaper, but eight decades ago the effect was probably very different. Welles also resorts to brilliant counter-casting. He assumes for himself the role of the Nazi murderer and has Edward G. Robinson play the positive role of the detective on the trail of the Nazi murderers. The role of Mary is cast by Loretta Young, a famous actress and positive role model at the time among Hollywood stars. I think time has taken its toll here, the relationship between the young American woman and the husband who gradually reveals himself to be a criminal is played too emphatically to be believable to today’s viewers. Even if not all the details have remained that fresh 78 after, ‘The Stranger‘ remains a viewing that has every chance to please not only those who love the history of the film but also those looking for quality entertainment.