STRANGER, THE

(July 1946, U.S.)

In the '90s, I was dating a girl (her name was Kathy) who had a cinematic fascination with Nazi stories (rest assured, that's as far as her Nazi fascination went). One day she confided in me that she had a story idea about a former Nazi war criminal trying to hide and pass himself off as a local member of an American suburban town, all the while a member of the War Crimes Commission hot on his trail. Well, I think I just about broke her poor, little heart when I told her that story idea had pretty much been done already with Orson Welles's film of THE STRANGER, based on an original story by Victor Trivas. At first, she didn't want to believe my claim, but when I finally showed her the film, the poor girl looked and felt defeated. That was just about twenty-five years ago and I have no idea if she ever pursued her story idea in any way after that.

Like the film I posted before this one, THE STRANGER is also a 1946 film noir feature and it's also one of those public domain films that should never be forgotten, especially since it's one of Welles's most intriguing premises. It's the year just following the end of World War II, and Mr. Wilson (played by Edward G. Robinson) of the United Nations War Crimes Commission is hunting down Nazi fugitive Franz Kindler (Welles) who has diabolically managed to erase all traces of evidence that would identify his past identity. As a respectable member of a Connecticut town, he lives his live as prep school professor Charles Rankin who also enjoys his hobby of tinkering with the big clock at the town square church, and is also about to be married to Mary Longstreet (played by Loretta Young). Of course, no one's evil past can remain secret for too long. A former Nazi associate shows up on the day Charles is to be married. Meeting secretly in the woods, Franz Kindler strangles his former associate rather than allow himself to be exposed.

Wilson eventually deduces who Charles Rankin really is, but still must prove his suspicions. He soon goes after Mary, trying to convince her of who her new husband truly is. Naturally, the devoted wife will hear of no such accusations against the man she loves, but time and mounting evidence soon pile up, leaving the devoted wife in a state of fear and panic, despite any love that continues to blind her. She's torn between her need to learn the hard truth of the possible monster she's just married and the notion of trying to live a normal life with him. Mr. Wilson shows her graphic footage of Nazi concentration camps and explains how Rankin, as Kindler, developed the idea of genocide (THE STRANGER was actually the first Hollywood film to present documentary footage of the Holocaust). It's not until she realizes that her dear new Nazi hubby is plotting to kill her that she finally takes a stand against him, actually daring him to kill her. He shows no hesitation in the attempt, but is ultimately stopped by Mr. Wilson. Kindler's final doom is the very clock he's put so much love and attention into when he's impaled by the machine's mechanism.

THE STRANGER was only Welles's third directorial feature, after CITIZEN KANE and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS. Unlike those first two, it was an instant box office hit and only solidified the man's talents as a director and an artist. The combination of mystery, suspense, intrigue and melodrama manages to take full advantage of a story that holds high relevance following the very end of World War II, though one could very easily make comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT, released three years earlier, though I personally don't like to confuse apples and oranges, particularly when it comes to something as politically hard-hitting as the Nazis. Orson Welles, for all of his prior Charles-Foster-Kane-charms and graces, is diabolically effective and even frightening as the desperate and even psychopathic Nazi who doesn't want to be found out or caught.

Sorry Kathy, but it looks like your story idea never stood a chance. If it's any consolation, one could hardly expect to compete with the great Orson Welles.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Mary Longstreet (to Franz Kindler): "Kill me! Kill me! I want you to! I couldn't face life knowing what I've been to you and what I've done to Noah! But when you kill me, don't put your hands on me!"