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The Stranger

7.4

8,155

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Original title: The Stranger
Year: 1946
Running time: 95 min.
Country: United States
Director: Orson Welles
Screenwriter: Anthony Veiller, John Huston, Decla Dunning. Novel: Victor Trivas
Music: Bronislau Kaper
Cinematography: Russell Metty (B&W)
Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles, Philip Merivale, Richard Long, Konstantin Shayne, Billy House, Martha Wentworth, Byron Keith, Ethan Laidlaw, Ruth Lee, Pietro Sosso, Isabel O'Madigan, Erskine Sanford, Rebel Randall
Producer: RKO Radio Pictures, International Pictures. Producer: Sam Spiegel
Genre: Film noir. Mystery. Thriller. Drama | Nazism. Psychological Thriller
Synopsis: Charles Rankin is a professor in a respectable Connecticut town about to marry the daughter of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. But his name is fake and his past is filthy. An earnest convert to Christianity, who once ran a Nazi concentration camp, is capable of exposing him. So "Rankin" kills this little old man and buries his body in the forest. But he isn't safe because an investigator from the War Crimes Commission is on his tail. Rankin will need his own wife to help him elude capture. But his fascination with the local clock tower may prove his undoing.

Rankings Position

#72 Best Film Noir Movies
#109 Best Thrillers in the history of film
#111 Best Mystery Films

Awards: 1947: Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Screenplay

1947: Venice Film Festival: Nominated for Golden Lion

Critics' reviews

"It is an inventive, highly enjoyable thriller (...) The most impressive scenes in the film may be those that depict daily life in the village"

Dave Kehr: Chicago Reader
"Thus the whole thing becomes a routine and mechanical cat-and-rat chase, with the outcome completely apparent, despite a few bright and clever twists."

Bosley Crowther: The New York Times
"A uniformly excellent cast gives reality to events that transpire. The three stars, Robinson, Young and Welles, turn in some of their best work"

Variety
"[It is] as distinctively Wellesian as 'Citizen Kane', and packing nearly as many technical wonders (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"

Fernando F. Croce: Slant
"A hugely enjoyable thriller (...) It is studded with great scenes (...) Terrific camerawork from Russell Metty throughout."

Tom Milne: Time Out
"Edward G Robinson and Loretta Young are impressive (...) Russell Metty's stylish shadowy photography is so superb (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

David Parkinson: Radio Times

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Ranking Lists Position

79 My Favorite Noir Movies (58)

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