The StrangerThere's no escaping your past, because it journeys with you, no matter how deep you try to bury it. The Stranger is a suspenseful thriller taking place after World War II, where Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) of the War Crimes Commission is attempting to discover the secretive whereabouts of one of the worst progenitors of the Holocaust, the mysterious Franz Kindler (Orson Welles). Kindler has been posing as a history professor named Charles Rankin in the small town of Harper, Connecticut, his true past a complete unknown to his new community, including his soon-to-be wife, Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young).
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Wilson's plan is to allow Kindler's former executive officer, Konrad Meinike (Konstantin Shayne), to be freed from his prison in order to lead him to Kindler--it is a bold plan, even reckless. In fact, even considering his keen eye for detail and deduction, Wilson is unusually willing to take risky moves in order to achieve his goal. Wilson's pursuit and subsequent stay in Harper to observe and confirm his suspicions about Kindler/Rankin becomes a game of cat-and-mouse--or more appropriately a "game of checkers", since Wilson plays (and likely throws) games to glean knowledge about his target from town clerk and shopkeep, Mr. Potter (Billy House). As the tension ratchets up, and Mary is manipulated into become partially complicit in Rankin's crimes, even Wilson acknowledges to Mary's father, Judge Adam Longstreet (Philip Merivale), that he is essentially using his daughter as "bait" to try to catch Kindler red-handed...or ideally just prior to it. This kind of obsessive pursuit of justice isn't reflected in Wilson's countenance--he is not an emotional man--but it is clear in his actions. When he tries to convince Mary that Rankin is Kindler, he does so by showing her footage of the multitudes of victims of the Holocaust, counting on the horrors to be so shocking that she will lead Wilson to his target, unconcerned with the psychological effect on Mary. This single-minded pursuit, including recruiting Mary's brother Noah (Richard Long) as an ally and essentially a deputy, foreshadows the same intense brand of Nazi-hunting found in The Boys from Brazil and other films like it.
Although Wilson is fundamentally the protagonist of the film, it is the harried chase of Rankin and how he desperately claws his way to escape, struggling as the undertow of his own sins threaten to drag him under, which is the real conflict of The Stranger. The film insinuates that life might have gone on in blissful ignorance of Rankin's past had Wilson and Meinike not come to Harper--the exception to this is Rankin's own admission that he is effectively biding his time, waiting for the next "rise to power", which he confesses to his one-time operative now turned missionary. Harper is a little slice of American heaven, and looks as small-town as any New England community, save for the uncharacteristically gothic clock tower where Rankin devotes his excess energy with a manic compulsion. The long shadows found in the opening scenes of The Stranger contrast sharply with the arcadian suburbs of Harper, a town that seems so removed from the comparatively recent atrocities of World War II. In this sense, The Stranger is a metaphor for sheltered communities that are forced to acknowledge the dire realities of war. Over dinner, as Wilson has begun to ingratiate himself into the Longstreet family by posing as an antique dealer and clock enthusiast, the conversation turns to concerns the aftermath of Nazi Germany, and what the people of Germany must be thinking. Rankin, in his persona of a history teacher--and in true Orson Welles fashion--delivers a thought-provoking monologue about his perception of the response of Germany in the wake of their defeat, and why their efforts to depopulate the people they deemed inferior occurred in the first place. Rankin tips his hand with this revealing speech concerning his alter-ego, though he desperately tries to play it all off with a feigned assertion that the only way to stop Germany from rising up is to wipe them out. But it is clear that the seeds of doubt are planted in Wilson, even if they take a little time to sprout.
As The Stranger progresses, Mary is gradually forced to acknowledge that her new husband is involved in the disappearance and subsequent murder of Meinike, although Rankin only gives her half-truths, claiming Meinike was someone trying to blackmail him. Rankin preys on Mary's trust and naivete, her good nature and her sheltered upbringing, by making himself appear the victim, and recruiting her as an accomplice. This conflict is something Mary cannot bring her mind to consolidate, making her an anxious wreck. This is a kind of psychological abuse, the kind which sometimes goes unacknowledged in relationship. It is more evident in The Stranger because Rankin is clearly evil; but this kind of evil is not exclusive to genocidal maniacs--it can exist in any dysfunctional relationship, and can be devilishly hard to overcome. The Stranger is a vivid film noir, filled with evocative and striking imagery. At times, they are the silhouettes of Rankin and Mary, as though the shadows of Rankin's past were looming over their new marriage covenant. Other examples include when Rankin kills Meinike, and a group of his students come blowing through in a literal paper trail, forcing Rankin to scour through the dirt to conceal the evidence--like he has done with his former identity, and continues to do for virtually the rest of The Stranger. The most striking visual metaphor in The Stranger is unquestionably the unlikely clock tower itself, briefly described to be of German origin, like Rankin/Kindler. The clock displays two human-sized figures chasing one another--an angel with an outstretched sword and a devilish knight in a suit of armor, recalling the story Rankin shares in his monologue about Germany. Either interpretation of who is chasing whom is valid in the context of The Stranger; seeing the devil chasing the angel is a metaphor for the danger Rankin poses to Mary (and American values as well). On the other hand, the angels chasing the devil both represents Wilson's efforts to root out Kindler as well as Kindler's own disintegration within the virtuous surroundings of Harper as he stumbles to conceal his past with flimsy lies, making it worse for himself as his own inner darkness becomes overwhelmed by the light of truth.
Recommended for: Fans of an expressionistic, early example of film noir, a suspense film rich with metaphor and intrigue. The Stranger is a woefully underappreciated Orson Welles film that highlights many of his strengths, with flourishes found in films like Citizen Kane.
Although Wilson is fundamentally the protagonist of the film, it is the harried chase of Rankin and how he desperately claws his way to escape, struggling as the undertow of his own sins threaten to drag him under, which is the real conflict of The Stranger. The film insinuates that life might have gone on in blissful ignorance of Rankin's past had Wilson and Meinike not come to Harper--the exception to this is Rankin's own admission that he is effectively biding his time, waiting for the next "rise to power", which he confesses to his one-time operative now turned missionary. Harper is a little slice of American heaven, and looks as small-town as any New England community, save for the uncharacteristically gothic clock tower where Rankin devotes his excess energy with a manic compulsion. The long shadows found in the opening scenes of The Stranger contrast sharply with the arcadian suburbs of Harper, a town that seems so removed from the comparatively recent atrocities of World War II. In this sense, The Stranger is a metaphor for sheltered communities that are forced to acknowledge the dire realities of war. Over dinner, as Wilson has begun to ingratiate himself into the Longstreet family by posing as an antique dealer and clock enthusiast, the conversation turns to concerns the aftermath of Nazi Germany, and what the people of Germany must be thinking. Rankin, in his persona of a history teacher--and in true Orson Welles fashion--delivers a thought-provoking monologue about his perception of the response of Germany in the wake of their defeat, and why their efforts to depopulate the people they deemed inferior occurred in the first place. Rankin tips his hand with this revealing speech concerning his alter-ego, though he desperately tries to play it all off with a feigned assertion that the only way to stop Germany from rising up is to wipe them out. But it is clear that the seeds of doubt are planted in Wilson, even if they take a little time to sprout.
As The Stranger progresses, Mary is gradually forced to acknowledge that her new husband is involved in the disappearance and subsequent murder of Meinike, although Rankin only gives her half-truths, claiming Meinike was someone trying to blackmail him. Rankin preys on Mary's trust and naivete, her good nature and her sheltered upbringing, by making himself appear the victim, and recruiting her as an accomplice. This conflict is something Mary cannot bring her mind to consolidate, making her an anxious wreck. This is a kind of psychological abuse, the kind which sometimes goes unacknowledged in relationship. It is more evident in The Stranger because Rankin is clearly evil; but this kind of evil is not exclusive to genocidal maniacs--it can exist in any dysfunctional relationship, and can be devilishly hard to overcome. The Stranger is a vivid film noir, filled with evocative and striking imagery. At times, they are the silhouettes of Rankin and Mary, as though the shadows of Rankin's past were looming over their new marriage covenant. Other examples include when Rankin kills Meinike, and a group of his students come blowing through in a literal paper trail, forcing Rankin to scour through the dirt to conceal the evidence--like he has done with his former identity, and continues to do for virtually the rest of The Stranger. The most striking visual metaphor in The Stranger is unquestionably the unlikely clock tower itself, briefly described to be of German origin, like Rankin/Kindler. The clock displays two human-sized figures chasing one another--an angel with an outstretched sword and a devilish knight in a suit of armor, recalling the story Rankin shares in his monologue about Germany. Either interpretation of who is chasing whom is valid in the context of The Stranger; seeing the devil chasing the angel is a metaphor for the danger Rankin poses to Mary (and American values as well). On the other hand, the angels chasing the devil both represents Wilson's efforts to root out Kindler as well as Kindler's own disintegration within the virtuous surroundings of Harper as he stumbles to conceal his past with flimsy lies, making it worse for himself as his own inner darkness becomes overwhelmed by the light of truth.
Recommended for: Fans of an expressionistic, early example of film noir, a suspense film rich with metaphor and intrigue. The Stranger is a woefully underappreciated Orson Welles film that highlights many of his strengths, with flourishes found in films like Citizen Kane.