{"id":40880,"date":"2018-09-14T22:31:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T05:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40880"},"modified":"2020-11-27T20:10:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T03:10:38","slug":"stranger-the-1946","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40880","title":{"rendered":"Stranger, The (1946)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;People can&#8217;t help who they fall in love with.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-1946-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-1946-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-40882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-1946-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-1946-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-1946-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a G-man (Edward G. Robinson) follows a former prisoner (Konstantin Shayne) from Latin America to a small Connecticut town, he finds that the daughter (Loretta Young) of the local judge (Philip Merivale) is about to marry a man (Orson Welles) with a secret past as a heinous Nazi criminal. Will Young&#8217;s loyalty to her new husband prevent her from helping Robinson catch his prey?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Detectives and Private Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Edward G. Robinson Films<\/li>\n<li>Fugitives<\/li>\n<li>Loretta Young Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Nazis<\/li>\n<li>Orson Welles Films<\/li>\n<li>Small Town America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this Orson Welles outing &#8212; his third feature after <em>Citizen Kane<\/em> (1941) and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27336\"><em>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/em> (1942)<\/a> &#8212; is &#8220;one of several films in the forties in which people suspect that someone in their house isn&#8217;t as innocent as s\/he appears, joining such pictures as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6706\"><em>Shadow of a Doubt<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=31131\"><em>Gaslight<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=17043\"><em>The Cat People<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3896\"><em>The Lodger<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18145\"><em>Suspicion<\/em><\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37609\"><em>The Spiral Staircase<\/em><\/a>.&#8221; He accurately notes that Welles&#8217; &#8220;most conventional film isn&#8217;t nearly as bad as he thought it was, although it&#8217;s not one of his masterpieces&#8221;, and that while Welles&#8217; &#8220;acting is cockeyed, [he] makes a good, slimy villain, sweating underneath his suit&#8230;&#8221; He asserts that while &#8220;Robinson is a good adversary for Welles&#8221;, he wishes &#8220;they had a couple more scenes together, sparring with words&#8221;, and he argues that &#8220;Young&#8217;s character is poorly written&#8221; and &#8220;ridiculously naive&#8221; &#8212; but I&#8217;m actually a fan of both her performance and her character&#8217;s emotional trajectory: a dutiful young woman who has just given her body and soul to her new husband would very likely experience the kind of doubt and cognitive dissonance shown here. <\/p>\n<p>Peary concedes that while &#8220;the story is still interesting, as is the evocation of smalltown life, far away from the public eye&#8221;, the &#8220;picture lacks something&#8221; &#8212; though he &#8220;can&#8217;t figure out what it is&#8221;, noting that &#8220;perhaps it&#8217;s that the Nazi is not up to any diabolical act at the time Robinson comes to town, so only at the end <\/p>\n<p>[SPOILER] <\/p>\n<p>when Welles decides to murder Young is there any suspense.&#8221; However, I disagree: when Welles first meets with Shayne on the campus of the boys&#8217; school where he&#8217;s clearly a beloved instructor, he nearly cackles with glee at his ability to cover up his past and craft a nifty new life for himself in a small American town &#8212; where, he notes, &#8220;I&#8217;ll stay&#8230; until they day when we strike again.&#8221; This is evidence aplenty of both his &#8220;diabolical&#8221; intentions and beliefs. Meanwhile, &#8220;there are novel touches throughout, including the manner in which Welles is done in, and the photography by Russell Metty is atmospheric&#8221;. With that said, the screenplay is far from perfect &#8212; likely due in part to the fact that 30 minutes of the original film were cut, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038991\/trivia?item=tr3974758\">19 minutes from the exposition<\/a>, and a scene in which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038991\/trivia?item=tr3974759\">Young first meets Welles and walks with him through the town cemetery<\/a>. However, it&#8217;s still worth a one-time look by all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Loretta Young as Mary<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40886\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Young-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Billy House in a memorable supporting role<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40891\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-House-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Russell Metty&#8217;s highly atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40887\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography1-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Cinematography2-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Many creatively filmed shots and sequences<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40885\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction2-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"944\" height=\"720\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-40889\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction.png 944w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Stranger-Direction-768x586.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, once, as a fine if flawed outing by a master director. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#director\">Important Director<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038991\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/24149\/the-stranger#articles-reviews?articleId=12688\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/3925\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1946\/07\/11\/archives\/the-screen-the-stranger-with-edward-g-robinson-loretta-young-and.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=4615&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s4306stra.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UDPAJ53edwI\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;People can&#8217;t help who they fall in love with.&#8221; Synopsis: When a G-man (Edward G. Robinson) follows a former prisoner (Konstantin Shayne) from Latin America to a small Connecticut town, he finds that the daughter (Loretta Young) of the local judge (Philip Merivale) is about to marry a man (Orson Welles) with a secret past as a heinous Nazi criminal. Will Young&#8217;s loyalty to her new husband prevent her from helping Robinson catch his prey? Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=40880\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40880"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55377,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40880\/revisions\/55377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}