Product Details

• Actors: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles
• Directors: Orson Welles
• Writers: Orson Welles
• Producers: Sam Spiegel
• Format: Full Screen, Surround Sound, NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Triad Productions LLC
• DVD Release Date: June 5, 2008
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001AS8HGA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #107,878 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #11 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Classic Directors > Welles, Orson
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Stranger is a 1946 Film Noir starring Orson Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young. Welles also directed the film, which was based on a screenplay written by Victor Trivas.

Trivas' work was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Sam Spiegel was the film's producer, and the film's musical score is by Bronis Kaper. It is believed that this is the first film released after World War II that showed footage of concentration camps.

The Stranger was the only film made by Welles to have been a bona fide box office success on the first release.

It is 1946 and Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) of the United Nations War Crimes Commission is hunting for Nazi fugitive Franz Kindler (Orson Welles). Kindler has effectively concealed his Nazi activities prior to his escape to the United States. He assumes a new identity, Charles Rankin, lands a job as a university professor and marries Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), who is the daughter of Supreme Court justice Judge Adam Longstreet.

Wilson releases Kindler's former associate Meinike (Konstantin Shayne) and follows him to Harper, Connecticut, but Meinike is strangled to death before he can identify Kindler. Wilson must convince Mrs. Rankin, the only person to have seen Kindler and Meinke together, that her husband is a war criminal.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "Enhanced" Claim an Out-and-out Lie, December 23, 2008

By	Alric Knebel "[e-mail]" (Biloxi, MS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You do not want to buy this Triad edition. At the current time, the best edition of this film is "The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)." I know this for a fact, because I bought the Triad edition, and it was so bad, I returned it, and ordered the MGM release instead. "The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)" was a very, very smart choice.

As for this Triad edition, it looks like Triad has changed the title of this dungeon-produced rubbish from "The Stranger (Remastered)" to "The Stranger (Enhanced)." Well, it doesn't matter what they're naming it, it'll be the same rip-off it was on December 16th, when I bought it under the "remastered" affix. I fell for it because the newer release date and the high price suggested that it's one of the hi-tech transfers, with the advanced home theater in mind, implying that it'll look good on your HDTV. But when the DVD arrived, it was a sham, the claim to be "remastered" out-and-out false. Nothing has been done to it, neither "remastered" or "enhanced." It's not even a good print, aside from whatever false claim of enhancements they've made. It's a copy Triad retrieved from the public domain, possibly from a site like Internet Archive, which has a vast library of public domain media anyone can access. This print was dirty and blurry and shaky, and one of the worst DVDs I'd ever seen. The print is so degraded, it doesn't even include the studio banner at the beginning of the film. In fact, it looks EXACTLY like the copy you can download yourself -- for free -- from the aforementioned Internet Archive.

Incensed by such an obviously bald-faced misrepresentation, I returned to this page to further investigate this product. Most important was the discovery of this statement in italics at the very bottom of the product description: "This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media." DVD-R recordable media are those blank DVDs you buy on a spindle at most retailers. "On demand" means that your Triad edition of "The Stranger" won't even exist until after YOU order it. That wouldn't in itself be a bad thing. But it reveals what sort of operation Triad is, that it's a small-time operation that doesn't have facilities to remaster or enhance anything. What they DO have is an internet connection they use to download stuff from public domain.

And what about these 4- and 5-star reviews? Well, let's take a second look. While those "customers" are quick to slap a 4- or 5-star rating on it, none of them actually bothered to mention the image quality of this disc. That's suspicious, because the image is so degraded, any customer who bought it would be sure to note it. An explanation can be gained by clicking on the see-all-my-reviews link next to each name. What you'll see is that all of these "customers" reviewed an inordinate share of Triad releases. In other words, these positive reviews are planted by Triad itself. So what does that tell me?

For one, it tells me that there are a lot of films at Internet Archive I can get for free.

For another, it tells me you can't trust these positive reviews. In fact, Triad -- which has recently changed its brand in the product description for some of their DVDs to "Public Domain Flicks" -- has gone out of its way to make sure you see nothing else but their phony positive reviews. They've gotten Amazon to delete THIS review seven times now. SEVEN TIMES! I've got to give it to them, they're determined.

In conclusion, I asked for -- and got -- a refund, then ordered "The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)." It's cheaper and while it doesn't claim to be remastered (or enhanced), it's been mastered directly from a studio print. And though it hasn't undergone a frame-by-frame restoration, it DOES look good on my HDTV. I was very pleased. The Triad edition is simply unacceptable, and especially at the price they're charging. Normally you'd find a product this bad in a thin cardboard sleeve and dumped in a $1 bin next to the checkout counter. If you want the copy Triad's selling, go to Internet Archive. You'll get it free.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Stranger": Orson Welles' Nazi War Criminal Movie, January 25, 2009

By	J.T.J., an Author (Renton, WA United States) - See all my reviews

"The Stranger" is a very engaging film. Orson Welles courageously portrays a man that is so bad, that a War Crimes Commission allows another Nazi war criminal to "escape" from prison, in order that he will inadvertedly lead them to Welles. Naturally, once Welles is on to the idea that people are looking for him in Connecticutt, no less, he must kill all who dare expose him.

The supporting cast is great. Edward G. Robinson, who was famous for playing gangsters in Warner Brothers pictures in the 1930s and 1940s heroically plays a war crimes commission official closing in on the evil Nazi. Loretta Young gives a very good performance as a woman that marries Welles not knowing who he really is, or what he has done.

The film benefits from its temporal proximity to the end of World War II. In 1945 the horrors of the Nazi death camps were revealed to many for the first time, and the film came out in 1946. For this reason, the film carries an even stronger urgency for the forces of humanity to hold Nazi war criminals accountable for their wicked actions. Beyond that important quality, the movie is pure Film Noir. It looks great as characters move about in the shadows and speak in whispers while manifesting emotional pain, shock, and desperation. Ms Young is particularly good in expressing emotions.

Quite fascinating is the metaphor of Welles obsessed as a man interested in tinkering with clocks as a hobby. Naturally, such a man is obsessed with going forward, stopping the clock, or finding any way he can to alter time in his obsession to move away from the unspeakable crimes he had committed. Moreover, the large clock in the town symbolically serves as indicator that time may be running out for some in that town. Also, one can practically hear the "tick-tick'tick" each time Edward G. Robinson says something revealing that he is getting closer to learning the identity of the criminal he believes is hiding out in that American town.

As for the DVD itself, well, I have some criticism. This is supposed to be a restored film? If it was restored, then someone needs to go back to work on it some more. I think the sound quality is lacking, and the picture could used some additional digital restoration. It was not restored badly, it just needs more work accomplished. This film is too good to sell as a half-baked presentation. It is not as great as "Citizen Kane," of course, but the movie is ONE OF ORSON WELLES' BEST MOVIES. He deserves better treatment on DVD. Moreover, some people have claimed that there is original film footage missing from this DVD. I don't know for certain that there is, but if that is the case, then that is another problem that should be rectified in a future restored version of the movie (providing the footage still exists, naturally).

Still, if this is the only way available for people to see the film, then I recommend that people buy and see this version. For my part, I am awaiting a better restoration of "The Stranger" to become available before I say anything about "definitive" version. This DVD is much better than any scratchy print exhibited on the late show, but definitely does not meet the criterion of "superb" print.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Film-Noir!!!, June 11, 2008

By	A. Fantasy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very good film and one of the lesser-known film-noirs. Orson Welles is an escaped Nazi war criminal named Franz Kindler who hides out in a bucolic Connecticut town under an assumed name. He believes he can finally put his dark past behind him since nobody knows his true identity. He becomes a teacher at a prep school for boys and marries the headmaster's pretty but very naive daughter Mary, played very well by Loretta Young. Edward G. Robinson is also terrific in his role as a war crimes commissioner on Kindler's trail who shows up in town as an antique dealer. Welles and Robinson's characters play a cat & mouse game that ends in a dramatic climax atop the town's clock tower. At times Welles' performance comes off as over the top and the film can seem slightly melodramatic, but I believe those factors enhance the dense and brooding atmosphere. This is a good film with a simple plot and on cue performances that allow us to see the characters' motivations without being distracted by unimportant details. Richard Long and Martha Wentworth also star. Recommended!