The Stranger

Also known as Stranger

1946 film by Orson Welles

Film · TMDB

7.2

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

Released: 1946-06-0295 minDir: Orson WellesThriller, CrimeBudget: $1.0MBox office: $3.2M

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Cast

Edward G. Robinson as Federal Agent Wilson
Loretta Young as Mary Longstreet
Orson Welles as Prof. Charles Rankin
Philip Merivale as Judge Adam Longstreet
Richard Long as Noah Longstreet
Konstantin Shayne as Konrad Meinike

Themes

~20 min read

Article

The Stranger is a 1946 American thriller film noir directed and (although uncredited) co-written by Orson Welles, starring himself along with Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young. Welles's third completed feature film as director and his first film noir, it centers on war crimes investigator Wilson tracking high-ranking Nazi fugitive Franz Kindler to a Connecticut town. It is the first Hollywood film to present documentary footage of the Holocaust.

The film was nominated for the Golden Lion (then-called the ‘Grand International Prize’) at the 8th Venice International Film Festival. Screenwriter Victor Trivas received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Story. The film entered the public domain when its copyright was not renewed.