The Stranger is a solid thriller about a detective (Edward G. Robinson) trying to catch Nazi war criminal Kindler (Orson Welles), who, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, assumes a fake identity as a professor in a quiet American town and marries a local judge's daughter (Loretta Young).
Cinematography is unsurprisingly fine, with an interesting use of chiaroscuro and fluid camera movements, although studio interference reportedly tinkered with the movie, much to Welles' annoyance. The two leads are (also unsurprisingly) excellent, with Robinson as the keen, decent, humorous detective (reminiscent of his character in Double Indemnity) and Welles as the deceitful criminal striving to hide his secret.
I suspect one of the main reasons this entirely watchable and enjoyable thriller feels very underwhelming compared to timeless classics like Welles' own Touch of Evil, Reed's The Third Man, Wilder's Double Indemnity or Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt is the way the story is structured. After a compelling beginning, the detective guesses Kindler's real identity quite soon (and effortlessly secures the cooperation of his brother-in-law), so it becomes just a question of "when" and "how" the villain will be caught. And there is no particular urgency about it either.
Meanwhile, we are left to share Kindler's unsympathetic point of view as the circle closes around him... but we are rooting against him and waiting for him to be caught! Now, it *is* possible to put the audience in a bad guy's shoes for a while (I'm thinking Psycho and Strangers on a Train, for example, or even The Talented Mr. Ripley)... but a smug, unrepentant Nazi war criminal relishing on how he has managed to fool everybody? Not so much. Only when the point of view shifts to Kindler's suddenly endangered wife - whom we at least can relate to - some tension returns.
6,5/10
Cinematography is unsurprisingly fine, with an interesting use of chiaroscuro and fluid camera movements, although studio interference reportedly tinkered with the movie, much to Welles' annoyance. The two leads are (also unsurprisingly) excellent, with Robinson as the keen, decent, humorous detective (reminiscent of his character in Double Indemnity) and Welles as the deceitful criminal striving to hide his secret.
I suspect one of the main reasons this entirely watchable and enjoyable thriller feels very underwhelming compared to timeless classics like Welles' own Touch of Evil, Reed's The Third Man, Wilder's Double Indemnity or Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt is the way the story is structured. After a compelling beginning, the detective guesses Kindler's real identity quite soon (and effortlessly secures the cooperation of his brother-in-law), so it becomes just a question of "when" and "how" the villain will be caught. And there is no particular urgency about it either.
Meanwhile, we are left to share Kindler's unsympathetic point of view as the circle closes around him... but we are rooting against him and waiting for him to be caught! Now, it *is* possible to put the audience in a bad guy's shoes for a while (I'm thinking Psycho and Strangers on a Train, for example, or even The Talented Mr. Ripley)... but a smug, unrepentant Nazi war criminal relishing on how he has managed to fool everybody? Not so much. Only when the point of view shifts to Kindler's suddenly endangered wife - whom we at least can relate to - some tension returns.
6,5/10