The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)
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DVD details
Author: Orson WellesBrand: ROBINSON,EDWARD G
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)
DVD Review: Although without extras this is the version of "The Stranger" to get for Welles fans
Summary: 4 Stars
**Please note: This review is for the MGM/Film Noir Series release of "The Stranger" NOT any of the public domain releases**
"The Stranger" proves that Orson Welles could deliver a film on time and within budget. "The Stranger" almost seems like an answer to Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" in that it tackles many of the same themes from a different perspective. While Hitchcock's film "The Stranger" creates a complex villian in Franz Kindler/Charles Rankin. The MGM version is the one to get since it goes back to the RKO Vault (RKO which is a bit of irony considering that Welles made "Citizen Kane" for the studio and had his film "The Magnificent Ambersons" butchered by the studio while he was in South America partying and working on "It's All True"). Welles' original version can 115 minutes while the final version was recut by producers Sam Spiegel (the producer of "Lawrence of Arabia" working under the name S. E. Eagel) and Bill Goetz (who helped finace the project). If any of the footage cut still exists it is probably lost which is a pity as according to comments/notes that Welles made over the years the film had a much longer prologue.
MGM delivers one of the better looking versions on DVD that I've seen. There are public domain DVD that are floating around but most of them I've seen have been from inferior 16mm or faded prints that don't do the moody cinematography justice. We do get alternate language tracks in French and Spanish for the film but no commentary track which is disappointing given that this is a Welles film. I'm sure that Simon Callow (who wrote the two excellent Welles biographies ORSON WELLES: THE ROAD TO XANADU and ORSON WELLES: HELLO AMERICANS) could have provided an excellent commentary based on his observations on the film in his second volume of his Welles' biographies. We don't even get a vintage trailer for the film. A featurette on the film's production (it was one of Welles' most profitable films which is important in and of itself), changes that Spiegel made to the film and Welles' own comments which have been videotaped/recorded over the years would have been valuable. Regardless, this is a fine film which finally looks excellent (with some minor flaws due to age and damage)that should have been treated better by MGM.
**SPOILER ALERT**
Welles plays Charles Rankin a man with a mysterious past . He's a history professor teaching and living in a small town marrying the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice Mary (Loretta Young). Just before the wedding Rankin's past comes calling with a visit by a man named Meinike (Konstantin Shayne). A former Nazi, Meinike has been released by a government agent named Wilson(Edward G. Robinson) in a game of cat and mouse. Wilson hopes that Meinike will lead him to an Franz Kindler a Nazi at large. He does just that but before Wilson can act Rankin murders Meinike to close off his past. Suddenly Rankin's carefully cultivated identity (and Mary's world)becomes unraveled as Wilson doggedly closes in on him.
**END OF SPOILER ALERT**
Welles had a troubled history for all of his films which often meant that the films were compromised. Nevertheless, "The Stranger" plays as a strong suspense thriller although the often shrill and over-the-top music score doesn't quite work for the film. This is another example where Bernard Herrmann would have added signficantly to the film if he had been hired to do the score. Film noir fans will enjoy this flawed Welles classic which has a number of dazzling set pieces particularly the stunning and unique conclusion at the clock tower.
While this edition which is part of MGM's "Film Noir" series lacks any special features(the film could have used a commentary track from any one of Welles' fine biographers particularly Simon Callow), the film looks pretty good overall. It hasn't been restored and has some minor print damage but overall looks quite nice. 4 stars for the presentation 0 stars for the extras. Perhaps MGM will reconsider their decision to release this without extras when Warner releases "The Magnificient Ambersons" on DVD late this year (2007) or early next (2008--depends upon how quickly they can assemble the material now that they've found a good source print).
Although a bare bones release, this is definitely the version to get for film fans. It's a pity though that MGM decided to treat the film with so little care given that it is a Welles film with a strong cast. Other Welles films worth getting:
Citizen Kane
Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision)The Lady from Shanghai
Discovering Orson WellesThis is Orson Welles
Description of The Stranger (MGM Film Noir)
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 10-JUL-2007
Media Type: DVD
The legendary story that hovers over Orson Welles's The Stranger is that he wanted Agnes Moorehead to star as the dogged Nazi hunter who trails a war criminal to a sleepy New England town. The part went to E.G. Robinson, who is marvelous, but it points out how many compromises Welles made on the film in an attempt to show Hollywood he could make a film on time, on budget, and on their own terms. He accomplished all three, turning out a stylish if unambitious film noir thriller, his only Hollywood film to turn a profit on its original release. Welles stars as unreformed fascist Franz Kindler, hiding as a schoolteacher in a New England prep school for boys and newly married to the headmaster's lovely if naive daughter (Loretta Young). Welles the director is in fine form for the opening sequences, casting a moody tension as agents shadow a twitchy low-level Nazi official skulking through South American ports and building up to dramatic crescendo as Kindler murders this little man, the lovely woods becoming a maelstrom of swirling leaves that expose the body he furiously tries to bury. The rest of film is a well-designed but conventional cat-and-mouse game featuring an eye-rolling performance by Welles and a thrilling conclusion played out in the dark clock tower that looms over the little village. --Sean Axmaker
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