Orson Welles vs. Edward G. Robinson in “The Stranger” (1946)

Posted by Zac in Entertainment and Pop Culture Movies.

Edward G Robinson (Soylent Green) releases Konstantin Shayne from prison so he can inadvertently lead Robinson to a former Nazi officer now living in America under a different identity. The former Nazi is played by Orson Welles (Touch of Evil), who’s posing as a college professor and has married Mary (Loretta Young), the daughter of a prominent judge in town, played by Phillip Merivale (Mr. and Mrs. SMith). Richard Long (House on Haunted Hill) also shows up as Mary’s brother Noah.

Mary, who pronounces “Nazi” so it rhymes with “patsy”, defends her husband even when the facts of his past are presented to her, proving women defending blatant scumbags existed in 1946 Every Town USA, and wasn’t invented in some trailer park. You learn something new everyday. I also noticed every college kid in town is a dork, then realized most college kids from movies in the 40’s are portrayed as dorks. Sometime you can learn more from a 95 minute Film Noir than an entire semester of American History at the local community college.

A lot of the film will ride on your opinion of the performance of Orson Welles. If you think he’s brilliant, than you’ll like the film. If you think he overacts, you might not be so generous with this movie. Robinson does a good job, while Shayne’s character Mieneke is very creepy, and I would’ve like to have seen more of him. Overall I found The Stranger to be too melodramatic, so if you’re a Film Noir virgin, this isn’t the movie to pop your cherry with.

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