The Stranger

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ken123
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Joined: April 14th, 2007, 4:08 pm
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The Stranger

Post by ken123 »

The film is near its conclusion as I write, anyone care to share an opinion ? 8)
Erebus
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Location: Reno, Nevada

Post by Erebus »

Second time I've seen it and I consider it very entertaining. With Robinson and Welles it almost has to be, right? The only sense in which it stretched my credulity had to do with the reluctance of the Young character to wake up and smell the coffee. I realize she was in love but it seemed like she stood by her man a bit too long. I like how, after the intro, the entire movie set was concentrated within a tiny geographical area, almost just a few blocks, how everybody seemed to know everybody else's small town business, and how Wilson was so completely accepted into what must previously have been a pretty closed community. Also interesting that a Supreme Court justice could be portrayed as so accessible. I suppose the entire scenario could be seen as unrealistic due to the way the global issues of Nazism come to life in small town America. In that sense it reminds of "The Thin Man Goes Home" where national security again comes to the neighborhood.
Mr. Arkadin
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Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Athough this film is the least Wellesian (and no I don't think it deserves four stars, sorry TCM programmer) it still contains a few of his touches. My favorite is Mr. Potter's shady checker games (all your needs are on our shelves!).

Robinson is great as always and with the new prints you can really see the nice cimematography. The film bogs down a bit in the last half, but I feel that's partially due to Young and the script. All in all a very minor work in the Welles catalog, but enjoyable for what it is.
MikeBSG
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Post by MikeBSG »

In his recent biography of Welles, "Hello, Americans," Simon Callow discusses how the film was cut and what Welles' original screenplay intended. Apparently, this was to be more psychological, a bit like "Spellbound." When Robinson tells Young, "pleasant dreams" at the end, that was to conclude that theme of the film. But a lot of that was cut and only the tag line at the end remains.

Callow seemed to take "The Stranger" far more seriously than most writers on Welles I have seen.
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

I liked it, personally. I saw it some months ago and quite enjoyed it. I thought Eddie G. was great....and so was Orson Welles. Loretta Young was more or less expensive window dressing....but I enjoyed her as well.

Generally, I'm not that huge a fan of Orson Welles...but this one might be my second or third favorite of his, after TOMORROW IS FOREVER...and maybe THE THIRD MAN. I thought he was quite compelling. :)
My wife said she'd help young people, ... That's what I'd do. Help young people, then buy a big motor home and get out of town.
~ Gary Cooper
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mrsl
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Post by mrsl »

After channel surfing this a.m., I landed on this at the very beginning which I had never seen before. It was on HBO and I have to say, HBO has been playing a lot of old movies between 3 and 6 a.m. Irritating, but with a recorder, worth checking out.

Back to The Stranger, sorry pktrekgirl, we have to agree to disagree again on this one. I liked the movie a lot, but think it would have been better with a Richard Denning, or a Robert Cummings as Lorettas' groom. OW was at this point starting to turn to extra chubby - his lips were blubbery, his cheeks were puffy, and he already had a double chin - not a terribly romantic figure, for a woman to believe in for so long let alone fall in love with. It was obvious there was a lot of cutting because the scenes did not flow very well.

Remarkably, this is one of the few Eddie Robinson roles I like. For once his dogged style was suitable for a scum bag like OW. Sometimes Eddie gets a little too heavy even with other gangsters, but as the G-man, his toughness was perfecto. Poor Richard Long, the man was not allowed to grow up in movies - they tried to keep him in his twenties forever. It took switching to TV to be given adult roles. They couldn't seem to decide if they wanted him in the movie or not, he kept popping in and out like a ping pong ball - now you see him, now you don't.

I didn't notice what the movie was based on, but I wondered if Mr. Potter had a larger role at any time and was cut. As the central figure, watching the town go by all day, he could have added a lot of mystique to the story. As nosy as he was, I would have expected him to be more involved in the missing man, and he would have been a better co-hort for Eddie than young Mr. Long. Looking out that window, he knew where most of the townspeople were all day, and could inform Eddie quickly.

With all of my pickiness, I really do like this film, and I still say OW should have stuck to being a cameraman instead of a director or actor. The camera shots he chooses are truly phenomenal, and I agree that little town square was like a star in the middle of town, and each point held a dramatic position, then you get into his direction and editting!!!!!! :roll:

Anne
Anne


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