The Stranger

15 yrs 90 minutes • 1946 • 7.3

Orson Welles writes, directs and starred in this dense, complex and exciting movie classic, which became his biggest box office success. Charles Rankin (Welles) seems to live the perfect life. He has a beautiful wife (Loretta Young), a respectable job at a distinguished college, and a charming home in an idyllic Connecticut city. His life, however, begins to come apart when detective Wilson (Edward G Robinson) from the war crimes commission comes to the city in search of the elusive and despicable Nazi criminal Franz Kindler. In company with Wilson is the only man who can identify Kindler: His former friend, Meinike. The pursuit of Kindler seems to be in vain when Meinike is suddenly found to be murdered, but the ingenious Wilson is stubborn and this leads to a shocking dissolution that is considered to be one of the most memorable ones in film history.