The Stranger (1946), Orson Welles tells the story of a detective on the hunt for a Nazi war criminal. I thought The Stranger had a captivating story with rather dark themes. Welles, as I've learned, is a pro when it comes to directing cinematography and making exceptional use of cleaver camera angles and shots, The Stranger is no exception. All in all, I thought this was an excellent noir thriller and would certainly watch this again.

The film has an interesting theme with dark, multi-dimensional characters which makes this an entertaining film. What could have been a well-crafted and intriguing suspense mystery however, is weakened by the overly simple plot and poor editing in places. Simple plots are normally something I support too. The beginning starts with a lot of promise and sort of gives out halfway through. The film almost seems like a failed imitation of an Alfred Hitchcock film (in terms of attempt at suspense)Despite this, the movie is still worth watching if you have some free time.

In my opinion The Stranger starts out slow, but then eventually becomes more intriguing over time.It takes place after World War II. Throughout the whole movie the characters are in a search to find a former Nazi who is hiding out in a small Connecticut town. This Nazi has completely changed his identity so they are using the only information they have, which is his passion for clocks, to try and find him.This is definitely a film noir marked by the fatalism that occurs in the movie. Towards the end of the film the suspense continuously builds up, resulting in exciting ending scenes.

I had heard some pretty negative things about this film but it was a pretty good "thriller". Welles films tend to have a theme surrounding the main male character and his dark past but they also always have those long shots that seem to draw you in to the film and the story. "The Stranger" is definitely different from his other films I have seen because it was more classic Hollywood and less original Orsen Welles but that was intentional.Orson Welles not only directs but plays the leading role in his films a lot of the time. He does a great job of showing the conflicted protagonist who can also be gentle and loving. The story was interesting and capture the viewer with its plot. This movie was a good film, not the best of Welles but definitely enjoyable.Typical to Welles style of directing, there were some really nice long shots but with the scenes capturing the snow it took on a magical feel with the result. The scenes would have dark lighting but that sis typical to noir films. I think the best shot scenes of the film were the ones showing everyday life of the town in the winter. The scenes shot with the snow just took on a different feel of the film to almost contrast the plot of this noir film.