Stranger, The (1946)
This Victor Trivas original story was nominated for an Oscar, the film was directed by Orson Welles, who also plays the title role, a former Nazi that's hiding out in a small town in Connecticut. In a part which may remind you of his similar one in Double Indemnity (1944), Edward G. Robinson plays an investigator that's trying to locate the mysterious war criminal using his obsession with clocks to advantage. Ironically, the day Robinson's character arrives in the small town is also the wedding day for Welles's character, now a schoolteacher, about to be betrothed to Loretta Young, the daughter of a Supreme Court justice (Philip Merivale). The investigator had let a friend (Konstantin Shayne) of the stranger's out of prison, and followed him, in order to find his prey. Richard Long plays Young's brother, whose assistance is invaluable to Robinson. Next to Robinson, Billy House gives the most interesting characterization, that of Mr. Potter, a checker playing gossip who also performs a lot of the town's official duties out of his "serve yourself" drug store & soda shop. Implausibility spoils this one from being the great thriller it could have been, despite some fine performances.
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