Stranger on DVD

[Flint]

Sorry, Blunted.
I should have originally included the link. I go to that site so often, I assumed everyone here must use it too! Regardless, its the best site around if you have a region free & PAL DVD player and want to know what DVD's are out there as well as which ones to avoid.

-Flint.

[blunted by community]

flint, the site is excellent. this was my first time there. the mgm dvd of the stranger looks great. yes, i have a region free dvd, it's a good site for me to know.

[colwood]

Yeah, dvdbeaver.com is a great site. I stumbled onto it a few months ago. Another good comparison site is dvdcompare.net. It compares releases in short general terms. It is not visual or have in-depth info like dvdbeaver, but it compares a many,many releases of a lot more movies.

[Roger Ryan]

I read a positive review this morning in the Detroit Free Press of a new DVD collection called "Killer Classics" from Questar. Included among the five public domain noir films featured is Welles' "The Stranger". I have no idea whether this transfer is any better than previous ones, but the review emphasized that the overall quality was acceptable and that the bonus documentary on noir films was a good one. More info can be found at Amazon.com.

[Wilson]

I read that review also; I can't imagine the quality is better than what's already out there, but one never knows.

[R Kadin]

I quite like the Roan Group's "Stranger/Cause for Alarm" DVD, as it is (although I sure wouldn't turn my nose up at a good documentary on film noir). The image quality is very good; the sound is, too. And the decision to pair up the two films is well-considered.

Revisiting it again recently, I must say that I had almost forgotten The Stranger's marvellously-choreographed opening scenes. The Wellesian play of light and shadow across sets almost impressionistically akilter was a delight to behold. And there are lots more little moments that can sometimes be unduly discounted thanks to the studio-dictated, formulaic structure of the film.

And, forgive me, but every now and then it sure is nice to see a Welles film with the dialogue in sync.

[jrs044]

There are so many different editions of the movie for sale, and I was wondering if anybody could tell me what is the best DVD of The Stranger. The version I have is the one with the "documentary" Orson Welles on Film, and all throughout the movie itself this annoying little logo appears in the bottom right of the screen every 15 minutes or so. Needless to say, the DVD I have is very inferior so I am looking to buy a replacement.

[Wilson]

The Roan Company DVD is the best American release; according to the DVD Beaver site, the French MGM release is the best outside the US.

[atcolomb]

Has anybody seen the lastest dvd release of The Stranger which is being released by Allied Artists Classics? I know that you can buy it now at Amazon.com but i do not know how good of a print they are using. I have the Citizen Welles version and a version with a Tony Curtis introduction and one that i recorded from TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on my dvd recorder so i want to know how good this one is.

[Chirpy_Sabz]

I liked Orson's performance in this film.

It was an average film.

[jaime marzol]

so far the best stranger is the roan disc. dvd beaver will probably be the first to answer your question. they always do side by side capture comparison.

[Orson&Jazz]

What does the Roan disc offer? Does it offer any extras?

The dvd I bought was the Alpha Video version. It has is the movie and that's about it.

I would like to see some extras for this movie if there is actually any dvd out there that offers them.

I think I will check out dvd beaver to appease my curiousity.

[R Kadin]

The Roan disc doesn't offer any extras, unless you count the other noir-ish film (Tay Garnett's Cause for Alarm) that rounds out this budget-priced double feature disc.

Those travelling to Locarno might arrange in advance to acquire copies over there of the apparently superior MGM Region 2 DVD (in PAL format), which seems only to be readily available in France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland (unless you want to pay, in my case, almost $30 CDN just for delivery).

[atcolomb]

I received an email from Gary Tooze from DVD BEAVER and he
thinks that the Allied Artists version comes from a public domain print which means don't buy it!! Amazon.com has the Roan dvd Film Noir Vol. 1 for sale for $10 which has a second film on it. The dvd i have with the Tony Curtis intro is made by Delta which has their logo on the lower right of the screen during the movie. Maybe somebody will release a special edition of the movie with extras?

[jaime marzol]

that is the one to get, the roan with the other film. didn't know the mgm dvd was only available in europe.