{"id":1726,"date":"2009-06-01T18:52:52","date_gmt":"2009-06-02T02:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/?page_id=1726"},"modified":"2021-01-14T21:12:37","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T05:12:37","slug":"the-stranger-1946-dinner-party","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/?page_id=1726","title":{"rendered":"<cite>The Stranger<\/cite> (1946) \u2014 Dinner Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here's a clip followed by a fairly complete transcription of its dialogue: <br \/><br \/><table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\"><caption style=\"font-style: italic ;\">Dramatis Person&aelig;<\/caption><tbody><tr><td align=\"right\">Mr Wilson<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Edward G. Robinson)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">undercover agent of the Allied War Crimes Commission<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Franz Kindler<br \/>aka <q>Charles Rankin<\/q><\/td><td align=\"center\">(Orson Welles)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">fugitive Nazi official, living under an assumed identity<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Adam Longstreet<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Philip Merivale)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">Justice of the <abbr title=\"Supreme Court of the United States\">SCotUS<\/abbr><\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Mary Rankin<br \/>n&eacute;e Longstreet<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Loretta Young)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">daughter of Judge Longstreet,<br \/>newlywed bride of Charles Rankin<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Noah Longstreet<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Richard Long)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">son of Justice Longstreet<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Jeffrey Lawrence<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Byron Keith)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">town doctor<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Sara<\/td><td align=\"center\">(Martha Wentworth)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">head housekeeper<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">unnamed woman<\/td><td align=\"center\">(unknown)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">serving woman<\/td><\/tr><tr><td align=\"right\">Red<\/td><td align=\"center\">(unknown)<\/td><td align=\"center\">&#8230;<\/td><td align=\"left\">Mary's dog<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><br \/><div style=\"text-align: center ;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none; max-width: 100% ; max-width: 57vw ;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitchute.com\/embed\/NcIi2PyyMlhh\/\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/p> <blockquote>(Clip begins inside a church tower.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah Longstreet<\/span>: His name is <q>Rankin<\/q>.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Oh?<br \/><br \/>(Later, in the home of Justice Longstreet.  Longstreet and Wilson are standing by a hearth, Wilson examining a piece of colonial silver.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: It's nice to be able to show it to someone who <em>knows<\/em> what Revere silver is all about.  But, personally, <em>my<\/em> speciality is pewter.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Oh, yes, uh, pewter. Uh ah, the <em>Revere<\/em> workmanship, although uh ah sometimes heavy in design, almost invariably shows the sign of a master craftsman.  It&mdash; it's beautiful.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary Rankin<\/span> (entering with Charles): Noah.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span> (coming on-screen): Hello, Mary.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Hello, honey.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Ah, Mary dear.  Mr. Wilson, my daughter Mary, &#8230;<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Oh, how do you do, Mr. Wilson? I'm glad to meet you.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: How do you do?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: &#8230; my son-in-law, Charles Rankin.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: How do you do?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles Rankin<\/span>: How do you do?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: I hope you don't mind my intruding on your home-coming.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Not at all.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey Lawrence<\/span> (entering): Good evening, Mary.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Jeff!  How are you?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: Fine.  You're looking good.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Sara<\/span> (coming on-screen): Welcome home, Miss Mary, dear!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Sara!<br \/>Sara (to others): If you don't sit down, it'll get cold!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Come on, gents.<br \/><br \/>(All head to table.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Sara<\/span>: I'm so glad to see you!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Well, Sister, how were the mountains?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: They were perfectly marvelous.  Oh, Mr. Wilson?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Yes, Mary.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Will you come sit over here on my right?  Jeff, your usual place.  And, darling, you're right there.<br \/><br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/strangertable.png\" width=\"225\" height=\"238\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block ; margin-top: 0 ; margin-bottom: 0 ; margin-left: auto ; margin-right: auto ;\" \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: You oughta see Charles on skis; he's absolutely wonderful!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span> (chuckling): No!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Yes, darling, you are.  And I'm pretty good, too, aren't I?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Very.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Well, For a beginner.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: Did you remember to keep your knees together and your apparatus in?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Yes, freshie, I did.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Mr. Wilson here is compiling a catalogue of Paul Revere silver.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: How nice!<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: Mr. Wilson is also an authority on clocks.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Oh, really?  That's Charles' hobby, too.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Yes, so your brother tells me.  I understand you're going to fix the one in the church tower.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Rankin<\/span>: Well, I may <em>try<\/em>.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Well, that's quite an undertaking.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Show the kind of a wife I am: I hope he fails.  I like Harper just the way it is, even to the clock that doesn't run.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Have you been in Harper <em>long<\/em>, Mr. Wilson?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Um, since <em>Friday<\/em>, a week ago.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: You lost a day; I patched you up on Friday.  By the way, how's the head?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Oh, very much improved, thanks to you, doctor.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: You were hurt on <em>Thursday<\/em>, remember?  The day of the wedding.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Yes, that's right.  Uh, Wednesday I left Bangor.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: You were hurt, Mr. Wilson?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Oh, nothing serious.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: Well, serious enough to raise a bump on his head the size of a billiard ball.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: The usual door.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span> laughs.<br \/>(Red comes up to Mary on her right.)<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: It's a good thing you're back, Sister; that dog of yours has been inconsolable.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span> (laughing): Well, all right, Red.  Wait a minute. Here ya are.  This for missing me. How's that?  There, that's a good boy.  How was your meeting, Adam?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Oh, irritating.  Foreign Policy Association.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: I read that fellow's report.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Standish, yes.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: I think he's full of prunes.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Well, that's the way we used to talk in the 1930s, Noah.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: Standish?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: The, uh, <cite>London Times<\/cite> man in Berlin.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Yes.  Of course, he was quoting <em>rumors<\/em>, mostly.  Men drilling by night, underground meeting places, pagan rituals.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: Do you believe him, Pa?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: Well, eh, anything's possible.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: I'm sorry, sir, but I think it's ridiculous.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Uh?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Jeffrey<\/span>: Oh, there may be some fanatics, but no German in his right mind can still have a taste for war.<br \/><br \/><br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/strangerwilson_1.jpg\" width=\"385\" height=\"257\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block ; margin-left: auto ; margin-right: auto ;\" \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Do you know Germany, Mr. Rankin?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: I'm sorry, I&mdash; I have a way of making enemies when I'm on that subject.  I get pretty unpopular.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Well, we shall consider it the objective opinion of an objective historian.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Historian?  A psychiatrist could explain it better.  The German sees himself as the innocent victim of world envy and hatred &mdash; conspired against, set upon by inferior peoples, inferior nations.  He cannot admit to error, much less to wrongdoing, not the German.  We chose to ignore Ethiopia and Spain, but we learned, from our casualty list, the price of looking the other way.  Men of truth everywhere have come to know &#8230; for whom the bell tolled.  But not the German.  No, he still follows his warrior gods, marching to  Wagnerian strains, his eyes still fixed upon the fiery sword of Siegfried.  And &#91;glances at Jeffrey&#93; in those subterranean meeting places that you don't believe in, the German's dreamworld comes alive and he takes his place in shining armor, beneath the banners of the Teutonic Knights.  Mankind is waiting for the Messiah; but, for the German, the Messiah is not the Prince of Peace.  No, he's&#8230; 'sanother Barbarossa, another Hitler.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Well, then, you, uh, you have no faith in the reforms that are being effected in Germany.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: I don't know, Mr. Wilson.  I can't believe that people can be reformed except from within.  The basic principles of equality and freedom never have, never will take root in Germany.  The will to freedom has been voiced in every other tongue &#91;Wilson nods.&#93; &mdash; <q>All men are created equal<\/q>, <q style=\"font-style: italic ;\">libert&eacute;, &eacute;galit&eacute;, fraternit&eacute;<\/q> &mdash; but in German&mdash;<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Noah<\/span>: There's Marx: <q>Proletarians, unite.  You have nothing to lose but your chains.<\/q><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: But Marx wasn't a German; Marx was a Jew.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span>: But, my dear Charles, if we concede your argument, there is no solution.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Well, sir, once again, I differ.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Well, what is it, then?<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/strangerrankin.jpg\" width=\"385\" height=\"257\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block ; margin-top: 0 ; margin-bottom: 0 ; margin-left: auto ; margin-right: auto ;\" \/> <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Annihilation.  Down to the last babe in arms.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/strangerrankinmary.jpg\" width=\"385\" height=\"257\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block ; margin-top: 0 ; margin-bottom: 0 ; margin-left: auto ; margin-right: auto ;\" \/> <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Oh, Charles, I can't imagine you're advocating a &#8230; Carthaginian peace.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Well, as an historian, I must remind you that the world hasn't had much trouble From Carthage in the past &#8230; 2,OOO years.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/strangerwilson_2.jpg\" width=\"385\" height=\"257\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block ; margin-top: 0 ; margin-bottom: 0 ; margin-left: auto ; margin-right: auto ;\" \/> <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Justice Longstreet<\/span> (chuckling): Well, there speaks our pedagogue.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Well, uh, speaking of teachers, Mr. Wilson, &#8230;<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Yes, huh?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: The faculty is coming for tea next Tuesday.  If you have nothing better to do, would you like to join us?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Uh, I'd <em>like<\/em> to, but my work here is finished. &#91;Charles smiles faintly.&#93; I'm leaving Harper tomorrow.<br \/><br \/>(Later, Charles and Mary Rankin enter their home.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Extraordinary, isn't it, clocks being Mr. Wilson's hobby, too?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Yes, isn't it?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Well, Red, how do ya like your new house?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: He loves it.  Come here, Red; I think I'll take you for a walk.  Come here, boy.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Mary<\/span>: Oh, darling, you don't have to take him out.  Just let him out. He won't run off.<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: I need the walk; I'm restless.  Come on, boy.<br \/><br \/>(At Wilson's room.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Male voice from phone<\/span>: That's good.  How are you coming along?<br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: I'll be in Washington tomorrow afternoon.  You were right about Rankin.  He's <em>above<\/em> suspicion.<br \/><br \/>(Charles walks a barking Red to the wooded area where earlier he had buried the man who had led Wilson to Harper.  Charles looks at the grave, then begins to walk away.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Here, Red.<br \/><br \/>(Red becomes interested in the grave.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Charles<\/span>: Red, c'mere!<br \/><br \/>(Red, instead of coming, begins to dig at the grave.  Charles, furious, chases Red, who continues to try to dig at the grave.  Charles kicks Red.)<br \/><br \/>(Wilson, in bed, suddenly opens his eyes, sits-up, looking perturbed, and then lurches to the phone.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Uh, give me long distance. Uh, I want Washington, D.C.<br \/><br \/>(In the woods, Charles, a bit disheveled, sits and smokes.  Then he arises.)<br \/><br \/>(Back in his room, Wilson speaks into the phone.)<br \/><br \/><span style=\"font-variant: small-caps ;\">Wilson<\/span>: Well, who but a Nazi would deny that Karl Marx was a German because he was a Jew?  I think I'll stick around For a while.<br \/><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here's a clip followed by a fairly complete transcription of its dialogue: Dramatis Person&aelig;Mr Wilson(Edward G. Robinson)&#8230;undercover agent of the Allied War Crimes CommissionFranz Kindleraka Charles Rankin(Orson Welles)&#8230;fugitive Nazi official, living under an assumed identityAdam Longstreet(Philip Merivale)&#8230;Justice of the SCotUSMary Rankinn&eacute;e Longstreet(Loretta Young)&#8230;daughter of Judge Longstreet,newlywed bride of Charles RankinNoah Longstreet(Richard Long)&#8230;son of Justice LongstreetJeffrey [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1726","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1726"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11620,"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1726\/revisions\/11620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oeconomist.com\/blogs\/daniel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}