Above Suspicion

The Stranger (1946) Orson Welles | Film-Noir, Crime, Mystery | Full Leng...

How was your meeting, Adam?

Oh, irritating.

Foreign Policy Association.

 I read that fellow's report.

Standish, yes.

I think he's full of prunes.

Well, that's the way we used 

to talk in the 1930s, Noah.

Standish?

The London Times man in Berlin.

Yes, of course, he was

quoting rumors, mostly.

Men drilling by night,

underground meeting

places, pagan rituals.

Do you believe him, Pa?

Well, anything's possible.

I'm sorry, sir, but I

think it's ridiculous.

Oh, there may be some fanatics, but...

...no German in his right mind

can still have a taste for war.

Do you know Germany, Mr. Rankin?

I'm sorry, I...

...I have a way of making enemies

when I'm on that subject.

I get pretty unpopular.

Well, we shall consider it the objective

opinion of an objective historian.

Historian?

A psychiatrist could

explain it better.

The German sees himself as the innocent

victim of world envy and hatred.

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 lists

the price of looking the other way.

Men of truth everywhere have come

to know 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 in those subterranean meeting

places that you don't believe in,

The German's dream world 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... He's another 

Barbarossa, another Hitler.

Well, then you have no faith in the reforms

that are being effected in Germany.

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 and never will

take root in Germany.

The will to freedom has been

voiced in every other tongue.

All men are created equal,

liberte, egalite, fraternite,

but in German...

There's Marx :

"Proletarians, unite. You have

nothing to lose but your chains. "

But Marx wasn't a German, Marx was a Jew.

But, my dear Charles, if we concede

your argument, there is no solution.

Well, sir, once again, I differ.

Well, what is it, then?

Annihilation.

Down to the last babe in arms.

Oh, Charles, I can't imagine you're

advocating a Carthaginian peace.

Well, as an historian, I must remind you

that the world hasn't had much trouble

from Carthage in the past 2,000 years.

Well, there speaks our pedagogue.

Speaking of teachers, Mr. Wilson.

Yes, yes.

The faculty is coming

for tea next Tuesday.

If you have nothing better to

do, would you like to join us?

Oh, I'd like to, but my

work here is finished.

I'm leaving Harper tomorrow.

Extraordinary, isn't it, clocks

being Mr. Wilson's hobby, too?

Yes, isn't it?

Well, Red, how do you

like your new house?

He loves it. Come here, Red.

I think I'll take you for

a walk. Come here, boy.

Oh, darling, you don't

have to take him out.

Just let him out.

He won't run off.

I need the walk, I'm restless.

Come on, boy.

That's good.

How are you coming along?

I'll be in Washington tomorrow afternoon.

You were right about Rankin.

He's above suspicion.

Here, Red.

Red, come here.

Give me long distance.

I want Washington, D.C.

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.