These two films highlight Orson Welles` talent for both acting and directing. The Italian epic version of the classic biblical tale DAVID AND GOLIATH features Orson Welles as King Saul. A young man quests to defeat the evil tyranny of a giant Philistine bent on becoming the one and only power. He believes the power of God and the love of a beautiful princess will help him conquer whatever odds are against him. Welles directed and stars in the second film in this release. A tense black-and-white thriller, THE STRANGER finds Welles portraying Charles Rankin, a respected academic at a prominent Connecticut college. His seemingly perfect life is shattered with the arrival of Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson), a detective on the hunt for Nazi war criminal Franz Kindler. The appearance of Mr. Wilson threatens to reveal that underneath this idyllic veneer is a secret that could tear everything apart.Although many of Welles`s most interesting scenes wound up on the cutting-room floor when producer Sam Speagle reedited the film, THE STRANGER is still a multilayered, complex, and fascinating film. The scenes between Welles and Robinson are intellectually gripping, leading up to the stylized, shocking conclusion. As with so many of Welles`s films, he was unhappy with the final result, but this version of THE STRANGER is considered by many to be a marvel of cinematic wonder.
