The Stranger (1973 film)

The Stranger
VHS Home Video Cover
Created by	Gerald Sanford
Directed by	Lee H. Katzin
Starring	Glenn Corbett Cameron Mitchell Sharon Acker Lew Ayres
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	1
Production
Running time	100 min
Original release
Release	February 26, 1973

The Stranger is a television movie made in 1973 as a pilot for a new television series, but was never picked up by a network. It was directed by Lee H. Katzin.

Film Ventures International, an independent movie production and distribution company rereleased The Stranger on VHS under the title Stranded in Space. As with other films rereleased under the FVI banner, The Stranger's new opening credits featured footage from an entirely unrelated film, in this case the 1983 low budget science fiction film Prisoners of the Lost Universe.

Film synopsis

While on a space mission, NASA astronaut Neil Stryker (Glenn Corbett) crashes and is hospitalized in quarantine for a long period of time. He is uninjured, although his two fellow astronauts were apparently killed in the crash.

Stryker becomes suspicious when he tries to ask why he is being held for so long and can’t seem to get any reasonable explanation. It turns out that he is being closely observed by Dr. Revere (Tim O'Connor) and government agent Benedict (Cameron Mitchell), while being interrogated in his sleep after being given powerful drugs. Dr. Revere is clearly concerned by the strain of the drugs on Stryker, but is caught between the concern for the patient and his responsibility to the government.

Stryker eventually escapes the hospital after almost being shot and killed by the security forces. When trying to make a call to Cape Kennedy at a telephone booth, he is shocked to find that the operator has never heard of it, or even the state of Florida. He hitches a ride and begins to realize that he is not on planet Earth, after seeing subtle differences such as three moons in the sky and discovering that the inhabitants of this planet are all left-handed.

Stryker soon visits a book store, where he researches the planet. The twin planet, which is on the far side of the sun and unknown to Earth, is known to its inhabitants as Terra. It has a system of government and citizen comradeship that is alien to Stryker - The Perfect Order. The enforcement of the order is facilitated by a hierarchy of officials who scrutinize their subordinates extremely closely, and by inspirational messages, "pep" talks to remind citizens of the great family they're part of, and electronic monitoring through technology including telephones, televisions and car radios.

The Perfect Order only has been around for about 35 to 40 years, after a terrible war. The order was instituted to foster a sense of family among every person on Terra, to help each other and think of each other and the good of the whole. People with incompatible ideas are removed and reconditioned, and if resistant, executed. Culture has been heavily excised (no concerts in the park), religion outlawed, and alcoholic drinks are viewed as a future target to eliminate. Among its accomplishments, the Perfect Order has eliminated suffering and poverty, and has a vibrant space program.

Stryker eventually encounters and befriends Dr. Bettina Cooke (Sharon Acker) and her colleague, Prof. Dylan MacAuley (Lew Ayres). Stryker and Dylan determine to get Stryker aboard a Terran spacecraft about to be launched, with Stryker intending to replace its astronaut and pilot the ship back to Earth. Meanwhile, Benedict tracks down Bettina, uses crude violence in his interrogation of her, and conditions her to help lead him to Stryker. Benedict and his people arrive at the space complex in sufficient time to stop him before the rocket can launch with him aboard. Stryker leads them on a chase through the complex, and the authorities have him cornered while he is close to the liquid oxygen tanks, where nobody dares use guns.

Stryker jumps into the ocean while firing at the LOX tanks, setting off a fire. Benedict's lieutenant, Henry Maitland (Steve Franken), feels sure Stryker couldn't have survived, but Benedict will settle for nothing less than proof. Meanwhile, Stryker wades ashore north along the coast, right where the Nelson family is camping. He gives an alias, says his boat capsized, and is welcomed by Tom Nelson to join them for their pleasure trip north. Before following the family to their van, he turns to regard the three alien moons, and remembers Dylan telling him it wasn't impossible that he should get home.

Behind the scenes

The series would have had a feel of The Fugitive, with Neil as the fugitive on the run, trying to find people who would sympathize and help him, but wary of anyone finding out his true nature and turning him in to the authorities.

The movie was written by Gerald Sanford and directed by Lee H. Katzin. It was a Bing Crosby production.

The idea of an astronaut landing on a twin planet orbiting the Sun exactly opposite Earth was used in the film Doppelgänger (also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun), produced four years earlier, in 1969.

This film was produced during the height of the Cold War, and the idea of the "Perfect Order" follows some of the known social and political ideas in Communist and Fascist societies in recent history.

Chrysler Corporation is listed in the credits at the end of the film for providing the automobiles. A Chevy Van was used toward the beginning of the film, and the bowtie on the grille was accordingly disguised.

In June 1991, the film was presented in its Film Ventures International iteration as part of an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

External links

• The Stranger at IMDb