Olive Film's Blu-ray, licensed from Paramount (owners of most of the Republic library) is very good, and in its correct 1.66:1 widescreen.

On the run following a particularly violent bank robbery, Clay Anderson (Homeier) and his gang part company, planning to meet up later in Kansas City. Just after the gang disperses, however, Clay discovers that his horse has gone lame. Fearing capture, Clay takes refuge at the home of preacher Hollis Jarret (Carey), who lives with his son, Dodie (Stephen Wootton), and second wife, Peg (Medina). Dodie takes an immediate, big brother-type liking to Clay, who calls himself "Mr. Daniels," but the preacher and his wife quickly guess his real identity.

For most of the film, Clay partly holds the family hostage, vaguely threatening them with violence should they try to escape or turn him over to the law, and partly Jarret wants the wanted man to stay, hoping to save his soul. Straining credibility, Jarret often leaves his wife alone with the violent Clay, who clearly finds Peg attractive. He spots her vague dissatisfaction as the second wife of an older, overly pious man.

Mill owner Ben (Slim Pickens) tries to sell Jarret an extremely violent, unbroken horse. Clay regards the animal an "outlaw" that cannot be trusted. He recommends shooting it, but Jarret eventually purchases the animal anyway, figuring that taming the horse will demonstrate to Clay that all of God's creatures are redeemable.

But tensions only rise as the wild horse, which Jarret names Lucifer, refuses to be broken. Peg is increasingly upset by her husband's refusal to turn Clay in, while the local sheriff, John Tatum (Louis Jean Heydt), begins to suspect the stranger working on Jarret's half-built church.

Stranger at My Door partly is the kind of postwar religious drama that's hard to take, with lots of overt symbolism and low-key but relentless preaching. Prayers don't go unanswered here. For all his faith in the Lord, Jarret seems awfully foolhardy at times, putting his son and wife in harm's way with a man they really know nothing about.

The movie, however, has a couple of outstanding and unexpected moments. Undoubtedly the highlight comes when pig-headed preacher Jarret tries to break Lucifer. The horse goes absolutely nuts, and after throwing him runs rampant, terrorizing Peg, Dodie, and Dodie's dog, chasing after them at full gallop, rearing up and smashing everything they try to hide behind. The pooch heroically bites at the horse's legs and even tries to clamp down on its ribs, flailing about as Lucifer tries to buck him. Jarret and Clay madly grab the beast around the neck, but even that doesn't slow it down. For such a visually uninteresting movie for most of its 85 minutes, the footage here is genuinely startling, better than anything in William Wyler's huge-budgeted The Big Country (1959) and its similar horse-breaking subplot.

Stranger at My Door also features a pretty exciting sequence during a fierce rainstorm, where a third act plot twist keeps viewers interested. Only obvious doubling of Wootton by a midget in both set pieces mars them slightly.

The rest of the film is only average, with Carey, Medina, and Homeier adequate but lacking the kind of star power that might have boosted Stranger at My Door's chances. Carey is painfully sincere, Medina a bit miscast but surprisingly good, and Homeier fine but not especially memorable.

Video & Audio

Stranger at My Door, composed for 1.66:1 widescreen, generally looks good though it's not quite as vibrant as most of the other Olive-Paramount-Republic Blu-ray titles. The mono audio, English only with no subtitle options, is likewise fine. No Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

One remarkable sequence by itself nearly justifies Stranger at My Door, and though heavy-handed the movie has just enough going for it to Recommend it.

Stuart Galbraith IV is the Kyoto-based film historian and publisher-editor of World Cinema Paradise. His credits include film history books, DVD and Blu-ray audio commentaries and special features.