We Were Strangers

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

67%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 118

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified.
Fandango

AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
- Fandango
- AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
  
  Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info
- Cinemark Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Regal Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?

You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?

Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?

We Were Strangers Photos

View All Photos (8)

Movie Info

When her brother is murdered, China Valdez (Jennifer Jones) swears revenge on the corrupt Cuban government he had been protesting. She joins the resistance led by Tony (John Garfield), an American with a plan that promises devastating results to their enemies. First they'll kill a government official, then plant a bomb at the funeral, which will wipe out the dead man's associates when it explodes. All they need to do is to dig an underground tunnel from China's house to the cemetery next door.

Genre:

mystery and thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

John Huston
Producer:

Sam Spiegel
Release Date (Theaters):

Apr 27, 1949 wide
Release Date (Streaming):

Oct 29, 2016
Runtime:

1h 46m
Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Cast & Crew

Jennifer Jones
China Valdez

John Garfield
Tony Fenner

Pedro Armendáriz
Armando Ariete

Gilbert Roland
Guillermo

Ramon Novarro
Chief

John Huston
Director

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for We Were Strangers

All Critics (11) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (3)

Tense and intelligent.

July 25, 2019 | Full Review…

Bob Thomas
Associated Press
Never for a moment a dull movie, Strangers is often too facile or too far away from strict artistic honesty. Coming from the man who made Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it is a disappointment.

August 18, 2015 | Full Review…

TIME Magazine
In We Were Strangers, John Huston has come up with a finished job of directing that edges close to his best films.

July 6, 2010 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
This very concentration upon detail and upon the concrete mechanics of the plan has thrown the whole drama into the character of a passionless action film.

March 25, 2006 | Full Review…

Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Even though it dissipates its serious political theme with too much mechanical detail, the film is still tense and atmospheric.

August 18, 2015 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Robin Karney
Radio Times
Huston's follow-up to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Key Largo doesn't rank with either of those classics but is certainly entertaining in its own right.

August 18, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

TV Guide
Quote not available.

March 4, 2013 | Rating: B-

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
The stark claustrophobia of the compositions is continuously goosed by urgent surrealism

October 21, 2010 | Full Review…

Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
Grim historical thriller.

March 4, 2008 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
An exciting melodrama -- well acted, with the background reality lost in history.

April 23, 2005 | Full Review…

Film4 Staff
Film4
...engaging...

February 26, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (11)

Audience Reviews for We Were Strangers

Mar 05, 2011

Political drama of the initial Cuban upheaval pre-1933. Shown from the vantage point of the revolutionaries and their plot to overthrow the oppressive government in one fell swoop this is an unusual film for it's time period in that it doesn't shrink away from stating that the freedom workers might have to take innocent lives to acheive their goals. Huston's direction is assured and Garfield and Roland acquit themselves well but the picture is marred by two things. First is the overly obvious rear projection shots that occure throughtout the film and the larger problem that Jones is miscast in a part that would have fit Katy Jurado like a glove. She seems neither gritty enough, she is consistently glamourous even when digging beneath a cemetery!!, nor even remotely Cuban to be believable. Not a bad film just flawed.

jay n Super Reviewer