10 Times Studios LOCKED AWAY Deleted Movie Scenes From Directors
3. The Stranger
As brilliant a filmmaker as Orson Welles was, he also quickly developed a reputation for going over schedule and over budget, such that studios eventually took measures to insulate themselves from his indulgences.
For his 1946 film noir The Stranger, production company International Pictures convinced him to sign a contract ensuring he'd pay major financial penalties if he went over planned time and money allocations, and that in the event of a creative dispute, the studio always won out.
This led to the film's editor, Ernest J. Nims, also being given the power to rein in Welles' excessive tendencies, resulting in him cutting almost 30 minutes of footage from the movie he deemed extraneous.
This included a lengthy subplot set in Latin America and numerous character development scenes, streamlining the end result in a more conventional - if still rather great - thriller.
Sadly the excised material has never surfaced, suggesting MGM likely disposed of it after the film's release.