Strangers When We Meet
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Movie Reviews of Strangers When We Meet
Movie Review: strangers when we meet
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful movie saw it when it first came out. Am semi-retired so can enjoy it again. Also met Kim Novak once more beautiful in person if you can believe that. Love amazon have used it quite a few timesMovie Review: Strangers When We Meet DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
High Quality Material - Super MovieStrangers When We MeetMovie Review: Excellent Service
Summary: 5 Stars
I was surprised to find this vintage video at such a good price and receive it so quickly. Great service.Movie Review: under-rated romantic masterpiece
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on Evan Hunter's bestselling novel, STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET (Richard Quine, 1960) is a fascinating romantic drama, very indicative of the conservative period in which it was made, yet still fresh and vibrant in it's depiction of a pair of married lovebirds whose affair is doomed from the start...
Successful architect Larry Coe (Kirk Douglas) and housewife Maggie Gault (Kim Novak) meet during the daily ritual of dropping their kids at the bus-stop. Larry is married to Eve (Barbara Rush), a woman who'd rather Larry drop his principals and design for money, not artistic freedom. Maggie married "the first nice guy that came along" and has since enjoyed occasional meaningless flings during her husband's various business trips. Together, they find a rare kind of love. But how long will it be before their happiness is halted--by the discovery of a loved one, or the cry of a conscience?
STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET no doubt raised more than a few eyebrows in it's day, with many comparing it to "Peyton Place" in it's themes of peeking through tidy middle-class curtains to discover the debauched lifestyles playing behind. It's really much more than that. I've always felt that it shares a closer kinship to the Douglas Sirk melodramas, most specifically "All That Heaven Allows". Though essentially a morality tale, Douglas and Novak add a great deal of sympathy and strength to their characters. We feel for both these people, because even though they are committing adultery on their partners, we believe their own love-bond is stronger and more valid than their respective married unions.
Another reviewer has pointed out the similarity between Kim Novak's character in this movie and her most famous role, Madeleine Elster, in "Vertigo". Both share the same haunted, elusive quality. We never really feel that we know her. It's one of the many reasons why I count Novak among my all-time favourite actresses. It's always a pleasure to see Ms Novak work her magic on the screen.
Director Richard Quine always loved working with Kim Novak, and had previously guided her through 1954's "Pushover" (her official movie debut) and "Bell, Book and Candle" in 1958; reuniting with her again for the underrated comedy gem "The Notorious Landlady" two years after this film. STRANGERS WHEN WE MEET also features familiar Quine faces Ernie Kovacs ("Bell, Book and Candle", "It Happened to Jane") and Paul Picerni ("Operation Mad Ball").
Also keep your eyes peeled for talented Broadway actress Helen Gallagher playing neighbour Betty Anders, and former Disney moppet Roberta 'Jymme' Shore as the babysitter. An overlooked masterpiece.
Movie Review: Superior, Engrossing Douglas/Novak Soap Opera
Summary: 4 Stars
Strangers When We Meet is one of those glossy, well-made soap operas that were very popular from the mid-1950s to early 1960s. And this is one of the better ones of the genre.
Kirk Douglas plays an architect who works primarily from home. He's married to Barbara Rush and has two sons. He meets and developes an affair with neighbor Kim Novak, also married with a son. Douglas and Novaak both feel guilty, but also feel powerless in the face of their attraction to each other. As time goes on, their secret bubbles closer and closer to the surface. Smarmy neighbor Walter Matthau (who also starred with Douglas in The Indian Fighter and Only The Brave) gives Douglas pointers on how to cheat, and even tries to entice Rush into a tryst. Further complicating things is an offer Douglas is weighing to move to Hawaii for five years to help develop a city. Does he leave to make a fresh start with his wife (who is beginning to suspect what's going on), or does he stay and juggle his marriage and affair?
The film is entertaining and well-acted. Ernie Kovacs plays a pivotal role as a writer for whom Douglas is building a house - a single, amoral man who is a success in career, but envies the wife and kids that Douglas has. Strangers When We Meet is a fine film that might end too neatly for some, but still manages to take a practical look at a topic that will always be with us.