Strangers When We Meet (film)
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| Strangers When We Meet | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Quine |
| Produced by | Richard Quine Bryna Productions Richard Quine Productions |
| Written by | Evan Hunter |
| Starring | Kirk Douglas Kim Novak Ernie Kovacs Barbara Rush |
| Music by | George Duning |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Editing by | Charles Nelson |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 29, 1960 |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Strangers When We Meet is a 1960 drama film about two married neighbors who have an affair. It was adapted by Evan Hunter from his novel of the same name and is directed by Richard Quine. The film stars Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush, and Walter Matthau.
The motion picture was filmed in Los Angeles, California, with additional scenes shot in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Malibu.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Larry Coe (Douglas), a Los Angeles architect who's married with two kids. He has a very bright wife, Eve (Rush). She's ambitious for him, but he wants to do work more imaginative than the commercial buildings he's designing. Maggie Gault (Novak), one of his neighbors whose son is friends with his son, helps him get a commission to build a house for an eccentric writer named Roger Alter (Kovacs). Both Larry and Maggie are dissatisfied in their marriages. Larry's wife is too hard-headed and practical and Maggie's husband isn't interested in having sex with her. So they have an affair that involves lots of walking on the beach and having drinks in oceanside hideaways. They both know what they're doing is wrong, and they each love their spouses in their own way and they're devoted to their children.
Felix Anders (Matthau) is a neighbor who snoops around and finds out about their affair. His leering and insinuations to Larry makes Larry realize the risks he's taking and he tells Maggie that they shouldn't see each other for a while. Felix, in the meantime, makes a play for Larry's wife Eve in an unbelievably creepy scene. In a way, Felix is a personification of the tawdriness of Larry and Maggie's affair. After her near-rape by Felix, Eve wises up and realizes that Larry has been unfaithful. She confronts him and they agree to stay together and move to Hawaii, where Larry has been offered a job to design a city.
Roger Alter's house is finished but still empty. Maggie drives up to take a look at it. Larry shows up and they talk about how they can never be together. Larry tells Maggie that he wishes they could live in the house and if they did, he would dig a moat around it and never leave it. Maggie says she loves him. The contractor for the house shows up and thinks Maggie is Larry's wife. They both take a moment to savor the irony of his remark and Maggie drives away. On the way out of the driveway, one of the construction workers leers at her. She drives away.
This is a long film that moves along at a leisurely pace that reflects the time when it was made. Larry is a successful architect, yet he still can take his kids to the school bus stop and have time to carry on his affair with Maggie without his wife suspecting. The film has nice expansive feel despite the constricted lives the characters lead.
[edit] Cast
- Kirk Douglas - as - Larry Coe
- Kim Novak - as - Margaret Gault
- Ernie Kovacs - as - Roger Altar
- Barbara Rush - as - Eve Coe
- Walter Matthau - as - Felix Anders
- Virginia Bruce - as - Mrs. Wagner
- Kent Smith - as - Stanley Baxter
- Helen Gallagher - as - Betty Anders
- John Bryant - as - Ken Gault
- Sue Ane Langdon - as - Daphne
[edit] Reception
Variety said that the film is "...easy on the eyes but hard on the intellect...an old-fashioned soap opera", and: "It is a rather pointless, slow-moving story, but it has been brought to the screen with such skill that it charms the spectator into an attitude of relaxed enjoyment, much the same effect as that produced by a casual daydream fantasy".[1] TIME called the movie: "pure tripe".[2] "Unvaried strangulated hush", is how film critic Stanley Kauffmann, in The New Republic, described Novak's diction.[3] Craig Butler at Allmovie says that Douglas "seems a little out of place", and that the screenplay is "predictable".[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Strangers When We Meet". - Variety. - January 1, 1960. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08
- ^ "The New Pictures". - TIME. - July 04, 1960. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08
- ^ U.S.. - TIME. - August 01, 1960. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08
- ^ Butler, Craig. - Review: Strangers When We Meet . - Allmovie. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08
[edit] External links
- Strangers When We Meet at the TCM Movie Database
- Tonguette, Peter. - Strangers When We Meet. - The Film Journal
