Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Forgotten Films: Strangers When We Meet

My recent Evan Hunter kick reminded me that I read Strangers When We Meet more than 50 years ago, probably right before or right after I saw the movie based on it. I remember being impressed by both. Sure, they're soap opera, but they're great soap opera.

Kirk Douglas plays a bored young architect who enters into an adulterous affair with Kim Novak. If you're a whippersnapper who's never seen Kim Novak, you're in for a treat. She was one of the great beauties of the era, and she's also a fine actress. And check out the rest of the cast: Walter Matthau, Ernie Kovacs, Barbara Rush, and more.

And then there's the setting, the suburbia of the late '50s. The Eisenhower years. The movie captures that time and place as well as anything you'll ever see. The morality is pure '50s, too, and while it might seem quaint now, remember that the '60s loomed ahead. A change was gonna come.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never read the book somehow, but I do remember the movie.

I've been catching up on the Hunter books I've missed over the years and this is on my list.

Jeff

WV: courgie (alternate spelling for the Queen's dogs?)

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, boy did I love that movie as a kid.

Bud said...

Wow! I'll be seeing this one!

Yvette said...

I saw this many MANY years ago. Ah, the defined morality of it all. It really was a terrific movie.

I wonder if Netflix has it lying around...

Cap'n Bob said...

I saw the movie and I recall the song with that title, but never read the book. Mmmmm, Kim Novak.