Never Love a Stranger (1958)

Following the life of an orphan and the events that change his life and lead him into a life of crime.

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writers:

Richard Day (screenplay), Harold Robbins (novel),

Stars:

John Drew Barrymore, Lita Milan, Robert Bray

Cast

Cast overview:
John Drew Barrymore	...	Francis 'Frankie' Kane
Lita Milan	...	Julie Cabell
Robert Bray	...	'Silk' Fennelli
Steve McQueen	...	Martin Cabell
Salem Ludwig	...	Moishe Moscowitz
R.G. Armstrong	...	Flix
Douglas Rodgers	...	Brother Bernard
Felice Orlandi	...	Bert
Augusta Merighi	...	Mrs. Cozzolina
Vincent Barbi	...	(as Vince Barbi)
Abe Simon	...	'Fats' Crown
Vitina Marcus	...	Frances Kane (as Dolores Vitina)

Storyline

Frankie Kane is brought up in a Catholic orphanage and befriends Martin Cabell, a Jewish law student whose sister Julie becomes Frankie's sweetheart. At sixteen, Frankie learns that he is himself Jewish and therefore has to be moved to a Jewish home. That prospect proves so awful that he runs away - and goes bad. Years later, he returns to the district and gets involved with a crime syndicate that his old pal Martin, now assistant district attorney, has pledged to clean up. Frankie however, bumps in to Julie again and, finding he still loves her, decides to help the straight-shooting Martin smash the syndicate.

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Plot Keywords:

orphanage | orphan | attorney | rags to riches | organized crime | 

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Taglines:

RAW and VIOLENT as the book that sold 3,000,000 SIZZLING copies!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Autopsia di un gangster

Company Credits

Production Co:

Caryn

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the opening scene of the movie (the scene is titled on-screen as "New York 1912"), Frances Kane is shown walking down a city street toward the midwife's home. In the far background to the left is the rear of a parked car from the 1950s.

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Connections

Referenced in Steve McQueen: The King of Cool (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Oh Baby"
Music by Raymond Scott
Lyrics by Lawrence Elow

User Reviews

A real clunker

This film is painfully inept and should be avoided by all except lovers of camp. It's the oft-told story of the boyhood friends--where one goes straight and the other becomes a crook. For a vastly better version of the story, watch "Manhattan Melodrama." In "Never Love a Stranger," the dialogue is incredibly wooden and the plot contrivances both silly and obvious. Really, I don't know why I watched to the end except that I was hoping for a good courtroom scene, but none ever materialized.