Strangers When We Meet (1960)

A suburban architect loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and with his work, so he takes up with the neglected, married beauty who lives down the street.

Director:

Richard Quine

Writers:

Evan Hunter (screenplay), Evan Hunter (novel)

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kirk Douglas	...	Larry Coe
Kim Novak	...	Margaret 'Maggie' Gault
Ernie Kovacs	...	Roger Altar
Barbara Rush	...	Eve Coe
Walter Matthau	...	Felix Anders
Virginia Bruce	...	Mrs. Wagner
Kent Smith	...	Stanley Baxter
Helen Gallagher	...	Betty Anders
John Bryant	...	Ken Gault
Roberta Shore	...	Linda Harder
Nancy Kovack	...	Marcia
Carol Douglas	...	Honey Blonde
Paul Picerni	...	Arthur Gerandi
Ernest Sarracino	...	Frank Di Labbia
Harry Jackson	...	Bud Ramsey

Storyline

Architect Larry Coe has a wife and family, but becomes embroiled in an affair with beautiful Maggie Gault, a neighbor with her own family. The two lovers are forced to face the choice between love and loyalty.

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Plot Keywords:

architect | affair | marriage | neighbor | attempted rape | 

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Taglines:

"I LOVE YOU BABY, BUT MY WIFE JUST REFUSES TO UNDERSTAND!"

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1960 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Fremde, wenn wir uns begegnen

Filming Locations:

100 N. Kenter Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bryna Productions, Richard Quine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nancy Kovack's film debut.

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Goofs

When she's getting ready to leave the party at Larry's house, Maggie goes to their bedroom to pick up her coat (all of the partygoers' coats had been laid out there on the bed). There is at least another coat or jacket by the pillow area of the bed when she comes in, but a moment later after she has looked around the bedroom and peeked into their bathroom, when Maggie walks by the bed to leave, the other coat or jacket by the pillow is missing. It is "possible" another guest "could have" have reached in and grabbed it, but it is highly unlikely since Maggie was only in the bedroom for a moment and she was never surprised by anyone coming in and catching her kind of snooping around.

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Quotes

[to Maggie]
Larry Coe: You're not so pretty.

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Connections

Referenced in El crack dos (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Strangers When We Meet"
Music by George Duning
Lyrics by Richard Quine
Performed by chorus over main credits

User Reviews

Hot cars, Hot plot ,and Hot Kim Novak

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1960. I loved it then, and I still find it appealing 4 decades later. I was a teenager in the 50's and Kim Novak was the epitome of beauty and sexuality for that era, and she is at her peak in this role. There is so much to say about this movie; Kirt Douglas strong masculine performance, with Novak complimenting him with her subdued, almost melancholy performance. The storyline is simple, Kirt and Kim are both married, but not to each other. Kim is love starved, her husband he a cold individual, who is more interest in open the mail, than opening her blouse, he spurns her attempts at romance at every turn. I can't imagine that happening with a woman like her. I don't know if the director was aware of it at the time, but her husband today would be view as a repressed homosexual,but in the 50's any hint of that was taboo. Kirt has a nice enough wife and 2 children and seems to be somewhat content, but apparently under the surface smothers a restlessness, that I don't think he was even aware of existed. When he sees Kim at a school bus stop where they both drop off their child, he is smitten. He pursues her, she resists in the beginning, but when her husband continues to ignore her, she gives in. The results are a passionate affair resulting in 2 destroyed marriages and the separation from each other. There are a few subplots that keep the story moving but it is Kim and Kirt who set the screen on fire