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

The awarded architect Larry Coe lives a boring marriage with his wife Eve Coe and their two young sons in the suburb. Larry is designing and constructing an unique house to the successful writer Roger Altar (Ernie Kovacs) on the top of a hill. Margaret 'Maggie' Gault is a sexy blond sexually neglected by her husband Ken Gault that lives in the same neighborhood and they have a young son. When Larry meets Maggie at the bus stop of the school bus, he unsuccessfully hits on her. But soon they encounter each other again and they have a love affair. They fall in love with each other, but when their despicable neighbor Felix Anders discovers their affair, they have to decide between loyalty and respect to their families or love.

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Plot Keywords:

infidelity | los angeles california | based on novel | gin | gin martini | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some set elements are reused from a previous Richard Quine-directed film, Bell Book and Candle (1958), which also starred Kim Novak and featured Ernie Kovacs. In particular, lamps in Roger Altar's apartment in this film had appeared in Shep's apartment in Bell. Both films shared set decorator Louis Diage.

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Goofs

When Larry is going in to grocery store he takes a cart and pushes it over to Felix, but when he starts talking to Felix he has no cart and he does not retrieve it when he leaves Felix to enter store.

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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

This is Europa.

Richard Quine seems here very different.This is not exactly an entertaining movie but rather a middle-class group study focusing on Novak and Douglas ' characters.Absolutely unmelodramatic,with no spectacular scenes -except for two fightings- .Novak's memory of her affair with a trucker could have been treated as a flashback;but she simply tells it to her new lover Douglas,and the camera shows her mouth in close shot.Except during the party,the characters brush against each other more than they really meet.

Actually it's closer to European ,particularly Italian cinema of the same era:Antonioni comes to mind,'l'avventura"(1959)and chiefly "la notte"(1960).Delicacy,painful frames of mind,wistful looks,in a muffled atmosphere,with more whispers than cries:Quine proves that a scandalous topic such as adultery can be handled gracefully.Unlike further works as "the world of Suzy Wong"(1960) or "sex and the single girl"(1964),this is true psychological drama.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Strangers When We Meet

Filming Locations:

Armstrong-Schroeder Cafe - 9766 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,412,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bryna Productions, Richard Quine Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1