Fremde, wenn wir uns begegnen

If viewed from the morality of the period, this is actually quite a good movie. It attempted to tell a story about and comment on American family life, particularly on repressed desires and wedded relationships in the suburbs just before the "swinging 60's" exploded. Hearing Walter Matthau sum up his marital role as merely being considered "furniture in his own home" speaks volumes about what this film is about. Kim Novak is the sexy wife and mother to one family. Living down the manicured street is Kirk Douglas, the virile husband and dad in another - both living their lives against the backdrop of 1950's-60's morality. You do the math...

Is it worthy of awards? No. Is the conflict entertaining? You bet! Definitely worth a look to those who like films from this era.

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

I was rather surprised when I saw this love story. I found it very moving, serene and very inspired in all aspects. The perfect balance between main plot (the relationship of Douglas and Novak) and substories (writer, Douglas' wife, neighbours) is amazing. The culmination of the film is the final scene in the recently finished house that architect Douglas has designed. A very big bravo for Novak and Douglas performances, two (still) living legends. If there were only films like this in the cinemas now...

I echo the sentiment of the other reviewer. This is so much more than a soap opera...

I caught this movie on the late show about 20 years ago and if recall correctly, was going through the end of a relationship at the time. The movie struck a chord, though frankly I'm not sure why I received it's message so deeply. This is my favorite Kirk Douglas movie by far. Kirk is not known for subtlety but he's great here.

I typically judge movies by their ring of truth, and this one has it in spades.

A must see...

I was totally shocked when I saw this film as a kid, home sick from school. Here was one of my movie heroes, Kirk Douglas and the lovely Kim Novak at her sexiest, and they were NOT doing good things in their neighborhood. Ahhhhhhhhh... so THIS is what was happening while I was at school.

This "adult" themed soaper showed that Hollywood was beginning to change its tune when it came to dealing with issues like infidelity. Douglas plays a successful architect who starts an affair with Novak because he's, well, bored. Douglas' macho performance is tempered a bit and we really feel that he is in love with Novak. This isn't a tawdry affair, we're supposed to believe, because Douglas' performance is so strong. It isn't until late in the film do we realize that these types of affairs are incredibly damaging to all involved and that there are no heroes here.

For establishing a subtle ground-breaking subject matter, for a strong Douglas performance, for the neat cars and a really cool barbecue on the patio (hello 60s... you can just see the neighborhood gang out there, firing up the steaks, sipping on gin and tonics and watching a space shot on one of those metal portable TVs) and most of all for the gorgeous Kim Novak, this soaper has a little more depth than you'd expect.

Watch it.