Amores con un extraño

I awoke at 3:00 am last night to Love With The Proper Stranger. I hadn't seen it in probably 35 years. I adored it. When I first saw it in 1963 I was 16 and it made a terrific impression about abortion which were in the back alley stage. Today, I look at it, thankful that women don't have to do than anymore. But, mostly I think of how wonderful Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen were together.

What struck me was how "modern" it looked. I think that was partly because it was filmed in black and white. I know that might sound strange. I think part of it had to do with their clothing. Natalie looked stunning in Edith Head's costumes (wish I had that black dress with the pearls today) and Steve looked very normal in his trench coat. Backdrops of New York City looked present-day.

I must have seen it many times in the 60's since I knew lines that were coming, early this morning, before they were said by either of these great actors.

The development of this movie from a drama, into a romantic comedy was done brilliantly and very naturally. I loved the way Natalie used her eyes to speak and how Steve did the same.

My only regret is that neither of them are with us today.

I will have to see if this has come out on DVD. I'd love to have it.

My other favorite movies of hers were Splendor in the Grass (I went out and purchased Wordsworth's poetry immediately after seeing it) and Inside Daisy Clover.

This has always been one of my absolute favorite movies! Steve McQueen and Natalie Wood were perfectly suited for each other. She played brave Angie Rossini wonderfully - trying so hard to break away from her protective Italian-American family, trying to be strong and capable in the face of such a difficult situation, trying not to show how scared she really is.

But Steve McQueen is the real sweet part of this couple. He is corrupt and funny and unsuspectedly tender and responsible and caring. It should be noted for the fact that it marked his departure from the anti-hero roles that he specialized in (and excelled in). This wasn't an action movie but it was one of Steve's absolute best performances. She was nominated for an Academy Award and deservedly so but he was overlooked and that is criminal!

Can you tell that I love this movie?? Well, I do!

This film has always struck me as Natalie Wood and Steve

McQueen's best work in movies. Both would go on to successes

and failures, but neither would seem as natural and as unaffected

on screen again.

The story of a good working-class Italian girl in New York who gets

pregnant by a man she hardly knows, is very strong stuff for 1963.

So is their decision to have an abortion. Roe vs. Wade was nearly

a decade in the future. Mulligan shows a very gritty, dirty, New York

which has emerged from the 50s as a crumbling relic of a city,

nowhere as clean and shiny as it is today. McQueen is a callow

young musician, not looking to settle down with anyone, let alone a

single pregnant girl, even if he is at fault.

The trip to a bad neighborhood to get the abortion is chilling, and

Wood's absolute terror is genuine here. McQueen being

reluctantly honorable is very sexy here. The rest of the film with her

facing down her overly protective Neanderthal brothers and getting

her own apartment, follows the young lovers as they try to do the

right thing. Steve's poster--"Better wed than Dead," is a sweet

coda.

I loved this movie. It struck this teenager at the time, as a very

sophisticated film. Natalie Wood is incandescently beautiful in

black and white and still the loner, McQueen's intensity is a bit

more subtle than usual. Good supporting cast. This was an era

where the final black and white movies were being made--TO KILL

A MOCKING BIRD, BIRD MAN OF ALCATRAZ, THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY, PSYCHO were the last gasp of this

medium.

Long overdue for DVD release.

Watching this film today, it's easy to forget how daring it was for its day (1963) -focusing on an illegal abortion.

It's also an fascinating mix of conventional romantic comedy mixed with real grit and passion - and the fact it starts off as unconventional as possible; girl meets boy, girl gets pregnant, girl and boy try to organise an abortion - and THEN girl and boy fall in love.

Natalie Wood was often miscast throughout her career - her dark beauty was used to try and pull of Nat as Hispanic, Nat as half-black, Nat as Mexican. In this film she's cast as Italian, and pulls it off perfectly. This could possibly be her greatest performance (alongside Splendor in the Grass and The Cracker Factory). She received an Academy Award nomination for this film. She gives such a natural performance (usually she's more self-conscious on film) - she is such a joy to watch and absolutely stunning.

Steve McQueen is at his most charming - usually he is playing the hero of an action film, so its great to see him display tenderness. Wood and McQueen have such great chemistry, its a shame this was their only film together.

Added to the mega-watt performances is the beautiful black and white cinematography and the NYC location shooting. A great film. Completely underrated.

Very satisfying movie that involves us completely in the conflicted relationship of the leads, played beautifully by McQueen and Wood (evidently Paul Newman was originally slated for the part). We find ourselves really rooting for them to get together. Sounds like a soap-opera "chick flick", but the story is sufficiently gritty and has enough comic touches to appeal to the guys, too. B&W works well to emphasize the New York atmosphere of the flick, with its many locale shots. The ethnic Italian ethos is well-captured, too. And to top it off is a wonderful score by Elmer Bernstein, whose music veers awfully close to sounding like that other Bernstein (and that's not a criticism!). I don't know why we don't see this one more often; thank you American Movie Classics.