Quero-Te, Meu Amor

I'm not sure why RKO Pictures entitled this film Affair With A Stranger since what it is is the story of two married people played by Victor Mature and Jean Simmons. It's told from the point of view of their friends who read about it in the Broadway gossip column of Henny Backus and the influence of that other RKO classic Citizen Kane is unmistakable.

Mature is a likable enough fellow who is an aspiring playwright on Broadway who likes to gamble and have a good time as well and Simmons is a girl who nurtures him until he gains success. But then being a Broadway success he falls prey to the usual temptations. A really big temptation comes his way in the form of his latest leading lady, husband collecting Monica Lewis.

The cast has some real scene stealing character players like George Cleveland, Jane Darwell, Wally Vernon and Dabbs Greer all of whom are part of the lives of Simmons and Mature. They form a real rooting section for this marriage and they all care about the two leads and make you care as well. The story is told mostly through their recollections of how the relationship of Mature and Simmons has developed over the years and you get to know them as good if flawed people, especially Mature.

It's not Citizen Kane hardly, but Affair With A Stranger is a good entertaining drama with a great cast even if the title of the film was probably done to sensationalize the film a bit and get folks to plunk down their money thinking it might be something else. It's good enough as it is, on its own merits.

AFFAIR WITH A STRANGER tells a familiar tale of a rags-to-riches playwright William Blakeley (Victor Mature), who falls in love with and marries Carolyn Parker (Jean Simmons). After a few years of blissfully happy marriage, their impending divorce is announce in the gossip- columns. Through a series of flashbacks we see how their affair started and blossomed, then find out more about the cause of the divorce rumors, as Blakeley has a stillborn love affair with manipulative starlet Janet Boothe (Monica Lewis). Roy Rowland's film unfolds at a brisk pace, with plenty of opportunity for comic moments from Mature himself (in a surprisingly witty role), supported by Mary Jo Tarola and Dabbs Greer as the Murrays, close friends of the Blakeleys. Simmons doesn't have to do much, but she does have one frenetically comic scene where she prepares for William's first visit, falls over a living-room rug, tears her dress and ends up nearly upsetting a freshly-prepared plate of chicken. It is only due to Ma Stanton's (Jane Darwell's) timely intervention that Carolyn eventually composes herself sufficiently to receive her would-be suitor. For anyone interested in film history, AFFAIR WITH A STRANGER offers a fascinating insight into early Fifties attitudes towards marriage, in which the woman is expected to remain faithful at all times, while men are inevitably accepted as being frail-natures; they are always liable to have extra-marital affairs. The wife must accept this, and upbraid her husband for his transgression, but never dangle the prospect of divorce in front of him. It seems as if males have the freedom to let their eyes wander, but women must remain loyal at all times, even when they are as attractive as Simmons in this film.

"Affair with a Stranger" is an excellent, though poorly named, movie. It's really not about an affair but what could become one unless both the husband and wife attend to their marriage instead of their respective careers. And, it's a good object lesson for couples.

When the film begins, the star of William Blakeley's latest play calls a gossip columnist to announce that she is about to run off with married Blakeley (Victor Mature). It seems, however, a tad premature as no affair has yet occurred...but the lady's 'female intuition' tell her he'll soon be hers. What follows is a very interesting story....told through flashbacks as the couple's friends read the gossip column and then recall the ups and downs of the Blakeley marriage. And, in every case, the folks love the Mr. and Mrs. (Jean Simmons) and wish the story wasn't true...which, it really isn't...though the marriage is in trouble though neither the husband nor wife realize it. It seems over time, they both began focusing too much on their own careers...and this puts the marriage in serious jeopardy.

I liked this film for many reasons. The leads were both at their best and the story really was intelligently written and adult--and I mean that in the best possible way. In other words, it's not sleazy but a good drama illustrating a great object lesson couples could learn from and avoid. Well worth seeing.

I really enjoyed this film. I have never seen a black and white movie filmed with the theme of flashbacks. the plotline is interesting and even though it is from the 50's everyone can relate. It is clearly a movie that will stand the test of time. The best thing about the movie is the way the lead actor can so eloquently portray the man who lives off a dream. The lead actress also does a great job, in my opinion she is very good and i would like to see more of her movies. This film is special because it was the first to film a child actor. That was told to me by my grandmother so I am sincerely sorry if I am wrong about the child actor thing. All in all this is a great movie and I give it 9 stars.

In Affair with a Stranger, Victor Mature's marriage to Jean Simmons is falling apart, only they're the only ones who don't know it. Each vignette of flashback is led into by an "extra", like a taxicab driver, the maid, etc. who remember different parts of their marriage and tell the audience about it. With that format, the movie had potential to be cute, but it didn't turn out that way.

They meet, they fall in love, they fall on hard times, but as the rumor mill flies with their impending divorce, they're completely unaware of it. After all, they're not watching the movie. The reason I didn't really like this romance is because of the title. It's pretty obvious someone has an affair, and I didn't like the way the film handled it. If you like the two leads, though, you can give it a whirl.