''Lovers and Other Strangers'' is a 1970 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by Cy Howard, adapted from the 1968 Broadway play by

Renée Taylor Renée Adorée Taylor (née Wexler; born March 19, 1933) is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director. Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for the film '' Lovers and Other Strangers ...

and Joseph Bologna. The cast includes Richard S. Castellano,

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come Fill the Cup'' ...

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...

Anne Jackson Anne Jackson (September 3, 1925 – April 12, 2016); retrieved April 16, 2016Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2016. was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was the wife of actor Eli Wallach, with whom she often co-sta ...

, Bea Arthur, Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Harry Guardino,

Anne Meara Anne Meara (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American comedian and actress. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer Ben S ...

Bob Dishy Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Biography Early life and education Dishy grew up in the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. His father, a salesman, was born in Beirut and his mother in Jerus ...

, Marian Hailey, Joseph Hindy, and, in her film debut,

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (née Hall; born January 5, 1946) is an American actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Diane Keaton, various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a Bri ...

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

was an extra in this movie. The film was nominated for three

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

(it won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

), and was one of the top box-office performers of 1970. It established Richard S. Castellano as a star (receiving an Oscar nomination for his performance) and he and Diane Keaton were cast in ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'' (1972). The Oscar-winning song, " For All We Know", was composed by Fred Karlin, with lyrics by

Bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

Jimmy Griffin James Arthur Griffin (August 10, 1943 – January 11, 2005) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s soft rock band Bread. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1970 as co-writer ...

and Robb Royer. It was famously covered by

The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...

. ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' was originally distributed by Cinerama Releasing Corporation. The film was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

in 1980 by

Magnetic Video Magnetic Video Corporation was a home video/home audio duplication service that operated between 1968 and 1982. History Magnetic Video Corporation was established by the co-founder Andre Blay, an American film producer in 1968 with Leon Nic ...

, but was soon deleted. The Magnetic Video release was a collector's item for many years, but the film was eventually re-released on VHS by

CBS/Fox Video 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

in the 1990s. It is now available on DVD from

MGM Home Entertainment MGM Home Entertainment LLC (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment, d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of the American med ...

, and on Blu-ray by Kino-Lorimer. Taylor and Bologna followed up with their second screenplay the following year, '' Made for Each Other'' in which they also starred.

Plot

Mike Vecchio and Susan Henderson are engaged to be married. Mike wants to call off the wedding, arguing that it would be hypocritical for them to get married when they have already been living together for one year and a half. Mike relents on calling off the wedding after learning that Susan went to her first Halloween party dressed as a bride. Mike's brother Richie and his wife Joan have grown "incompatible" and are considering divorce. Mike's Italian-American parents, Frank and Bea, are relentlessly trying to dissuade Richie and Joan from divorcing.

Cast

Beatrice Arthur Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress, comedienne and singer. She began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving worldwide recognition for her work o ...

as Bea Vecchio * Bonnie Bedelia as Susan Henderson * Michael Brandon as Mike Vecchio * Richard Castellano as Frank Vecchio *

as Jerry * Harry Guardino as Johnny * Marian Hailey as Brenda * Joseph Hindy as Richie Vecchio *

as Kathy *

as Joan Vecchio *

as Bernice Henderson *

as Wilma *

as Hal Henderson * Anthony Holland as Donaldson * Bob Kaliban as Hotel Clerk * Amy Stiller as Flower Girl / Carol * Charlotte Jones as Johnny's Mother * Morton Marshall as Father Gregory * Conrad Bain as Priest In Confessional (uncredited) * Connie Mason as Wedding Guest (uncredited) * Jerry Stiller as Jim (uncredited) *

as Groomsman (uncredited)

Release

Home media

The vinyl LP soundtrack of the film was released by

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

in 1971, catalogue #ABCS 0C 15. It has not been released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

. The film was released by MGM on DVD on July 6, 2004 in full-screen format. The film was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

by KL Studio Classics on March 19, 2019 in anamorphic format with an HD master from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, and includes an audio commentary by film historian Lee Gambin. The

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

for the Blu-ray is 1.85.1 (i.e., the screen dimensions of the original film).

Reception

Box office

The film was popular at the box office, earning $7.7 million in gross rentals in North America. It recorded an overall profit of $790,000. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada

Accolades

Footnotes

External links

* * * * {{TCMDb title, id=22800, title=Lovers and Other Strangers 1970 films 1970s romantic comedy-drama films ABC Motion Pictures films American films based on plays American independent films American romantic comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films Films about marriage Films about weddings in the United States Films about adultery in the United States Films scored by Fred Karlin Films set in New York City Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award Cinerama Releasing Corporation films 1970 independent films 1970s American films English-language independent films 1970 comedy-drama films English-language romantic comedy-drama films