''Strangers When We Meet'' is a 1960 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

about two married neighbors who have an

affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...

. The movie was adapted by

Evan Hunter Evan Hunter (born Salvatore Albert Lombino; October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author of crime and mystery fiction. He is best known as the author of '' 87th Precinct'' novels, published under the pen name Ed McBain, which ar ...

from his novel of the same name and directed by

Richard Quine Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...

. The film stars

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a s ...

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his dea ...

Barbara Rush Barbara Rush (January 4, 1927 – March 31, 2024) was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. In 1954, she won the Golden Globe Award for most promising female newcomer for her role in the 1953 American science-fiction film ''It ...

and

Walter Matthau Walter John Matthau ( Matthow; ; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, known for his "hangdog face" and for playing world-weary characters. He starred in 10 films alongside his real-life friend Jack Lemmon, including '' The Od ...

. The picture was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, with scenes shot in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

, Brentwood, Bel Air,

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

and Malibu.

Plot

Larry Coe is a

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who is married with two kids. He has a very bright wife, Eve. She is ambitious for him, but he wants to do work that is more imaginative than the commercial buildings that he has been designing. He meets with Roger Altar, an author, to discuss building a house that will be an "experiment" and something Coe wants to do more of, something original. Maggie Gault is one of his neighbors; her son is friends with his. She tells Larry that she has seen some of his previously constructed houses and thinks that the more unconventional houses are the best. This encouragement is what he needs from his wife but has not been able to get. Both Larry and Maggie are generally dissatisfied with their marriages. Larry's wife is too hard-headed and practical, and Maggie's husband is not interested in having sex with her. So they have an affair that involves meeting in secret. They both know what they are doing is wrong, and they are devoted to their children. Felix Anders is a neighbor who snoops around and finds out about their affair. His leering and insinuations make Larry realize the risks that he is taking. He tells Maggie that they should not see each other for a while. Felix, in the meantime, makes a play for Larry's wife. In a way, Felix is a personification of the tawdriness of Larry and Maggie's affair. Eve has no interest in Felix's advances and rejects him in dramatic fashion. In the aftermath, she comes to terms with the fact that Larry has been unfaithful. After confronting him, they agree to stay together and move to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, where Larry has been offered a job to design a city. Altar's house is finished but still empty. After Larry phones her, Maggie makes one last appointment to meet him at the newly completed home. Maggie is exploring the outside of the house and peeking through the windows when Larry arrives. They talk about how they can never be together. Larry wishes that he and Maggie could live in the house; if they did, he would surround it with a moat and never leave it. Maggie says that she loves him. The contractor for the house arrives and thinks Maggie is Larry's wife. They both take a moment to savor the irony of his remark, and Maggie drives away.

Cast

as Larry Coe *

as Margaret Gault *

as Roger Altar *

as Eve Coe *

as Felix Anders *

Virginia Bruce Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, ...

as Mrs. Wagner *

Kent Smith Frank Kent SmithGordon, Dr. Roger L. (2018). Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures: Volume II'. Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance Publishing. pp. 130, 131. . "Kent Smith: Frank Kent Smith was born on March 19, 1907, in New York City. ..He was marrie ...

as Stanley Baxter *

Helen Gallagher Helen Gallagher (July 19, 1926 – November 24, 2024) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She received three Daytime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, a Donaldson Award, and a Drama Desk Award. Gallagher's work on the New York stages spa ...

as Betty Anders * John Bryant as Ken Gault *

Sue Ane Langdon Sue Ane Langdon (born Sue Ane Lookhoff on March 8, 1936)Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (2002). Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973'. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 171. . is an American actress. She has appeare ...

as Daphne *

Nancy Kovack Nancy Kovack (born March 11, 1935) is a retired American film and television actress. Early years Nancy Kovack was born in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Michael A. Kovack, was the manager of a General Motors plant. Career After working as a mo ...

as Marcia

Production

Art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Ross Bellah elected to have a real house built for the one that Larry Coe is designing for Roger Altar in the film. Bellah, with architect Carl Anderson, designed an all-wood 3,800-square-foot house and had it built on a hillside lot in Bel Air. The filming schedule had to be closely aligned with the house's construction schedule because the house was an important element of the plot, and scenes had to be filmed at various stages of construction. The house, at 930 Chantilly Road, Los Angeles, still stands.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that the film is "...easy on the eyes but hard on the intellect...an old-fashioned soap opera", and that "It is a rather pointless, slow-moving story, but it has been brought to the screen with such skill that it charms the spectator into an attitude of relaxed enjoyment, much the same effect as that produced by a casual daydream fantasy". ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine called the movie "pure tripe". "Unvaried strangulated hush" is how film critic

Stanley Kauffmann Stanley Kauffmann (April 24, 1916 – October 9, 2013) was an American writer, editor, and critic of film and theater. Career Kauffmann started with ''The New Republic'' in 1958 and contributed film criticism to that magazine for the next 55 ye ...

, in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', described Novak's diction. Craig Butler at

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

says that Douglas "seems a little out of place", and that the screenplay is "predictable".

References

External links

* * * *Tonguette, Peter.
Strangers When We Meet
- The Film Journal
''Strangers When We Meet''
at

Trailers from Hell ''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and exp ...