Love With the Proper Stranger

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Love With the Proper Stranger

1963,

1h 42m,

Comedy/

Drama

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82%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

1,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Angie Rossini (Natalie Wood), an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano (Steve McQueen). When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion. Rocky agrees to help, but after seeing the unsanitary abortion facility, he refuses to let Angie go through with the procedure and attempts to make her an honest woman.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

Fortunately the film survives these shortcomings through its sheer breezy good nature and the animal magnetism of its two stars.

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Tom Milne

Time Out

Jun 24, 2006

Familiar in theme, but given a delightfully fresh flavour by Mulligan's atmospherically low-key direction, excellent performances from Wood and McQueen, and vivid location shooting in New York's Little Italy.

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Bosley Crowther

New York Times

May 9, 2005

The picture itself is diverting, but weak on that main romantic point.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Oct 6, 2021

3/4

A bracingly mature film that tackles weighty issues in an intelligent and sober manner -- at least until the home stretch.

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Joan Didion

Vogue

Mar 16, 2020

[Love with the Proper Stranger] seemed to me so curious a mixture of old-fashioned schmaltz and up-to-the-minute grubbiness that I could conclude only that I was the slightest bit over the hill.

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TV Guide

Nov 21, 2016

4/5

Not perfect, but touching and adult; with fine work from the two leads, this is one of Mulligan's better films.

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Feb 1, 2019

The best romance movie ever made!

Albus R

Jul 1, 2018

This classic film should be a MUST see for those who want to overturn Roe v Wade.

Harry L

Jan 22, 2017

What on the surface may be construed as a typical 1960's romantic comedy is a great film with real weight. First off, as Natalie Wood's character has to stand up to her annoying brothers, who are over-protective and try to coerce her into a relationship with a nice guy played by Tom Bosley of all people (Mr. Cunningham from 'Happy Days'), it has a strong feminist message. Secondly, the film asks questions about the biggest things in life - is there such a thing as romantic love, or does lust obscure everything? And should one just settle in marriage, because, as a minor character so wisely puts it at a dinner party, "love is really an art, and like every other art, it demands practice and patience, consistent dedication and hard work." Lastly, and this is the biggest thing, the film shows what it meant to try to get an abortion before it was legal. You see, very early on in the film, Natalie Wood has told Steve McQueen that she's pregnant as a result of their one-night stand. That leads up to an extended sequence trying to get an abortion in an abandoned apartment which is horrifying, not because they "show" anything, but because it is so gritty and real, and filled with psychological pain. So here it is that you have this film with a beautiful couple with great chemistry, Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen, and you're in an emotional drama, and yet, it's one that has a sense of lightness about it, because of the strong performances they turn in, both of them delicately finding this balance. You have to love Wood's character at so many turns, as she consistently strives to find her own path in life, and her own voice. What an amazing film this is for 1963, and how timely it was seeing it in January, 2016, ominously showing what getting an abortion would be like in America if Roe v. Wade was overturned, and we went backwards during the Trump regime.

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Robert Mulligan

Director

Natalie Wood

Angie Rossini

Steve McQueen

Rocky Papasano

Edie Adams

Barbie

Herschel Bernardi

Dominick Rossini

Tom Bosley

Anthony Columbo

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Synopsis

Angie Rossini (Natalie Wood), an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano (Steve McQueen). When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion. Rocky agrees to help, but after seeing the unsanitary abortion facility, he refuses to let Angie go through with the procedure and attempts to make her an honest woman.

Director: Robert Mulligan
Producer: Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriter: Arnold Schulman
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Pakula-Mulligan
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 1963, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Runtime: 1h 42m

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