Love With the Proper Stranger

Released Dec 25, 1963

1h 42m

Comedy

Drama

List

82%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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

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

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Tom Milne

Time Out

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.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

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

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

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

Rated: 3/4

Oct 6, 2021

Full Review

Joan Didion

Vogue

[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.

Mar 16, 2020

Full Review

TV Guide

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

Rated: 4/5

Nov 21, 2016

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delysid d

i'm a fan of steve mcqueen and peckinah films so i wanted to see this one. i actually didn't enjoy it, it's all about steve being a jerk to his girlfriend

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/06/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Natalie Wood's 3rd and final Oscar-nominated role. Her hairdo is always falling down into her eyes, which is very annoying, as is her Jewish Bronx accent.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

paul d

Robert Mulligan's Love With the Proper Strangers starts as a very good drama centered around a pregnancy out of marriage, and evolves into a pleasant romantic comedy, which is not as good. Natalie Wood and Steve McQueen play Italian-Americans who feel stifled by their traditional tight family ties. We watch them sort out their conflicted feelings over the course of the film, and we believe them when they eventually fall in love. It is is shot with great realism on the streets of New York, and the movie packs a lot into 1h42 of screen time. The stars are wonderful, especially Wood, and the supporting cast is strong, particularly the actors playing their immigrant parents, who are genuine and believable. Although the parents have minor roles, they serve to give a lot of humanity to the two protagonists, and make us like them all the more for it. Despite all those strong points, I found the fairy tale ending a bit too superficial, like a studio re-write. If the ending had been handled with a touch more seriousness and a touch more evolution in the McQueen character, the film would have been in the "great" category.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

camille l

D'une histoire très commune (femme rencontre homme, ils couchent ensemble hors mariage, femme devient enceinte, homme ne veut pas s'investir, femme cherche un avortement clandestin), Robert Mulligan livre un mélodrame déchirant et pourtant plein d'espoir avec Love With the Proper Stranger. Steve McQueen et Natalie Wood sont formidables en couple contre le cours du temps, chacun avec sa part d'ombre. En ne perdant pas de temps en digressions et en allant droit au but, Love With the Proper Stranger possède quelques scènes très fortes, un potentiel lacrymal assez élevé et surtout une humanité bienvenue. Ce qui aurait pu être un film misanthrope se trouve être une belle histoire d'amour, peut-être convenue mais surtout touchante et réaliste. De plus, les scènes dans Little Italy font partie des meilleures filmées dans le quartier. Remarquable.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent performance by Natalie Wood. There is a palpable tension throughout the movie, especially the first half. Even when not speaking, you can see the struggle Wood is going through. It is a weighty subject, and does she show it. McQueen is also good, but his coolness gets in the way sometimes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

You'll see numerous parallels between "Love with the Proper Stranger" and other Natalie Wood films, such as "Splendor in the Grass" and "This Property is Condemned." Same basic set-up: young, beautiful, charming girl suffocated by her overbearing mother. Fine by me, Natalie Wood's impeccable in all three. Next to the other two flicks, this one feels more modern because her character, as an urban working girl, is grittier, wiser. Most of the movie is fresh, full of nice surprises and exceedingly ballsy in the use of drawn out, awkward silences to build the tension. Unfortunately, the producers copped out in the end. After a very mature drama where McQueen avoids committing to marriage, in the last few minutes a cheesy happy ending is tacked on, the tone shifts to farce and disappointment sets in.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

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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
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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