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Love With the Proper Stranger

Play trailer Poster for Love With the Proper Stranger 1963 1h 42m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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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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Love With the Proper Stranger

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 03/26/2009
Fortunately the film survives these shortcomings through its sheer breezy good nature and the animal magnetism of its two stars. Go to Full Review
Tom Milne Time Out 06/24/2006
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. Go to Full Review
Bosley Crowther New York Times 05/09/2005
The picture itself is diverting, but weak on that main romantic point. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 10/06/2021
3/4
A bracingly mature film that tackles weighty issues in an intelligent and sober manner -- at least until the home stretch. Go to Full Review
Joan Didion Vogue 03/16/2020
[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. Go to Full Review
TV Guide 11/21/2016
4/5
Not perfect, but touching and adult; with fine work from the two leads, this is one of Mulligan's better films. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Blobbo X @Blobbo Oct 26 A mixed bag, best when not take self too seriously. Good acting by lovely Natalie Wood and good interplay between her and McQueen. Nice shots, flavor early '60's NYC. Second half better than first; happy ending. See more delysid d 03/06/2022 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 See more 07/10/2021 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. See more paul d @PaulusLoZebra 04/25/2021 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. See more camille l 04/13/2021 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. See more 09/01/2020 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. See more Read all reviews
Love With the Proper Stranger

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Movie Info

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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