Love With The Proper Stranger is a romantic comedy with some very serious undertones. It basically tells the story of the result of a one night stand where a girl becomes pregnant and the chap responsible is forced to deal with the situation. At the time, the themes of unmarried pregnancy and back-street abortions were pretty shocking stuff. To today's audiences, this sort of stuff is now covered without a seconds thought in daytime soap operas, so it might be difficult appreciating the daring qualities of this production. However, the scenes where Natalie Wood visit's the abortion 'clinic' are still fairly grim. It has to be said that they sit relatively uncomfortably within the movie as a whole, as the tone otherwise is mainly light-hearted with quite a bit of comic interplay between the various characters. In my opinion it doesn't damage the film however, as it gives it a little bit of an edge and helps add our sympathies to Wood's character. It does have to be said that despite the presence of Steve McQueen, this is undoubtedly Natalie Wood's film. She is the heart and soul of the production and it's hardly surprising that she was nominated for an Oscar off the back of this. Although quite how McQueen's character could forget having a liaison with someone like Natalie Wood is a little mystifying, is he insane? Anyway, generally speaking, McQueen is forced to take a back seat in this film but he is good none-the-less. The film also boasts a fine comic appearance by Happy Days regular Tom Bosley. Quite amusingly he even looked middle-aged way back then! On the down-side, the film does seem to end perhaps too abruptly, it gave the impression that the film-makers had ran out of their allocated time and just wanted to wrap things up quickly. This is, however, a very minor complaint.
Love With The Proper Stranger is a quality romantic-drama with comic moments. It's a nice showcase of 60's New York with a lush score accompanying it. However, at the end of the day, I would recommend it mostly for Natalie Wood. I thought she was terrific.
Love With The Proper Stranger is a quality romantic-drama with comic moments. It's a nice showcase of 60's New York with a lush score accompanying it. However, at the end of the day, I would recommend it mostly for Natalie Wood. I thought she was terrific.