During the 1960s, Natalie Wood made quite a few pictures that pushed the boundaries of conventional morality. She played a stripper in "Gypsy", a woman who has a nervous breakdown in "Splendor in the Grass", a modern girl who enjoyed sex in "Sex and the Single Girl", a drugged out and suicidal actress in "Inside Daisy Clover" and a kleptomaniac in "Penelope". Surely, she performed in a lot of non-traditional roles and it marked a clear end to the days of the Production Code!
Here in "Love with the Proper Stranger", she plays a young pregnant woman. She got pregnant after an apparent one-night stand and now as the film starts, she's letting the man (Steve McQueen) know that she needs money for an abortion! Then, he gets cold feet and wants to marry...but she isn't going to just marry him in order to be married. She wants more from marriage and from life. As I said, the chose some very gritty roles during this period of her career.
So is this film any good? Well, it's well made but I wonder why the film was cast as it was. Both Wood and McQueen are inexplicably cast as Italian-Americans....and her parents are played by Jewish actors in the film. Odd to say the least and it makes you wonder why they either didn't pick different actors OR had them play different ethnicities. Regardless, to show they were from Italian families, most of them yell a lot! I think toning it down a bit might have worked better for me, as screaming Italians seem like a broad stereotype.
All in all, a very interesting and unusual film...most notable for some interesting performances. I wasn't thrilled with the ending (I think she chose wrong), but I appreciate the many realistic things that were talked about and addressed in the film. Worth seeing, though I am sure the subject matter might repel some folks. After all, the film is about abortion...and is a very serious film despite the title, which sounds more like it's going to be a romance.
Here in "Love with the Proper Stranger", she plays a young pregnant woman. She got pregnant after an apparent one-night stand and now as the film starts, she's letting the man (Steve McQueen) know that she needs money for an abortion! Then, he gets cold feet and wants to marry...but she isn't going to just marry him in order to be married. She wants more from marriage and from life. As I said, the chose some very gritty roles during this period of her career.
So is this film any good? Well, it's well made but I wonder why the film was cast as it was. Both Wood and McQueen are inexplicably cast as Italian-Americans....and her parents are played by Jewish actors in the film. Odd to say the least and it makes you wonder why they either didn't pick different actors OR had them play different ethnicities. Regardless, to show they were from Italian families, most of them yell a lot! I think toning it down a bit might have worked better for me, as screaming Italians seem like a broad stereotype.
All in all, a very interesting and unusual film...most notable for some interesting performances. I wasn't thrilled with the ending (I think she chose wrong), but I appreciate the many realistic things that were talked about and addressed in the film. Worth seeing, though I am sure the subject matter might repel some folks. After all, the film is about abortion...and is a very serious film despite the title, which sounds more like it's going to be a romance.