That wouldn't have seemed necessary, since it's only 67 minutes long! "When Strangers Marry" (under its re-release title "Betrayed" for the DVD), is one of the best. Report abuse. This time she's Millie Baxter, a barely-kissed bride who knows very little about her husband, a traveling salesman named Paul (Dean Jagger). The way Yordan's involvement is characterized in various interviews and memoirs, it's difficult to tell whether he was helping his blacklisted colleagues, or exploiting them. Los Angeles Times 8 Oct 1946: A3. It was sent from Philadelphia. When Strangers Marry (rerelease title Betrayed) is a 1944 American suspense film directed by William Castle and starring Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter and Robert Mitchum.[3][4]. Sound: Excellent Although Castle's direction of When Strangers Marry is a bit too awkward to be a serious challenge to Hitchcock, it shows a strong desire to get noticed. Following just a couple of dates, wide-eyed Millie (Kim Hunter) weds Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger), a journeying salesman who is called away on business not long after the special occasion. Hunter's marriage was a whirlwind affair, and as a result she barely knows her husband. An iconic figure of post-war Hollywood, actor Robert Mitchum embodied the rugged and solitary anti-her s of American film noir in a string of classic dramas and mysteries, including Release. 4. When Strangers Marry (AKA: Betrayed) is directed by William Castle and written by Philip Yordan and Dennis J. Cooper. Only thing wrong with this film is its misleading title. Gets 2 of it's stars for the sheer vision that is robert Mitchum in 1944 and the other half for some decent dialogue around the edges and one or two moody noir sequences. Millie Baxter is the female half of the equation; and she has been called, by her husband, to New York in order to meet with him. Unremarkable piece. Even when she suspects her hubby of being a serial killer, she keeps staring longingly into his eyes and even helps him escape from the police. Writing in his newspaper column Orson Welless Almanac, Welles declared the film better directed than either Billy Wilders Double Indemnity (Paramount) or Otto Premingers Laura (20th Century Fox). Even little things work against her in the big, impersonal surroundingsthe unhelpful news guy, streetlights suddenly going out. In a contemporary review of the film, Orson Welles wrote: "It isn't as slick as Double Indemnity or as glossy as Laura, but it's better acted and better directed than either. Report this film. His evasive actions are enough to raise suspicions even in a naive Ohio gal like her -- he makes her wander the streets of wartime Greenwich Village at night (as she did a year earlier in Val Lewton's The Seventh Victim). One big flaw is the storyline, which is completely preposterous and with some of the most absurd contrived coincidences in the annals of mysteries. An early admirer of the movie was the writer/director/star of Citizen Kane, Orson Welles. 9 editions. Paul and Millie visit a hepcat Negro nightspot where a big dance is in progress. Millies old pal Fred (Robert Mitchum) enters as an alternative, bringing news of an unexplained killing at a Philadelphia hotel. 13 October 2009. Within the marriage, Lysette finds Max to be a demanding yet attentive and considerate husband. Lisa Kleypas is one of my all time favorite historical romance authors, most notably for her, I don't know what to say about this book. 'Betrayed' is disguised as a film noir but it is a feeble attempt at melodrama using 40 watt light bulbs to create film noir ambiance. He had to come back to New York on business. Film data from TMDb. Will he be the hero of the film? By what name was When Strangers Marry (1944) officially released in Canada in English? She can't believe that people even his sons believe that Max has killed his first wife. This particular edition is in a Mass Market Paperback format. Required fields are marked *. Some Castle tropes get an early treatment in this film. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. The cast credits in the original release are just the same as they appear on IMDb, with. However, upon her arrival; he's not at the hotel, but by chance she is greeted by her old friend Fred Graham, who clearly carries a torch for her. A King Brothers Production. 2023. By the end of 1944, film noir was in full bloom. . He swept Millie off her feet, married her, and then beat it out of town. She also said that she was not paid for her role. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Honestly, it annoyed me more than anything. Castle also defies other crutches of "B" status films through adhering to elements of continuity. A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer. This one is easily recommended. "But he's going to take me away. It was easier to go through life married making things more affordable if both continued to work and of course eliminate being lonely instantly. to get her attention, plays an innocent young girl from Ohio who has been married for only a month to a man she hardly knew. She welcomes the protection even risking her reputation. Read our. Like Dan above, we all change with time. Jonathan Majors Dropped by Manager Entertainment 360 Following Domestic Violence Charges, AI-Generated Fake Drake/Weeknd Collaboration, Heart on My Sleeve, Delights Fans and Sets Off Industry Alarm, Beef Star David Choe Appears to File Copyright Takedowns for 2014 Podcast Video of Him Joking Hes A Successful Rapist, Bruce Springsteen Contracts COVID and Misses His Archives Inaugural Awards Show, but Presents Via Video. Making the Decision to End Your Marriage. Click on a plot link to find similar books! In the films best sequence, Millie stands in a cheap hotel room late at night while the flashing lights of the nightclub across the street plunge her in and out of darkness. Absolutely loved the idea of the story and the comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock (one of my all-time favourite directors, my personal favourite actually) and Val Lewton further sparked my interest. Now hes sent for her, but when she arrives at the hotel, Baxter is nowhere around. Movie: Excellent - When Strangers Marry is what happens if you put Maximilan de Winter (case in point: Kleypas' hero is even named Maximilien) and the unnamed narrator from Rebecca into a . What a waste! By now, everybody knows that Castle cribbed from Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" when the maid took the mask off the dead man and the editor cuts to a train with a screaming whistle. Previously he had been responsible for a bright Boston Blackie series entry with Chester Morris, and the less successful Klondike Kate (1943) with Tom Neal. Mobilesite. Given the big name cast and Director, expectations are high but it doesn't deliver. Her earlier misgivings about Max's fidelity melts away as Max showers her his complete devotion and love. LOTS OF SEX. U.S. release: 21 August 1944. Controversy Looms Over Robert Mitchum Fred is supportive and understanding and clearly still in love with Millie. This premise is interesting, but suspense is built too often in montages, fantasies, and moody music instead of through the story and characters. The title and excerpt are what got me to read it. She is scarcely off-screen from start to finish, as the character grows and matures both in confidence and desperation, and our assumptions about the outcome shift off-balance from one moment to the next. Every time the actors cross that same hotel lobby set, we expect them to collide with the Bowery Boys coming the other way. Web. Reviewed: October 31, 2010, Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Kim Hunter, a comparative newcomer, is attractive as well as immensely appealing as the disraught but loyal wife. She had only met Paul 3 times before they tied the knot. Dean Jagger gets stuck with a patently inconsistent character and holds up his end as well as anybody could. Monogram later became Allied Artists, which is how Warners acquired the rights and the printing elements. Earlier this week we looked at Fritz Langs The Woman In the Window. Today we look at William Castles When Strangers Marry. With Jack Holt, Lilian Bond, Arthur Vinton, Barbara Barondess. 'To Catch a Killer' Review: Shailene Woodley Hunts a Mass Shooter on the Loose in Baltimore, Danny Mastersons Second Rape Trial Gets Underway: Heres Why the Case Is Back in Court, Killers of the Flower Moon Author Visited Scorseses Set and Left Thinking Itll Be Bracing, Breathtaking and Powerful, Brett Goldstein on Being a Fing Sex Symbol, Wanting More Ted Lasso and Breaking His Rule of Not Smiling in Photos, The Best Celebrity-Designed Sunglasses to Wear This Summer, Netflix Proceeds With Love Is Blind Reunion Taping After Technical Issues Crater Live Broadcast Plans, WGA Approves Strike Authorization With 97.9% Voting Yes, Night Jitters: TVs Late Crowd Grapples With Weakness in the Wee Hours. U.K. release through Path: 9 April 1945. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0z09n7m0/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=When_Strangers_Marry&oldid=1106354184, This page was last edited on 24 August 2022, at 05:48. He was also known as a highly regarded script doctor. Danielle Gross, 26, jumped at the chance to tie the knot . Twenty-seven years old and still a relative newcomer to films (he was mostly shooting cheapie Westerns before this film), he strides through this movie like he was born inside a film noir. The shifted focus from Lysette becoming Max's bride to Max's family problems is what lost my interest somewhat. Its a nice quick to the point little drama mystery. Photo Credit: T-Street Productions Can we take a second and fully inbreathiate what an extraordinary movie Glass Onion was? As far as he was concerned, she was his, and no one was going to take her away from him.Max stared at Etienne. When he packaged properties around town -- that frequently bore his name as the only writer -- was he acting as their front, or exploiting them? It's obvious he'd seen movies like Stranger on the Third Floor ( a moody masterpiece) and thought he'd figured out the recipe. Thinking that this spoiled brat needs a strong hand to get her in line, he gives her a good spanking. The plot careens around like a drunk driver, while the dialog sometimes feels clunky and expository. Neil Hamilton and Kim Hunter were borrowed from Selznick International. The woman, If you havent watched the movie, stop reading since there are massive spoilers ahead. While that is a debatable assertion, Welles was correct to align the three films whichalong with Robert Siodmaks Phantom Lady (Universal), Fritz Langs The Woman in The Window (RKO) and Edward Dmytryks Murder My Sweet (RKO)represented the full flowering of film noir over the course of 1944. But her desire to find out the truth costs her her safety when Etienne accosted her in a party. [9], Castle was slated to next direct Dillinger for the King brothers but instead accepted an offer to direct the Broadway play Meet a Body. To describe it as "low budget" is no insult. Playing alongside this mystery is the police investigation of the "silk stocking murder" in which a very annoying Sam Prescott (Dick Elliott) had been rightfully murdered in his hotel room. The husband remains mysteriously out of site for a while, so she gets reacquainted with Mitchum before finally encountering her husband (Dean Jagger). Lysette buried her face against Max's throat. Alfred Hitchcock transformed himself into a spokesman for his "branded line" of movie thrillers and TV suspense shows, and Castle followed suit by inventing audience participation gags for his pictures: insurance policies, skeletons flying over the audience, "ghost viewers". When Strangers Marry: Directed by William Castle. Still, the noir ethos is already in place here. The movie starts with the murder of wealthy drunk Charlie (Milton Kibee).He was last seen with traveling salesman Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger) who helped Charlie to his home.The police discover Charlie had been strangled with a pair of silk stockings. But theres no time to rest on their laurels, as they must move quickly to once more pick up the trail of Pentecosts greatest nemesis, Olivia Waterhouse. Reviewed on flickersintime.com. When Max discovers Lysette's true identity and whom she is suppose to marry, he plans the ultimate revenge.take away from his enemy what was once taken from himself many years ago. Lysette buried her face against Max's throat. Back in the forties, it happened more often than not. Max wants desperately to destroy Lysette's fiance, so clearly ruining Lysette is the answer. Philip Yordan. Lysette is desperate to find a way to escape her betrothal, so she flees her home. He is downright anti-social. William Castle is a master at the shocker twist shot. Shadows and low angle shots predominate, with human figures cut out of blackness by sheer white light. 'When Strangers Marry' is without a doubt her film. Betrayed) -- (1944) -- (Movie Clip) I Use That Name Sometimes Kim Hunter as Millie finally finds her new husband she's come to New York to meet, turns out he's Dean Jagger as Paul, and she's followed secret instructions to reach him, and he might be a murderer, and the photo in the portrait happens to be director William Castle, in When Strangers Marry, a.k.a . Furthermore, he lies to his newly wed bride and she catches him in a lie. Fleming later claimed that she had been cast when Castle saw her walking through the backlot and said "you'll do." Metacritic Reviews. Author. It is a noir with a distinct Hitchcock feel: in fact, the plot bears obvious nods to both SUSPICION (1941) and SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943), a murder attempt is borrowed wholesale from FOREIGN CORRSPONDENT (1940), and there is even Castle's own 'appearance' (which is actually treated as a recurring in-joke here!). The decision to end a marriage is often one of the most challenging choices people will face during their adult lives. William Castle has been known to be heavily inspired by Hitchcock's films when it comes to his run of horror in the 60's but When Strangers Marry might just be where we can see that love start. Instead, the film directs us to the relationship between Millie and an old boyfriend, another traveling salesman named Fred Graham. There were many things that I found that I just loved about this book. A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer. The 2008 horror film "The Strangers" has become a disturbing classic. It's not good for you to become excited." His possessiveness made her strangely giddy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Willowjean Will Parker is coming off of the fresh high of apprehending a kidnapper with her boss Lillian Pentecost, 1947 New York Citys most celebrated detective. Posters are sourced from TMDb and Posteritati, and appear for you and visitors to your profile and content, depending on settings. With Hitchcock and Lewton references accounted for, director Castle seemingly wanted to get in on the short-lived wartime 'black musical' craze as well, a la Cabin in the Sky. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. Born to Polish immigrants, he earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois and a law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law. While I think the twins were great characters I felt the book needed to focus more on the married couple, Lysette became background filler toward the end of the book and it was disappointing. It stars Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter, Robert Mitchum and Neil Hamilton. The brothers introduced Castle to writer Philip Yordan, with whom he devised a new story idea that the Kings liked. Overall I really enjoyed this one, I think the flow could have been a little more smoother but other than that I really enjoyed reading this. An underdog favorite among critics, When Strangers Marry attracted special attention in the influential book Kings of the Bs edited by Todd McCarthy & Charles Flynn. Hunter and Jagger are both quite dull and while the plot is decent at face value you kind of know there must be a twist coming and there is only one possible way for it to turn so you just sit there waiting for it all to be tied up the way you expect. Don't let him, don't -- ". Producers Frank and Maurice King liked The Whistler, a film that director William Castle had made, and borrowed him from Columbia Pictures for $500 a week. She soon discovers that Jagger may very well be a homicidal maniac. What she didn't know is how far Max would go for his revenge, and when she ends up falling in love with him she wonders what he will find more preciousthe love they share or exacting his revenge that he has always wanted.When Stranger's Marry, is the updated version of Only In Your Arms. In this melodrama, Kim Hunter plays a waitress who comes to New York to meet her husband Dean Jagger. Only with the help of his wife and his son, they search for the real killer before the Max is charged and imprisoned for murder. Perhaps in part to rectify the undervaluing of Castles work some critics have rather overpraised When Strangers Marry. 18 Apr. Close. Infidelity may be the cause of divorce for a long-term marriage, but, in reality, infidelity is only a symptom of a problem in the marriage. Jake Hinkson, The Night Editor, is the author of The Posthumous Man and Saint Homicide. It's an alright Monogram noir that features a naive and none too interesting leading lady - sympathetic yes, but without any edge whatsoever - and a whole bunch of things about. It's also an emotional roller-coaster, a gripping piece of noir -- and, unbelievably, a no-budget miracle shot in just seven days. Its not the best performance he ever gave, but one is struck by just how much he already seems likewell, Robert Mitchum. Nice to see the actors making their trade and this movie does a good job of capturing the viewer right to the end. Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features. Even most film fans know William Castle only for his gimmicky 50s & 60s horror films like THE TINGLER. Lisa Kleypas. It made the book more realistic and raw. Two strangers are married after three meetings and immediately separated. yesterday morning and he hasn't shown up. . An extra half star for that TWIST at the end, omg! Despite that, when Etienne turns up dead the following day, Max becomes the prime suspect. This picture sounds a lot better than it actually is. Can the police get their man and can Millie find happiness? Mitchum and Hunter do well in spite of their material where Hunter marries a man she only met three times (Jagger) and Michum is the man she turned down, which makes it kind of senseless that Hunter and Mitchum are always such close friends where he even wants to volunteer to find the missing husband (being turned down, wouldn't he hope a divorce results if the husband doesn't come back?) When he does turn up suspicion regarding his behavior and whereabouts arise and even the naive young bride who barely knew him to begin with starts suspecting her own man. When Strangers Marry. LISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 21 novels. It was published by Avon and has a total of 400 pages in the book. Kim Hunter is engaging, but she only gets to play a lovesick newlywed for the entire movie, even when the story clearly demands a change of mood. 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