Strangers When We Meet

Richard Quine's 1960 film works from Evan Hunter's adaptation of his own novel. Larry, an architect living in the suburbs, loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and his work; he begins an affair with Maggie, neglected by her husband and living down the street. The film neither condemns nor romanticises it. The real subject is suburban life itself: identical houses, the neighbours' eyes, professional ambition. That Larry is an architect building a house of his own design means he is producing with his own hands the order he wants to escape. Kim Novak's performance keeps the character from being a temptress. The widescreen and colour photography stay faithful to the visual tradition of melodrama. Who it's for: viewers who like classic Hollywood melodrama and films carrying a critique of suburbia. Who it's not for: anyone expecting a moral conclusion, or troubled by the period's limits in handling women characters.