When Strangers Marry: Difference between revisions

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| language = English
| language = English
| budget =$75,000<ref>Hedda Hopper: LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD
| budget =$75,000<ref>Hedda Hopper: LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD
Los Angeles Times 8 Oct 1946: A3. </ref>
Los Angeles Times 8 Oct 1946: A3. </ref> or $50,000<ref>Castle p 83</ref>
| gross =
| gross =
}}
}}
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==Production==
==Production==
The film was originally known as ''Love from a Stranger'' then ''I Married a Stranger''.
⚫
[[Philip Yordan]] says he gave the story to Dennis Cooper to write up, but that Yordan then had to rewrite it.<ref name="yordan">[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0z09n7m0&chunk.id=d0e17295&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e17295&brand=ucpress McGilligan, Patrick. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0z09n7m0/]</ref>


Director William Castle was under contract to Columbia Pictures. The King Brothers liked a film he had made, ''The Whistler'', and borrowed him from the studio. Castle says the script they originally offered him was "horrible", the story of a gangster who is killed and sent back to earth. The King Brothers introduced Castle to the writer Philip Yordan. Castle says he and Yodan came up with the new story.<ref>Castle p 80-85</ref>
⚫
Neil Hamilton and Kim Hunter were borrowed from [[Selznick International]].<ref>SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Warners Will Remake 'Sweet Adeline' -- 'Attack!', Army Film, Due Next Month

⚫
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 16 May 1944: 18.</ref> [[Rhonda Fleming]] made her film debut in a small role; she later claimed she was cast after being spotted by the director walking through the backlot. He said "you'll do" and put her in the film. She says she was not paid for her role.<ref>Rhonda Fleming... Lucky Star!: RHONDA FLEMING
⚫
[[Philip Yordan]] says he gave the story to Dennis Cooper, an aspiring novelist who worked as a bookstore clerk, to write up, but that Yordan then had to rewrite it.<ref name="yordan">[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0z09n7m0&chunk.id=d0e17295&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e17295&brand=ucpress McGilligan, Patrick. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0z09n7m0/]</ref>

⚫
Filming took place in June 1944. Neil Hamilton and Kim Hunter were borrowed from [[Selznick International]].<ref>SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Warners Will Remake 'Sweet Adeline' -- 'Attack!', Army Film, Due Next Month
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES 16 May 1944: 18.</ref> Castle persuaded the leads to rehearse beforehand for free in their own time.

⚫
[[Rhonda Fleming]] made her film debut in a small role; she later claimed she was cast after being spotted by the director walking through the backlot. He said "you'll do" and put her in the film. She says she was not paid for her role.<ref>Rhonda Fleming... Lucky Star!: RHONDA FLEMING
Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 15 June 1952: g6. </ref>
Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 15 June 1952: g6. </ref>


It was an early film for the King Brothers who later claimed they had Robert Mitchum under a multi-picture contract. They later tried to enforce it but he made no further films for the brothers.<ref>Controversy Looms Over Robert Mitchum
It was an early film for Robert Mitchum who had previously made ''[[Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore]]'' for the King Brothers. The brothers later claimed the had the actor under a multi-picture contract and tried to enforce it but he made no further films for the brothers.<ref>Controversy Looms Over Robert Mitchum
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 17 Oct 1946: A3. </ref>
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 17 Oct 1946: A3. </ref>
==Reception==
==Reception==
Line 49: Line 55:
When the film was released, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety's]]'' review was positive, writing, "Only thing wrong with this film is its misleading title. Tag, ''When Strangers Marry'', suggests another of the problem plays of newlyweds when in reality pic is a taught (''sic'') psychological thriller about a murderer and a manhunt full of suspense and excitement."<ref>[https://variety.com/1943/film/reviews/when-strangers-marry-1200414174/ ''Variety''], film review, 1943. Accessed: July 6, 2013.</ref>
When the film was released, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety's]]'' review was positive, writing, "Only thing wrong with this film is its misleading title. Tag, ''When Strangers Marry'', suggests another of the problem plays of newlyweds when in reality pic is a taught (''sic'') psychological thriller about a murderer and a manhunt full of suspense and excitement."<ref>[https://variety.com/1943/film/reviews/when-strangers-marry-1200414174/ ''Variety''], film review, 1943. Accessed: July 6, 2013.</ref>


According to [[Simon Callow]]'s book ''Orson Welles: Hello Americans'', [[Orson Welles]] said of the film, "It isn't as slick as ''[[Double Indemnity (film)|Double Indemnity]]'' or as glossy as ''[[Laura (1944 film)|Laura]]'', but it's better acted and better directed ... than either."<ref>{{Citation | last=Callow | first=Simon | year=2006 | title=Orson Welles: Hello Americans | publisher=Jonathan Cape | isbn=978-0-224-03853-9 | url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63185891}}</ref>
[[Orson Welles]] wrote a contemporary review of the film which said , "It isn't as slick as ''[[Double Indemnity (film)|Double Indemnity]]'' or as glossy as ''[[Laura (1944 film)|Laura]]'', but it's better acted and better directed ... than either."<ref>{{Citation | last=Callow | first=Simon | year=2006 | title=Orson Welles: Hello Americans | publisher=Jonathan Cape | isbn=978-0-224-03853-9 | url=http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63185891}}</ref> (He and Castle later worked together on ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]''/)


[[James Agee]] later wrote "The story has locomotor ataxia at several of its joints and the intensity of the telling slackens off toward the end; but taking it as a whole, I have seldom, for years now, seen one hour so energetically and sensibly used in a film".<ref name="yordan"/>
[[James Agee]] later wrote "The story has locomotor ataxia at several of its joints and the intensity of the telling slackens off toward the end; but taking it as a whole, I have seldom, for years now, seen one hour so energetically and sensibly used in a film".<ref name="yordan"/>
==Adaptation==

The film was adapted for an episode of ''[[Lux Video Theatre]]'' as "I Married a Stranger".<ref>Grant Takes KMPC for New Contract; Cotten Hosts'On Trial' Series
Ames, Walter. Los Angeles Times 13 Apr 1956: B6. </ref>
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
==Note==

*{{cite book|first=William|last=Castle|publisher=Putnm|title=Step right up! : ... I'm gonna scare the pants off America|year=1976}}
==External links==
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0037458|title=When Strangers Marry}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0037458|title=When Strangers Marry}}
Line 61: Line 70:
* {{Tcmdb title|id=95493|title=When Strangers Marry}}
* {{Tcmdb title|id=95493|title=When Strangers Marry}}
* {{AFI film|id=24250|title=When Strangers Marry}}
* {{AFI film|id=24250|title=When Strangers Marry}}
*[https://archive.org/details/variety156-1944-11/page/n169?q=%22when+strangers+marry%22 Review] at Variety
* {{YouTube|DOan15ZlNII|''When Strangers Marry'' film clip}}
*[https://archive.org/details/WhenStrangersMarryWilliamCastle1944 Complete film] at [[Internet Archive]]

{{William Castle}}
{{William Castle}}


Revision as of 11:00, 29 March 2019

When Strangers Marry aka Betrayed
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWilliam Castle
Screenplay byPhilip Yordan
Dennis J. Cooper
Story byGeorge Moskov
Produced byFrank King
Maurice King
StarringDean Jagger
Kim Hunter
CinematographyIra H. Morgan
Edited byMartin G. Cohn
Music byDimitri Tiomkin
Production
company
King Brothers Productions
Distributed byMonogram Pictures
Release date
  • August 21, 1944 (1944-08-21) (United States)
Running time
67 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$75,000[1] or $50,000[2]

When Strangers Marry (re-release title Betrayed) is a 1944 suspense film directed by William Castle and starring Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter, and Robert Mitchum.[3][4]

Premise

Millie Baxter, a naive woman, comes to New York City to meet her salesman husband Paul whom she only met months before, and discovers that he may be a murderer.

Cast

Production

The film was originally known as Love from a Stranger then I Married a Stranger.

Director William Castle was under contract to Columbia Pictures. The King Brothers liked a film he had made, The Whistler, and borrowed him from the studio. Castle says the script they originally offered him was "horrible", the story of a gangster who is killed and sent back to earth. The King Brothers introduced Castle to the writer Philip Yordan. Castle says he and Yodan came up with the new story.[5]

Philip Yordan says he gave the story to Dennis Cooper, an aspiring novelist who worked as a bookstore clerk, to write up, but that Yordan then had to rewrite it.[6]

Filming took place in June 1944. Neil Hamilton and Kim Hunter were borrowed from Selznick International.[7] Castle persuaded the leads to rehearse beforehand for free in their own time.

Rhonda Fleming made her film debut in a small role; she later claimed she was cast after being spotted by the director walking through the backlot. He said "you'll do" and put her in the film. She says she was not paid for her role.[8]

It was an early film for Robert Mitchum who had previously made Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore for the King Brothers. The brothers later claimed the had the actor under a multi-picture contract and tried to enforce it but he made no further films for the brothers.[9]

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, Variety's review was positive, writing, "Only thing wrong with this film is its misleading title. Tag, When Strangers Marry, suggests another of the problem plays of newlyweds when in reality pic is a taught (sic) psychological thriller about a murderer and a manhunt full of suspense and excitement."[10]

Orson Welles wrote a contemporary review of the film which said , "It isn't as slick as Double Indemnity or as glossy as Laura, but it's better acted and better directed ... than either."[11] (He and Castle later worked together on The Lady from Shanghai/)

James Agee later wrote "The story has locomotor ataxia at several of its joints and the intensity of the telling slackens off toward the end; but taking it as a whole, I have seldom, for years now, seen one hour so energetically and sensibly used in a film".[6]

Adaptation

The film was adapted for an episode of Lux Video Theatre as "I Married a Stranger".[12]

References

  1. ^ Hedda Hopper: LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD Los Angeles Times 8 Oct 1946: A3.
  2. ^ Castle p 83
  3. ^ When Strangers Marry at the TCM Movie Database.
  4. ^ When Strangers Marry Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 12, Iss. 133, (Jan 1, 1945): 22.
  5. ^ Castle p 80-85
  6. ^ a b McGilligan, Patrick. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0z09n7m0/
  7. ^ SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Warners Will Remake 'Sweet Adeline' -- 'Attack!', Army Film, Due Next Month Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES 16 May 1944: 18.
  8. ^ Rhonda Fleming... Lucky Star!: RHONDA FLEMING Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 15 June 1952: g6.
  9. ^ Controversy Looms Over Robert Mitchum Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 17 Oct 1946: A3.
  10. ^ Variety, film review, 1943. Accessed: July 6, 2013.
  11. ^ Callow, Simon (2006), Orson Welles: Hello Americans, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 978-0-224-03853-9
  12. ^ Grant Takes KMPC for New Contract; Cotten Hosts'On Trial' Series Ames, Walter. Los Angeles Times 13 Apr 1956: B6.

Note

  • Castle, William (1976). Step right up! : ... I'm gonna scare the pants off America. Putnm.
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