Back in the forties, it happened more often than not. Millie Baxter, a nave woman, comes to New York City to meet her salesman husband Paul Baxter, whom she had met only months before, and discovers that he may be a murderer. As far as he was concerned, she was his, and no one was going to take her away from him.Max stared at Etienne. He keeps the girl to ruin her reputation so that Etienne will be forced to withdraw his marriage offer and challenge him to a duel. More Castle developments can be mentioned the floating heads made a regular appearance in his famous gimmick horror films as well as the oblique framing of shadows. FAQ Just a few pictures later Mitchum would find his niche with a sleepy "I can't be bothered" attitude. In 1944, that's not at all a bad thing, for Castle's movie really stands out from the crowd -- I can imagine his Monogram Studio camera crew being happy to prove that they can shoot more than boring masters and singles. Although none of this cast is credited, the talented main female dancer's smile looks familiar -- yep, she's Marie Bryant, the all-purpose entertainer who sings the memorable (and creepy) song Your Red Wagon several years later in Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night. 'When Strangers Marry' is without a doubt her film. When Strangers Marry (also known by the less accurate title of Betrayed) shows the director's increasing confidence as he ventures into the territory of the new film noir genre. Her wanting to help him the second he finally appears and asks for it should make logical sense since it shouldn't take too much of an effort to convince someone who's absolutely in love with you to believe your sincerity--but still with the quickness that she came to believe the worst about him not twenty minutes before he appears onscreendoes it make logical sense in. Then too, those spare sets from budget-minded Monogram fairly echo with undefined menace. Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features. This is a Hitchcockian film that reflects well the Film Noir period of Hollywood. Shadows and low angle shots predominate, with human figures cut out of blackness by sheer white light. When our heroine suspects that her husband, Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger of "Bad Day at Black Rock") may be a notorious 'silk stocking' slayer, she runs to another salesman, Fred Graham (Robert Mitchum of "The Night of the Hunter") for advice. P.S. The film's hero is played by Dean Jagger, when he had hair. The results are not a high point in the history of noir screenwriting. | Privacy Policy, DVD Talk Newsletter (Sample) Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991. Worth mentioning is a slice of the black culture back then as the actors visit a part of town and bar that caters to the black community. Lisa Kleypas. A nice touch. Letterboxd Limited. Paul and Millie visit a hepcat Negro nightspot where a big dance is in progress. Read our. Mi-a placut cartea, nu ca nu m-as fi asteptat la asa ceva! Little guy Houser (Lubin) sits on one side and vulnerable newly-wed Millie (Hunter) sits on the other with a big empty space between. Fleming later claimed that she had been cast when Castle saw her walking through the backlot and said "you'll do." I'm so glad H did not cheat on her but h was extremely understanding when he visited his ex mistress. Pre-noir, over the top, compact crime film that works! I wouldn't have believed that this film could run barely over an hour in length; in the course of its 67 minutes, it crams in more plot twists, emotional punch and sheer tension than recent blockbusters can manage in 200 or more, with never a wasted moment but no lack, either, of aching silences and endless hours at night. However as Lysette becomes more involved with his life and household, his ulterior motive of revenge melts away to be replaced by a need to protect her from anyone who might wish to cause her harm and that includes, Etienne and her family. William Castle's first noteworthy effort (incidentally, the copy I acquired bore a new title - BETRAYED!) Click on a plot link to find similar books! Movie: Excellent - The plot careens around like a drunk driver, while the dialog sometimes feels clunky and expository. Max is very ALPHA, to the extreme at times, but also has a protective and gentle nature toward Lysette as well. 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. Marriage was one of those subjects and comes up in the older movies. Copyright var now = new Date(); document.write(now.getFullYear()) MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. The Kings later claimed that they had Mitchum under a multi-picture contract and tried to enforce it, but he made no further films for them. Given the big name cast and Director, expectations are high but it doesn't deliver. Betrayed (When Strangers Marry) rates: It's not good for you to become excited." His possessiveness made her strangely giddy. The mysterious big man at the bar has his back squared up to the camera but you will notice his shoulder slightly blocks out the front of the bartender's face. 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Then begins another type of manhunt, the police on the trail of a killer who to all intents and purposes is the disappearing husband. Still her heart races whenever her handsome, brooding protector . This book was horrible. 4. I have two reasons for changing the title. Don't be fooled by the original name, though. The film was directed by William Castle, an often underestimated director who did his share of noir work before becoming famous later on as a producer/director of cheesy horror movies marketed with outrageous gimmicks. Suspense is high, and the audience is kept guessing right to the end about who might be the killer of the drunk good-time Charlie, who innocently invited a stranger in a bar in New York to stay in his apartment for the evening. Noir addicts may want to give this one a look, but probably not more than once. 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. Kim Hunter has just wed a patron (Dean Jagger) of the restaurant where she waited tables without knowing much about him; off on a vague business trip, he asks her to meet him at a New York hotel. Everything about "When Strangers Marry" is polished. Book Description : The final piece of the navigation puzzle is to use another hyperlinked attribution line (as in the above . Betrayed, 1944. Castle constructs the individual scenes better than the movie comes together as a whole. When Strangers Marry was produced by the King Brothers, who, depending on the source one reads, were either quasi-gangsters or dedicated mamma's boys. By what name was When Strangers Marry (1944) officially released in Canada in English? The review of this Book prepared by Katrina Lo. Dear Reader, Nearly a decade ago, I published my fi . 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. "When Strangers Marry" Scripts.com. Much of your enjoyment will depend on how you take the twist towards the end, but, it moves along at a brisk 67 minutes and has enough to pass the time. Neither Castle nor his scenarists, Oscar-winner Philip Yordan for "Broken Lance" and Dennis J. Cooper of "Fear," working for a story by George G. Moskov of "Green Fields," telegraph the revelation during the closing moments. It has great suspense and a surprise twist ending, with a superb performance by Robert Mitchum. The camera tracks Millie's walking feet through hotel lobbies, and cranes to take in clocks and other bric-a-brac; it sometimes resembles a student film by a Hitchcock-addled undergraduate. First, it is in keeping with the new spirit of the book; second, no oneincluding my . [10], Variety's review was positive: "Only thing wrong with this film is its misleading title. Furthermore, he lies to his newly wed bride and she catches him in a lie. Picture and sound look great, showing us all the rough edges in the Monogram production. He had to come back to New York on business. Share. My first Kleypas book and definitely not my last one. McGilligan, Patrick. Even most film fans know William Castle only for his gimmicky 50s & 60s horror films like THE TINGLER. It becomes apparent the moment he shows up that he is in trouble and may be the killer of a drunk man he admits to having rolled in Philadelphia. Hedda Hopper: LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD Today, people doubt first and hesitate making for trust a hard thing to come by Only one year after The Chance, William Castle was developing his stylistic system with leaps and bounds. 133, (Jan 1, 1945): 22. | 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. BTWPeople were naive, simpler and easier going believing what they were told until they had reason to doubt otherwise. The film is only just over an hour long and I wouldn't be surprised to find that it was made as a 'B' feature for some bigger movie. By the end of 1944, film noir was in full bloom. ), , . This Baxter is a heck of a guy. Los Angeles Times 17 Oct 1946: A3. Picture and sound look great, showing us all the rough edges in the Monogram production. The title and excerpt are what got me to read it. (for the record, I've tried 6 times to spell ambiance the correct way, -ence, but the website won't take it). Rewrite of an earlier Kleypas novel (Only in Your Arms). 12, Iss. The film is an interesting specimen of the emerging noir style, but it is of particular importance because it launched the criminal career of noirs greatest leading man. Its one of those type books, that you can just immerse yourself in, sit before a fire or on the beach, and enjoy the ride. "When Strangers Marry" (not "When Cousins Marry" like the poster in the musical 'The Producers') is a good 1944 noir directed by William Castle starring Robert Mitchum, Kim Hunter, Dean Jagger, and Neil Hamilton. Honestly, it annoyed me more than anything. An old man-pal (the very young Robert Mitchum) happens to turn up to keep an eye on her strange marriage in the big bad city. In front of the camera were Kim Hunter and Robert Mitchum. Dean Jagger has the soft menacing air that befits the suspect. Mobilesite. "[12] Welles would later work with Castle on The Lady from Shanghai. He is also surprised that she is the fiance of his enemy, Etienne Sagasse, who has been one of the men who has slept with his late wife. The sets look like cardboard cutouts that could collapse at any moment, and some actors fumble their lines or deliver them as if they're John Barrymore. I guess we should be grateful that Monogram didn't cut anything out of the movie when it reissued it. He was also lucky in securing the services of a good cast: Kim Hunter, Dean Jagger and, in his first co-starring role, a young Robert Mitchum. 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 A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer. yesterday morning and he hasn't shown up. Controversy Looms Over Robert Mitchum 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. : RHONDA FLEMING Como siempre, los libros de Lisa Kleypas no fallan en sacarme de un bloqueo. arrest, bride, claim, courtship, death, honeymoon, husband, investigation, killing, loot, mail, marriage, mistake, motel, murder, newlywed, old-flame, police, questioning [police interrogation], robbery, room, stranger, suspect, waiter, wedding, bar [pub], hunting, king, man, news. The apartment they borrow belongs to an unnamed friend; when the camera trucks into a photo of the owner, it turns out to be none other than the director! 1944 was just a harbinger of the darkand darkly wonderfulmovies still to come. more, All Philip Yordan scripts | Philip Yordan Scripts. It's a great visual metaphor for the danger facing our young stranger in the city. [8], Robert Mitchum's role is among his earliest, and he had previously appeared in Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore for the King brothers. 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". Both are very strong influences on director Castle. 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. Photo Credit: T-Street Productions Can we take a second and fully inbreathiate what an extraordinary movie Glass Onion was? 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. Chicago Daily Tribune 15 June 1952: g6. Media . Cooper and Yordan were given joint screenwriting credit in the film.[6]. Close. A woman who married a stranger she met on TikTok for "life experience" fell in love with her husband and "couldn't be happier". , . The Warner Archive Collection DVD-R of Betrayed (When Strangers Marry) is an excellent transfer of elements that don't seem to have been disturbed in 66 years. Director William Castle; Producer Maurice King, Franklin King; Screenplay Philip Yordan, Dennis J. Cooper; Camera Ira Morgan; Editor Martin G. Cohn; Music Dimitri Tiomkin; Art Director F. Paul . Ames, Walter. 9 people found this helpful. Earlier this week we looked at Fritz Langs The Woman In the Window. Copy and paste the code into your website. 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. By 1944 you can see all of this coming together in the low-budget mystery-romance When Strangers Marry. Enter Millie's friendly passed-over beau Fred Graham (Robert Mitchum), who feels sorry for the abandoned bride and tries to help her solve her mystery, without stepping on her pride. I just feel the story lost steam near the middle and dragged out for no reason till the end. When Strangers Marry (rerelease title Betrayed) is a 1944 American suspense film directed by William Castle and starring Dean Jagger . Wanting Something Better Out of Life. It was actually a rewritten version of her 1992 Avon novel Only In Your Arms. A few changes were made. Millie doesn't know where her loyalties should lie when a police detective (Neil Hamilton, of Tarzan and His Mate and TV's Batman) questions her about Paul, who appears to be suspected in a murder committed out of town, on his sales route. Los Angeles Times 13 Apr 1956: B6. The ending has a twist but is contrived and a little too cute for this reviewer. But, Castle cut his teeth with several crime and mystery films which often bordered on Noir such as early entries in The Whistler series. IMDb [7] Castle persuaded the leads to rehearse without pay and on their own time. Shes some dopey young woman who married the first traveling salesman who gave her the time of day, and now it looks like hes possibly The Silk Stockings Murderer whos made the news recently. This quaint but comforting thriller is seemingly influenced by the likes of Shadow of a Doubt and Suspicion as it revolves around a young woman becoming suspicious of her new husband. Now that's an almost Hitchcockian twist in itself -- you might not immediately recognize Jagger. They went directly from this film to the (hard to believe) award winning Dillinger. Rhonda Fleming Lucky Star! A cheapie quickie B&W B-movie, with two titles - Betrayed and When Strangers Marry. One big flaw is the storyline, which is completely preposterous and with some of the most absurd contrived coincidences in the annals of mysteries. Big Combo fame) thought they could get away with such a lacuna. I think one of the many things, is that even though on the surface Lysette seems naive and young, she has great strength and courage, and knows that even though Max is hiding things from her, she still has faith in him, which is remarkable from the way they interact with each other in the beginning of the story. Even little things work against her in the big, impersonal surroundingsthe unhelpful news guy, streetlights suddenly going out. "Calm yourself, Lysette. 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. Her books are published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. Kim Hunter believes the improbable. Many film fans are already familiar with William Castle, the director who promoted himself into a publicity machine for his line of gimmicky, over-the-top horror entertainment. 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. Monogram altered the original negative for the reissue, which explains the title change. A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer.A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer.A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer. Made by fans in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Warner Archive Collection DVD-R of Betrayed (When Strangers Marry) is an excellent transfer of elements that don't seem to have been disturbed in 66 years. 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 . 5. 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