Love with the Proper Stranger
Love with the Proper Stranger is a 1963 American romantic drama film made by Pakula-Mulligan Productions and Boardwalk Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula from a screenplay by Arnold Schulman.
Love with the Proper Stranger
The film stars Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen, Edie Adams, Herschel Bernardi and Harvey Lembeck. The film also marked the screen debut of Tom Bosley and features a brief, uncredited appearance by the director's younger brother Richard Mulligan, who later became a well-known television actor. The film received five Academy Award nominations including Best Actress (for Wood).
The film addresses themes of abortion, norms of conventional marriage and adulthood.
Plot[edit]
The film tells the story of first generation Italian, Angie Rossini, a salesclerk at Macy's department store who finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with part-time musician Rocky Papasano. When she confronts him at mass audition at Carnegie Hall, he claims to not remember her. Her only request is that Rocky help fund and find the name of a doctor who is willing to perform an abortion. Meanwhile, Angie is being pressured by her working-class older brothers to marry Anthony, an unappealing but successful restaurateur.
Rocky and Angie scrape up enough money for the abortion but are confronted by Angie's brothers, who chase them through the neighborhood. Rocky is able to sneak into a friend's warehouse, where the two discuss life, their mistakes and future prospects. When he and Angie meet the crude abortion-care provider in a dubious part of the New York City Meatpacking District (who turns out not to be a doctor but a back-room abortionist), Rocky refuses to let her go through with the dangerous procedure, much to the relief of Angie, who rests from the trauma in Rocky's ex-girlfriend's apartment. The maturity he shows in doing this brings them closer, and Angie grows to respect him. After meeting her brothers, Rocky (who was given the requisite black eye by the oldest brother) decides to "take his medicine" by agreeing to marry her. Angie, who has more romantic aspirations in life, is insulted by the insinuation of marriage-by-duty and refuses. Angie wants romance, with "bells and banjos".
As an act of independence, Angie moves out of her family home, much to the chagrin of her immigrant mother. She begins dating the restaurateur, Anthony, who offers to marry her (and claim the baby as his own). By acting aloof, she confuses and attracts Rocky back to Macy's, where he inquires about her condition. When Rocky mentions marriage once again, Angie invites him to "just come over for dinner" at her apartment. The dinner is structured as a "date night" with a well-prepared meal and cocktails. Rocky is impressed with her ability as a homemaker, but even more impressed by her well-dressed and sexy appearance. After two stiff drinks, he makes crude advances on her and is rejected yet again. Angie says she does not want to make the same mistake again, citing the "bells and banjos" she expects in her relationships, and that after all the time spent together, she actually "likes him". They quarrel, and the sobbing Angie throws him out of the apartment, slamming the door. The next day, Rocky wins her heart by waiting for her outside the crowded Macy's, holding the sign, "Better Wed Than Dead", ringing bells and playing a banjo.
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