Coincidentally, three years before this film was made, my grandparents married after having met only three times, with her still a teenager. As far as the family knows there were no murders, and they remained happily married until his death many decades later.
When Strangers Marry is a bare bones, B-noir, livened up by its cast, which includes Robert Mitchum in one of his earliest starring roles, Kim Hunter, and Neil Hamilton. Unlike a lot of noir entries whose plots are convoluted beyond belief, this one has a very simple story, probably too simple. The fact that the wife doesn't ask a lot of questions before marrying or afterwards either, when she starts to realize her new husband might be a murderer, is a little disappointing. There is a twist but it contradicts earlier character actions, and overall the film felt too tame, needing more of a malevolent edge. The actors are all fine, but the characters they play are too soft, too flat.
I liked this film more for its smaller moments, like the wonderful scene in the lively Harlem nightclub, Mitchum and Hamilton dousing themselves with buckets of water in the sauna, or the little girl in the hotel spying solemnly through her cracked door. This is one that never offended the sensibilities, but just needed a few bigger moments to go with those kinds of things and its solid foundation. At least it didn't overstay its welcome, moving along well and finishing in a brisk 67 minutes.
When Strangers Marry is a bare bones, B-noir, livened up by its cast, which includes Robert Mitchum in one of his earliest starring roles, Kim Hunter, and Neil Hamilton. Unlike a lot of noir entries whose plots are convoluted beyond belief, this one has a very simple story, probably too simple. The fact that the wife doesn't ask a lot of questions before marrying or afterwards either, when she starts to realize her new husband might be a murderer, is a little disappointing. There is a twist but it contradicts earlier character actions, and overall the film felt too tame, needing more of a malevolent edge. The actors are all fine, but the characters they play are too soft, too flat.
I liked this film more for its smaller moments, like the wonderful scene in the lively Harlem nightclub, Mitchum and Hamilton dousing themselves with buckets of water in the sauna, or the little girl in the hotel spying solemnly through her cracked door. This is one that never offended the sensibilities, but just needed a few bigger moments to go with those kinds of things and its solid foundation. At least it didn't overstay its welcome, moving along well and finishing in a brisk 67 minutes.