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Love with the Proper Stranger

Love with the Proper Stranger

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1963

Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.

Movie details

Love with the Proper Stranger

“There is a moment - a long moment - when everything is risked with the proper stranger”

1963 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 42m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Love with the Proper Stranger?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Robert Mulligan

Written by

Arnold Schulman

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood

Angie Rossini

Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen

Rocky Papasano

Edie Adams

Edie Adams

Barbie

Herschel Bernardi

Herschel Bernardi

Dominick Rossini

Anne Hegira

Anne Hegira

Beetie

Harvey Lembeck

Harvey Lembeck

Julio Rossini

M

Mario Badolati

Elio Papasano

Court is in session

Put Love with the Proper Stranger on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.