Affair with a Stranger


Affair with a Stranger is a 1953 American comedy-drama directed by Roy Rowland and starring Jean Simmons and Victor Mature. It was originally to be released as Kiss and Run.
The film centres on the rumoured marital troubles of a successful playwright. As various people who came into contact with the couple reminisce about the couple's past, the story of the relationship and the budding affair that is potentially destroying it is told through a series of flashbacks.
The film received mixed reviews.

Plot

On a train, playwright Bill Blakeley fends off the romantic flirtations of Janet Boothe, an actress from his play. But, when wife Carolyn decides not to join him, Bill makes a dinner date with Janet, who plants a story with a gossip columnist about the Blakeleys possibly heading for a divorce.
Friends and acquaintances begin recalling how the couple met. Carolyn Parker was a fashion model who bought a Toledo, Ohio, newspaper each day. Bill pretended to be from Toledo as well to get to know her, only to learn that Carolyn's actually from England and has been buying the papers for a neighbor.
After their marriage, Bill's struggles to find work, combined with his gambling, force Carolyn to support them. He finally takes a job as a waiter and slips a copy of a manuscript to a customer, a producer who makes Bill's play a success.
One night, Carolyn must miss the opening of a play because she is having a baby. The child dies, and she can have no more. Bill is as supportive in her hour of need as she had been in his.
Concerned that he might be vulnerable to an ambitious actress, however, Carolyn takes the next train to New York. She runs into Bill at the station and into his arms. They both deny leaking the information. Bill realizes the trains are leaving and talks to the station master. Meanwhile, Carolyn looks at the hanky she used to wipe her tears. It has lipstick on it. As Bill returns to tell her there are no more trains and they will have to find a hotel, she drops the hanky into the garbage.

Cast

Victor Mature was going to star in Split Second. However he assigned to this instead and production on Split Second was pushed back. Filming started 9 July 1952 and papers reported it being "rushed before the cameras".
The original title was Break up. This was changed to Kiss and Run in April 1953 before becoming Affair with a Stranger.
The film was the fourth Jean Simmons made for Howard Hughes and RKO. Simmons and her husband Stewart Granger sued Hughes to get out of the contract. It settled out of court. Part of the final arrangement was she would do this film for no extra money. Also, Simmons agreed to make three more movies under the auspices of RKO, but not actually at that studio – she would be loaned out. She would make an additional picture for 20th Century Fox while RKO got the services of Victor Mature for one film.
Olive Carey, widow of Harry Carey, had a small role. Steve Rowland, son of director Roy Rowland, made his debut in the film.

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called the story "quite ordinary" and said the film "can't seem to make up its mind if it's comedy or drama." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "a virtual collection of cliches".