Many films made in the 1950s and beyond examined the stultifying effects of American suburbia in the post-war years. Genre classics include Rebel Without a Cause (1955), All That Heaven Allows (1955), The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), Peyton Place (1957), The Graduate (1967) and The Stepford Wives (1975). What binds these films is the corrosive effects of conformity and the unsatisfying existence and abject loneliness of a cookie-cutter life. [Photo above of Kim Novak and Kirk Douglas]
Two top favorites of mine in this category are The Swimmer (1968) and Strangers When We Meet (1960). The latter is little known today, but it remains strangely powerful and brilliantly performed by every actor in the cast. The film stars Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Barbara Rush and Walter Matthau. Even Ernie Kovacs is superb and nearly runs away with the movie as the successful novelist who commissions a modern house from architect Kirk Douglas. Novak ratchets up the heat and anxiety with stunning minimalism, while Rush and Matthau also have pivotal roles as victims of suburbia's fevered neuroticism.
Among the film's delights are the rich use of Eastman Color by Pathe and scenes shot throughout Los Angeles at the tail end of the 1950s. Also of note is the lush and dramatic directing by Richard Quine (Bell Book and Candle, The World of Suzie Wong, Paris When It Sizzles). Kirk Douglas in the film is edgy and crosses over smoothly to 1960s modernity. Overall, there's a haunting and intoxicating mood created by this film that lingers. [Photo above of director Richard Quine and Kim Novak in Malibu]
Here's Strangers When We Meet, with a screenplay adapted by Evan Hunter from his novel of the same name...
Bonus: If you can access WSJ.com, here's my 2017 "House Call" interview with Kirk Douglas.
