Love with a proper stranger

As with Iron Eagle I also fast forward a lot of Love with a proper Stranger in which Steve McQueen is a musician with the occasional work allocated during sessions at the Union Hall. He is paged by a one night stand Natalie Wood who announces she is pregnant. He cannot remember her. He is a typical foot loose and fancy free musician with a girl friend dancer with whom he appears to use her flat as his own. She is really a good girl from an immigrant family who would like her to marry a nice neighbour who is a cook. She works not he fifth floor of Macey’s. He raises the moeny for an abortion but when he finds the “doctor” is not qualified he does not allow her go through with the termination, something which she also is in agreement. He offers to marry her but she wants a genuine loving relationship and rejects the offer much to the horror of her family. She begins to go out with the nice cook but also accept the subsequent request from Steve to see how things are going inviting him to Sunday lunch and providing a mini buy of drinks. Everything that could go wrong does and she asks him to leave suggesting the relationship is not to be.

In the last scene he appears outside the store on a busy sidewalk with a placard and playing the banjo with bells symbolising romantic love for her and among the crowd they embrace happy ending. The subject of this 1963 film was considered daring despite the accepted morality which followed. The films was nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes without success. It was an appropriate showing for Valentine’s Day.