Strangers May Kiss (1931)

Cast:

Norma Shearer ... Lisbeth Corbin
Robert Montgomery ... Steve
Neil Hamilton ... Alan Harlow
Marjorie Rambeau ... Geneva Sterling
Irene Rich ... Celia Corbin
Hale Hamilton ... Andrew Corbin
Conchita Montenegro ... Spanish Dancer
Jed Prouty ... Harry Evans
Albert Conti ... Count De Bazan
Henry Armetta ... Crying Waiter
George Davis ... Hotel Waiter

Directed by George Fitzmaurice.
Produced by Irving Thalberg.
Based on the novel by Ursula Parrott.
Screenplay by John Meehan.
Cinematography by William Daniels.
Gowns by Adrian.
Sound Recording by Douglas Shearer.
Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons.
Film Editing b Hugh Wynn.

Released April 4, 1931.
A Metro Goldwyn Mayer Picture.

Box Office Information:
Cost of Production: $417,000
Domestic Gross: $980,000
Forgein Gross: $292,000
Total Gross: $1,272,000
Profit: $313,000


Background:

On November 5, 1930, Norma Shearer received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in The Divorcee (1930). The film, based on an Ursula Parrot novel, was a fantastic success, changing the way audiences would perceive Norma Shearer for the next few years, until the Censorships forced them to change their minds.

But at the time Strangers May Kiss was filmed in January, 1931, the Hollywood studios were still hell-bent on pushing the envelope that Norma created with The Divorcee, and pushed it herself in Let Us Be Gay (1930), her follow-up to that movie.

Between the time Let Us Be Gay was released in the summer of 1930, and Norma’s winning of the Academy Award, she also delivered birth to a son, Irving Thalberg Jr. Strangers May Kiss was not only Norma’s first movie since winning the highest honor in the movie colony, but also her first after pregnancy. She wondered if her figure, looks, and “Shearer chic” were still in check.

Costar Robert Montgomery later elaborated:

“In Strangers May Kiss I sensed a new restlessness in Norma. Her career ambitions were as high as ever, but I felt she was compensating for something. It was nothing against the Thalberg marriage---it was a wonderful marriage---everyone thought them the ideal couple---but she seemed to be somehow taking charge on her own, while remaining always very solicitous of Irving in every respect. I was not the only one who felt Norma had such a strong inner drive, such a fierce discipline, she would have made it to all-out stardom no matter what the circumstances of her life.”

She placed her utmost confidence in cinematographer William Daniels and costume designer Adrian to make her look her best. “She worried a lot about her figure and her complexion,” Daniels later remembered. “We dickered a lot about lighting. I had to assure her several times that her figure was as svelte and shapely as before her pregnancy.”

To make Norma’s screen return a sure-fire success story, Irving Thalberg took to Strangers May Kiss, another Ursula Parrot story, with the idea of recreating The Divorcee magic. As with its predecessor, MGM all but ignored the novel, which originally has Lisbeth committing suicide after waiting for her lover to return without any word from him for years.

Still, Norma Shearer remained concerned. An obsessive by nature, she was frantic during the entire production until the finished film premiered to enthusiastic reviews and a potent box-office welcome from her fans.

Thousands of letters arrived from across the country to congratulate Norma on her big screen return.

Trivia:

Strangers May Kiss caused an uproar from critics and censors convinced that sex and vulgarity on the screen was on the rise (wonder why?).

An inter-office memo from an employee of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, dated April 13, 1931, stated that “it would be difficult for me to exaggerate me revulsion at this picture and my sense of horror that our present set-up is permitting product of this type to go through.”

The picture was flat-out rejected by censorship boards in Hungary and Ireland, while Mexican officials remained offended about the interpretation of their culture in the film.




Webmaster's Review:

Lisbeth Corbin and Alan Harlow have been carrying on with a relationship of convenience for sometime now. When Lisbeth is asked by friend and coworker Geneva Sterling if she and Alan will marry, Lisbeth responds that “We don’t believe in the awful necessity of marriage.”

“You mean he doesn’t” insists Geneva.

“I mean what I said.”

Steve is a friend of Lisbeth’s since childhood. He is in town, and she invites him to go out to dinner with her, Alan, and Lisbeth’s Aunt Celia. Celia goes on about how her twelve years of marriage have been the happiest of her life, only to look across the room and find her husband with another woman. She gets up and leaves the table, not telling anyone, until Alan notices Andrew, Celia’s husband, and confronts him.

When Celia comes back to the table, Andrew walks up behind her, acts as if nothing is going on, and give her a kiss. By this point, everyone knows, and she’s absolutely humiliated, as if being heart-broken wasn’t enough. Steve and Lisbeth try to comfort her back at the apartment, but she insists she wants to be alone. Lisbeth understands, and she makes her way out of the high-rise with Steve, only to learn that Celia has thrown herself over the balcony, killing herself.

It’s Christmas Eve. Geneva has plans to go out with a beau of hers, while Lisbeth sits solemnly at home alone. She hasn’t heard from Alan in weeks or possibly months. Unfortunately for her, his career as a writer keeps him busy traveling the world. But just as soon as she has lost all hope, he returns, announcing that he is leaving for Mexico, and that Lisbeth is coming with him.

Alan and Lisbeth patch up, make up for a loss of time, and enjoy each other’s company thoroughly in Mexico. It is here where Alan tells her he has a wife in Paris. He didn’t mean to keep it a secret from her, but his wife is no longer part of his life, so he saw no reason to mention that.

The awkwardness of that situation comes to a complete end when their relationship is broken up entirely. Alan must go to Panama---alone---leaving Lisbeth. Devastated, she travels to Europe, having a new lover every new day as she travels through Rome, Paris, and Monte Carlo. But it is in Spain where she meets up with Steve again. It’s been two years, and she’s learned a great deal becoming a noble woman of the world.

“I’m in an orgy, wallowing, and I love it,” she announces.

Steve gets her to calm down, and the endless use of sex to fill the void in her life Alan left is over. He has just been able to secure a divorce from his wife in Paris, and wants to marry Lisbeth, but his mind changes when he arrives in Paris only to find out about her reckless lifestyle.

Of course he refuses to have anything to do with her.

Back in New York, Steve comforts Lisbeth once more, taking her to see the Manhattan Follies. Outside of the theater they see Steve, where Lisbeth says what she believe to be her final goodbyes. Teary-eyed throughout the show, and grabbing onto Steve’s arm, she notices Alan standing in the isle, watching her. He reaches out towards her, and the two leave the theater together with locked arms.

For this reviewer, Strangers May Kiss is better than The Divorcee by a long shot. The story is better, the pace of the film moves much quicker, and there are a lot of setting changes to keep from dull moments.

Norma Shearer is beautiful, and she is better here than in Divorcee and Let Us Be Gay. She has more emotional scenes, handles them with more restraint, and is beautifully gowned throughout the movie. Her wardrobe of slinky gowns which just drape over her small frame, making her appear both taller and slimmer, are breathtaking.

Unfortunately, Norma’s use of the white-make-up causes her face to be almost completely washed out in some scenes. There is a beautiful white and black contrast of the camera, making the darks and lights appear noticeably different, but this works against Norma’s desire to be to pale onscreen.

But nonetheless, she does appear beautiful, especially while on her European jaunt. It’s this type of setup which fitted so well to her onscreen persona. She’s allowed to grin, laugh, and charm her way throughout the major capitals of Europe. George Fitzmaurice does a great bit where we see Norma dancing with three different men in three different locations.

It’s a great way to showcase her, umm…”activeness.”

Robert Montgomery seems to have been picked up from The Divorcee shoot and dropped right into this movie. In the beginning, he does a lot of goofy gestures in order for amusement, but he gets very well by the final reel. He had a great relationship with Norma. While it wasn’t as romantic and passionate as her onscreen love scenes with Fredric March, Robert Montgomery was best cast opposite Norma as the friend she never sleeps with, but accompanies her on all of her immoral fun. As she does for him. They look out for one another, are there throughout all of the love drama, but remain devoted in a way which can never leave them to the altar.

Of course the did play married couples in some of their movies, but they were best opposite each other as best friends.

Irene Rich and Marjorie Rambeau are perfectly cast in their roles. Both give believable, but unfortunately brief performances. Neil Hamilton is also good as Alan, and his chemistry with Norma is very involving. Unfortunately, while actors like Montgomery tried too hard to give off charm, there were others like Hamilton and Chester Morris who didn’t seem to try hard enough. And there are moments in the movie where he doesn’t seem to want to be there.

Listen for some good lines, including where Norma announces “I’m free, white, and twenty-one.” And when Robert Montgomery gives her some advice, “We [men] like our drinks mixed, but our women straight.” And when he says “There’s a broken heart for every light on Broadway.”