February 13

Happy Birthday to Carol Lynley and Kim Novak.

I watched Strangers When We Meet for Kim Novak. She plays a married housewife and mother. Her husband does not physically show her how much he loves her. She meets Kirk Douglas, a father of one her sons classmates and an architect by profession at a grocery store. He states “You're not so pretty”. Her face changes from indifference to amusement to anger to fear in a few seconds. Kirk's wife is a woman who wants more for her husband and wants him to take a high profile project.

The timeline of the film is based upon a house construction. Kirk is designing a house for Ernie Kovacs. When Kirk and Kim first meet, they go out and measure the property. After the house is designed and construction starts Kim and Kirk start the affair. It seems as though she is morally conflicted about starting an affair, but wants the physical connection with a man. After the house is completed Kirk is offered a position in Hawaii. While Kirk is deciding what to do Kirk's friend, Walter Matthau makes a pass at Kirk's wife. Kirk punches Walter and Walter states “How am I any different from you?” That is how Kirk's wife realizes that he is having an affair and asks him to leave. She changes her mind and wants him to stay. Kirk decides to take the project in Hawaii. They meet one time to tour the new house (the inside looks like a maze to me). They state they love each other and separate back to their respected spouse.

I did care for Kirk or Kim or Walter's character. I did not like the movie. The houses (other than the new one) were full of color and style. The only character I really liked was Ernie Kovacs. He played an insecure talented writer who drinks a lot. He has a couple of lines that don't make sense but are interesting. “Critics, I eat them like the piece of cheese they are.” After Kirk gives him the keys to his new house as he leaves “We meet as strangers and half the time we part that way.”