Lovers and Other Strangers

I have been searching for this for years and finally found it on DVD. It is well worth seeing though not quite as funny as I once thought it was. It doesn't all work but the parts that do are great. A young couple (Michael Brandon and Bonnie Bedelia) are about to get married but have not told their parents that they have been secretly living together. The supporting cast is great, many of them achieved bigger fame in TV. Anne Meara plays a frustrated wife whose husband (Harry Guardino) is not interested in sex anymore. The father of the bride (Gig Young) is a "with it" guy who does not believe in the Generation Gap. He is also cheating on his wife (Cloris Leachman) with a hysterical Anne Jackson. Bob Dishy is a lecherous usher who is desperately trying to bed a spacey bridesmaid (Marian Hailey). Best of all Beatrice Arthur and Richard Castellano (nominated for an Oscar for this) are the Italian Catholic parents of the groom. Their chemistry is hilarious and they also find out their other married son is looking to divorce his wife (played by Diane Keaton). Castellano is so old fashioned he threatens to give his 30 year old son a beating with his belt! There are two interesting bits by uncredited Conrad Bain and Jerry Stiller. Bain plays a priest who hears the confession of his future "Maude" co star Bea Arthur. Stiller (Anne Meara's real life husband) plays a wedding guest. The beautiful song "For All We Know" won the Oscar, it was later a big hit for the Carpenters.

Excruciating. Tedious. Of its time, of course. What a bunch of unappealing people. I don't care for the attitude towards gay people, but it was filmed in 1969. I found most of the characters repulsive and stupid. I do not relate to any of them. Ponderous. Yuck.

Set against the advent of a fancy wedding, this comedy examines the many aspects of late sixties/early seventies love relationships amongst the wedding party and guests. Brandon and Bedelia play the bride and groom. They've been living together for a year, unknown to their parents, and barely see any reason to make it legal, apart from the fact that it's expected of them. Young and Leachman are Bedelia's affluent parents. Young, though he cares about Leachman, has been carrying on a decade-long affair with her best friend Jackson. Brandon's middle-class Italian parents are played by Castellano and Arthur. They seem to have stayed together out of duty and religion rather than love, yet have attained a level of comfort between themselves. Brandon's brother Hindy is on the verge of divorcing his wife Keaton. Bedelia's sister Meara is having sexual issues with her macho husband Guardino. Finally, Brandon's friend Dishy is embarking on a relationship with Bedelia's friend Hailey. These thirteen lives are examined in vignettes before, during and after the wedding, often with comedic results, but occasionally with poignant ones. Though many of the attitudes and situations may appear dated now, it's still a pretty intriguing time capsule of what different thought processes went in to the various relationship situations of the day, a time when women's lib and the sexual revolution were hot-button topics. Also, many of the observations regarding love between men and women are relevant now, despite the presence of such patently tacky clothes, furnishings and wallpaper. Arthur plays a type of role far different from the more assertive and brusque ones often associated with her and she plays it well. Comparatively monosyllabic Castellano is a good counterpoint to her and winds of providing the most touching moment in the film when he attempts to explain his wedding gift to Brandon. Young, hot off his Oscar win for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", does a nice job wrangling Jackson, whose character is often in a state of hysterics over their rather doomed affair. Meara enjoys one of her most substantial film roles and crafts a three-dimensional character despite having to shoulder the burden of some topical gender issue repartee with Guardino's closed-minded character. In a bizarre casting decision, Meara's mother is played by Leachman, even though Leachman is only 3 years older than Meara! (Leachman is given very little to do in the film, but does look nice.) Keaton, in her debut, is almost able to open her eyes, which are weighted down with heavy false eyelashes. She does a nice job, but doesn't suggest the significant career that was around the bend for her. As the newlyweds, Brandon and Bedelia are both immensely appealing. She is the better known, thanks to a latter day spate of roles in some high-powered films featuring Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford, but he was able to maintain a long, if more subdued career as well. It's a colorful, at times insightful, often amusing look at the many facets of love, dating and marriage at the time and features a great cast. It seems surely to have provided some degree of inspiration for Robert Altman's "A Wedding", though the latter film is more cynical and more heavily focused on the matrimonial ceremony itself.

This was the first "R" rated film that we ever took my mother to see. The whole family saw it at the Dyker Theater in Brooklyn, and we just about fell out of the balcony from laughing so hard! Nobody does the culture clash between Italian-Americans and the rest of the US of A better than Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor. Although some of the humor is a bit dated, most of the gags hold up very well. The interplay between all of the various Vecchio family members is timeless. The whole rap about "they're STILL together" is classic! While Gig Young is spot on as the philandering father of the bride, the best repartee is by and between Bea Arthur and Richard S Castellano. Joseph Hindy is a stalwart foil for Castellano. Bob Dishy, Ann Meara and Harry Guardino have memorable character turns to flesh out a top-shelf ensemble. The characterization of a working-class Italian-American family is perfect. When Mama Vecchio uses "Have some more soup, Frank" as the double -edged sword of nourishing her family while attempting to steer away from conflict, I could almost hear my Nonna (grandmother). She used soup to solve all the world's problems one bowl ata a time, too! My Mom still thinks that this is one of the funniest pictures she ever saw. I concur.

What could have been several episodes of "Love American Style" rolled into one, this lovely romantic comedy turns out to be a delightful surprise. Mike (Michael Brandon) and Susan (Bonnie Bedelia) are roommates and lovers, engaged to be married. It is right before the wedding, and Mike has second thoughts. Their families are excited about the event but dealing with issues of their own. The mamas are soon-to-be TV stars Beatrice Arthur and Cloris Leachman, whose characters of Maude and Phyllis on their perspective shows would go down in TV comedy history. Susan's sister Wilma (Anne Meara) is having sexual control issues with her husband Johnny (Harry Guardino) who insists on being in control in the marriage. It's obvious from the get-go that this would never sit well with the brassy Wilma. The bride's parents Hal (Gig Young) and Bernice (Cloris Leachman) have a marriage that is best described as boring, because Bernice simply is content being the perfect wife, mother and socialite. He has begun an affair with Bernice's sister Kathy (Anne Jackson), but seems to have no intention of leaving Bernice. Mike's family is equally as wacky. We learn from Bea Arthur's matriarch (also named Bea) that it doesn't pay to be happy in a marriage. That only brings on misery. In fact, she and her husband Frank (Richard Castellano) are more content with their arguing than on settling on just "happy". Their older son Richie (Joseph Hindy) has separated from his wife Joan (newcomer Diane Keaton) which displeases his parents very much, as they are extremely "devoted" Catholics. Add on a playboy best man and a virginal bridesmaid, and you have as much soap opera that a 100 minute movie can have, yet it's all very funny. Talk about "As the Stomach Turns!" The cast is simply outstanding, yet it is the humour and tenderness of each of the story lines that really makes the film work. The philosophy of the older couples isn't preachy, and gives a statement that the passage of time doesn't change marriages-people and society do. Fans of TV veterans Leachman and Arthur will tune in to see them together, but they don't exchange any dialogue, only their husbands in a reception dance scene. Leachman has little to do as the perfect wife and mother unaware of what her husband and sister are doing, but Arthur steals every scene she is in, playing an Italian matriarch that seems like a pre-cursor of her own "Golden Girls" Sicilian mama, Sophia Petrillo. Meara is totally on fire in her role, although it seems a bit ridiculous that she would be Leachman's daughter, as she is only 3 years younger than her! The Oscar winning "For All We Know" plays beautifully over the wedding, and later became a hit for Karen Carpenter. It is certainly one of the most deserving songs to ever take home the gold statue. Be sure to stay through the closing credits.

Anything from New York is a true gem. "Lovers and other Strangers" is a comedy farce that takes you to the lives of lovers in different places. Here you have a couple who are about to get married, and there's a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. One couple is in new romance, the other is heading towards divorce because of communication problems. Then you have a bachelor who is totally luckless in love until he meets a cousin of the soon-to-be married couple who is indeed book smart, but doesn't follow what that person says, because she thinks it's misleading. The cast of the characters are well put: Beatrice Arthur, Harry Guardino, Richard Castellano, Anne Meara, Bonnie Bedelia, Cloris Leachman, and several others makes this movie a moment that will never be forgotten. The scenes I've seen are truly amazing, and the storyline is unforgettable. This one movie I think is a real keeper. I would also say, this is for New Yorkers only too. Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

"Lovers & Other Strangers" was a big hit back in the day and much of it still works. An outstanding ensemble cast was gathered and they made the best of the material. Gig Young, Beatrice Arthur, and Richard Castellano are especially deserving of critical praise. The best scene would have to be the wedding itself between Michael Brandon and a very young Bonnie Bedilia, which the theme is especially poignant. More great scenes are when Michael Brandon's parents tell their older son and daughter in law (Diane Keaton & Joseph Hindy) about their secret marital problems and how they coped with them. Other parts of the film don't work well, in spite its good actors. The martial problems of Anne Meara and Harry Guardino are believable at first, but then go over the top. The set-up date between the usher and bridesmaid is mostly exasperating. Anne Jackson is stuck with a completely one-note role, where her character is constantly crying about something. This film is overrated and dated, but it works more often than it doesn't.

This is one of the funniest wedding pictures I have ever seen. The film pretty much accurately portrays a lot of the things that go on around the time of a wedding. Things like the mother of either the bride or groom about to suffer a nervous breakdown, one couple on the verge of a divorce while the brother (or sister) is getting married or one of the groomsmen trying to make it with one of the bridesmaids. The writer must have been to a lot of weddings to really come up with this great slice of life comedy. As for the cast, Bonnie Bedelia and Michael Brandon are perfectly cast as Susan and Mike, who seem to be the only ones that are happy while everyone else isn't. Cloris Leachman (a few months before taking the role of Mary Richard's annoying and overbearing neighbor Phyllis) is also great as Susan's mother, who is oblivious to her husband's philandering. Also, in a very quiet performance, Dianne Keaton makes a solid debut as Mike's soon to be ex-sister-in-law, who show's up even though she know's she has to face her in-law's as well as her estranged husband. However, Bea Arthur (a couple of years before her career defining role as overbearing liberal Maude) steals the show as Mike's overbearing, devoutly Catholic mother. This film is definitely a sleeper.

Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) Dir: Cy Howard Diane's first feature film and it's a hit! A classic early '70s comedy concerning the events leading up to and including the traditional family wedding. Diane has a small part but makes the most of it. The Carpenters' title single figures prominently in the movie and became an instant real life wedding fixture. Screenplay by sometime acting husband and wife duo Joseph Bologna and Rene Taylor (of The Nanny fame).

Classic comedy with legendary comedians (e.g. Stiller and Meara.) Imagine holding up and being topical for more than 35 years! While the superb writing as mentioned holds up fantastically, the 60's style also adds to the overall pleasure of this movie. Do you get the feeling I like this flick! Do yourself a favor and take the time to watch this when you get the opportunity. Check out the cast and see just how amazing an impact this movie had - Bea Arthur year before being cast as Maude in All in the Family (Conrad Bain in small role, to be linked as Maude's neighbor within a couple of years of the movies release.) And the casting director, was he prophetic or what, see how many appeared for the first time in a movie here, Diane Keaton of course, but how about Sly Stallone as an extra, Jerry Stiller, etc, etc.