Lovers and Other Strangers

1970
6.6| 1h44m| en| More Info
Released: 12 August 1970 Released
Producted By: ABC Studios
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Mike Vecchio and Susan Henderson are preparing for their upcoming wedding. However, they seem to be the only two people at the wedding that are happy. Mike's brother Richie and his wife Joan are going through a divorce, which is upsetting his overly devout Catholic mother Beatrice. Also, Susan's father is carrying on an affair and her sex starved older sister Wilma is going through her troubles with her husband Johnny. All this is going on while Mike's best friend Jerry is trying to bed the maid of honor, Susan's cousin Brenda.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
mangeleno 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.
mark.waltz 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.
Poseidon-3 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.
gary-109 A couple decides to get married (finally) and we see the preparations and wedding from their point of view as well as her parents, his parents, and their other family members and friends. Originally a play with separate scenes presenting the different points of view, it was wonderfully and smoothly incorporated into one screenplay. Many memorable lines, scenes, and performances. This is another of the movies I consider to be perfectly cast, from the lead roles to the bit players. Don't see it alone--this movie was meant to be shared.