This really cheap B movie was Robert Mitchum's first film noir

"When Strangers Marry" is a 1944 film noir directed by William Castle. The film stars Kim Hunter, Robert Mitchum, and Dean Jagger.
Made in seven days for fifty thousand dollars, "When Strangers Marry" is not as well-known as some other classics, but it remains a notable early entry in the noir genre due to its moody atmosphere and character-driven narrative and psychological tension. Overall strong performances by Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter and Robert Mitchum, and confident and strong visual direction by William Castle contribute to the film's sense of unease and suspense.
You can watch BETRAYED here ➡️archive.org/details/btyd-1944
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[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

I wondered how you'd broach the subject of Commissioner Gordon and you did it in the funniest way possible. I laughed.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I'm glad I didn't disappoint 😂😂😂

[@OuterGalaxyLounge]

@@CinemaCities1978 Little danger of that, given the quality track record.

[@DavidSmith-fv1jf]

yep...!

[@henrygonzalez8793]

Yes CC, your comment about “Commissioner Gordon” was hilarious !! Loved it !!

[@Luzanne.]

Same!

[@suzimajor9532]

“Commissioner Gordon.. I mean Police Lieutenant Blake..” Good one. 😂😂😂

[@ferociousgumby]

Turner Classics is having Summer under the Stars all through August, and recently they did 24 hours of Robert Mitchum. I don't know if I ever appreciated him in the past, as I wasn't a noir fan. But I watched two - Night of the Hunter and The Sundowners - that blew me way. He was absolutely terrifying in Hunter, like a far darker version of Elmer Gantry, and The Sundowners had me in tears more than once due to the rough-hewn devotion between Mitchum and Deborah Kerr. He was a rascal, but he had a heart and truly cared about her. Kerr was amazing and pitch-perfect as an Australian woman in the rough outback whose dreams would never come true. I kept seeing echoes of The Thorn Birds - even down to the sheep and the roughneck Bryan Brown character who won the shearing contest - and wondered if Colleen McCullough was a fan of the movie. I think I did see The Sundowners on TV when I was an adolescent, and at that point I just assumed Mitchum was Australian! Now I realize he was simply brilliant, capable of nuance and tenderness as well as brute force.,

[@CinemaCities1978]

The Sundowners is such a lovely movie and Kerr and Mitchum have great chemistry. Mitchum is an actor who was always good and just got better with age.

[@ferociousgumby]

@@CinemaCities1978 Oh, and it even had Peter Ustinov in it, whom I LOVE! He added just the right note of slightly seedy gentility and rode horses English style.

[@roberthill799]

He’s even nastier in “Cape Fear” a movie that is not as filled with the stylish foreboding as “Hunter” is but is more alarming.

[@anniebardelli7007]

Besides Night of the Hunter, I love the Mitchum films The Lusty Men (terrible title, great movie), Foreign Intrigue, Bandido, Thunder Road, The Wonderful Country, Track of the Cat, and of course Out of the Past, Angel Face and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (the latter two wonderfully covered on this channel 😊)

[@tiedupinred]

I just watched Out Of The Past and have had Night Of The Hunter on my list for awhile. He is a great actor to watch.

[@anniebardelli7007]

Dean Jagger played a chilling villain a few years later in the bizarre noir western “Pursued” (also starring Robert Mitchum), a movie I personally love, directed by the great Raoul Walsh…

[@huskerjpg]

Boston terrier. I could listen to this narrator reading the back of an aspirin bottle.

[@CinemaCities1978]

😊

[@numbersix8919]

First leading role? I'm all in. Thanks as always, Cine Citti.

[@tiedupinred]

I love your videos. I recently got into noir and this channel is a great resource.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@maartenlemmens8628]

So William Castle learned to pinch pennies from the King Brothers? Nice to know! 👌 Nice little noir, but better than Laura ? Come on!😆

[@CinemaCities1978]

I found that Welles statement very provocative 😂

[@CinemaCities1978]

What do you think of Orson's assessment of Betrayed? Definitely one of the hottest hot takes 😂 You can watch BETRAYED here ➡archive.org/details/btyd-1944

[@anniebardelli7007]

Maybe Orson was just so pleasantly surprised at the movie’s quality-price ratio that he exaggerated a bit in his comparisons 😂

[@jtcbrt]

DVR alert - TCM - tomorrow, Aug 20 - Stanwyck all day!

[@bak-mariterry5180]

Damn.... and I've gotta work .

[@spockboy]

Great video. Haven't seen this one, and I love Mitchum's earlier work. Thanks for the link! : )

[@CinemaCities1978]

You’re welcome!

[@sarabrown6022]

I'm only recently getting back into low-budget noirs and I watched Fear In The Night and loved Paul Kelly. I had no idea about his scandalous life in the 20s. I would love if you could do a video about him.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Paul Kelly is such a great actor. He's got a small part in Crossfire (1947) and he just knocks it out of the park. He's creepy, sinister, lecherous, unreliable, pathetic and slightly threatening all at the same time. He's on screen for about 5 minutes and he's unforgettable. It's kind of crazy how he went to jail for murder and then just went right back to work.

[@paulkitt-er9dr]

I bet he hung out with Tom Neal

[@CinemaCities1978]

Wow! 😂😂😂😂 dark humor there 😂

[@MoreMovies4u]

This looks great, I will add it to my watchlist and get back to you once I've had a chance to screen it. Thanks CC!

[@CinemaCities1978]

I think in a lot of places, its style overcomes its substance, which is fine with me. Being an early work of both William Castle and Robert Mitchum really makes it worth watching. Mitchum is not quite Mitchum yet, but you can see that he's getting there.

[@theeversocharming]

This movie is part of the Holiday Noir Collection on Criterion Channel. Enjoyed the twist and it was the suitcase not the hat. Thank you for making me laugh at the Commissioner Gordon line.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Neil Hamilton will always be Commissioner Gordon, no matter what film he's in 😂

[@anniebardelli7007]

What a treat!!! I do so love this channel ❤ . As for this movie, maybe I should be embarrassed to admit it, but I had not seen the twist ending coming at all 😆

[@CinemaCities1978]

Don’t be embarrassed! I didn’t see it coming either. 😂

[@lindacecile5647]

Where have you been? I hope I haven't missed any of your shiws. You always give ne another movie to watch. Today it'll be that s one, especially since it's Mitchum. Laura's one of my favorite noirs. I'll watch this one and comment later. Great to see you back😊

[@CinemaCities1978]

Oh no! I hope you didn't miss the Robert Ryan video! Sometimes KZbin doesn't show subscribers new videos. it's very frustrating!

[@inkfishpete8695]

Thanks for the link, Sydney. After reading all the comments about the twist ending, I'm determined to watch this tonight.

[@brettrobson5739]

The Commissioner Gordon slip was glorious.

[@CinemaCities1978]

😂😂😂

[@kirksworks]

Before William Castle turned to gimmick horror, he tried his hand at a range of genres. Quite a few noir, but I recently watched The Serpent of the Nile, his take on an epic, the story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony starring Rhonda Fleming and Raymond Burr. Is it good? Not really, but not as bad as you’d expect. And I was amazed at how epic it seemed. A large cast, costumes, teams of horses and chariot, big sets (still standing from other films), and best of all, shot in 3 Strip Technicolor. It was made about 10 years before the Liz Taylor version and for its time it must have seemed reasonably large. Rhonda Fleming is… well, Rhonda Fleming. Raymond Burr is horribly miscast. Although it’s not a good movie, I was impressed with what Castle accomplished. He was the Roger Corman of his day. Betrayed looks great. Can’t wait to see it!

[@ferociousgumby]

One of my all-time-favorite horror movies is Mr. Sardonicus, a creepy, eerie Gothic drama which is surprisingly understated, making the horrific "reveal" of the rictus face even more effective. I saw it on TV in the 1960s without the hokey intro and ending, and it was better without them. The ending is sadistic in a way that's hard to describe, as Sardonicus sits there starving with his jaws locked together while Oscar Homolka gorges himself, squinting at him with his one good eye.

[@kirksworks]

Sardonicus is Castle’s best directed of his horror films. Scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. Beautifully shot, great atmosphere.

[@ferociousgumby]

@@kirksworks My brother and I watched it late at night when we were kids. Can you imagine our reaction when his face was revealed in all its hideous glory?

[@VonWenk]

Didn't William Castle find the book Lady from Shanghai was based on and produce it?

[@CinemaCities1978]

yes, he did.

[@scottwhittaker4959]

That’s the question: Did Betrayed influence Lady From Shanghai?

[@carmenmiranda652]

Thanks so much for the recommendation and the link to watch this film. Certainly enjoyable from beginning to end. I'm a huge fan of Robert Mitchum so this was a real treat.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@stevenstanley3157]

If I weren't looking for a twist ending, I might not have guessed it was ... I agree completely about the direction, the cinematography, and don't forget Dimitri Tiomkin's score (pre his 22 Oscar nominations and 4 wins!) I only knew William Castle from his 1960s films that featured Golden Era Hollywood stars (and gimmicks), but he sure was prolific in the two decades before. I did notice that in the re-release opening titles, Bob Mitchum went from third-billed to a first-billed Robert Mitchum. Oh, and it's 67 minutes, not 77. Another great video and a very entertaining hour and seven minutes!

[@stevenstanley3157]

Not to forget Rhonda Fleming's unbilled cameo at the end!

[@lbbotpn5429]

It had been a few years since I watched this one, and while having no firm memory of the details, I remember not really caring for it despite the stellar cast. I was hoping it would turn out to just be a case of not being in the proper frame of mind when I saw it last, however, having just re-watched it (thank you for the prompt and the link), I still couldn't really find much to sink my cinematic teeth into beyond the early Robert Mitchum appearance and Kim Hunter reprising her naive-girl-goes-to-NY-to-find-someone character (a la The Seventh Victim). The plot stretches credulity, the story drags (a mortal sin for a film with such a short run time) and the twist ending didn't really feel earned. Maybe I expected too much, but it seems like a story that would have been better served being a 44 minute Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode. Thanks for the video and for providing the perfect reason to revisit this one!

[@SmartCookie2022]

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Loving your recent work.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Thank you!!!!

[@stephpicher]

I wasn't expecting this to be funny, yet here I am. 😆 Very interesting, as usual. Will definitely watch. Thanks!

[@CinemaCities1978]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@frederickcombs8661]

This one made Strangers in the Night seem potential Oscar material. Kim Hunter must have watched a lot of Norma Shearer movies. Jean Crain had a cute bit at the very end.

[@melaniepalker9998]

Fabulous find! Thanks for the recommendation ❤

[@CinemaCities1978]

You're welcome!

[@bobbybecker80]

One of the best movies per dollar ever. Did you notice Rhonda Fleming at the end?

[@CinemaCities1978]

yep. Rhonda was the added bonus surprise.

[@bobbybecker80]

Somehow IMDB had that rated @ 6.5; what an undercut, and thank you again for an outstanding find.@@CinemaCities1978

[@CinemaCities1978]

you're welcome!

[@Chiller11]

You’re not coming up on my recommendations anymore and I’m missing our completely chimerical parasocial association. I usually don’t like notifications but I’m making an exception for this and a couple other channels.

[@paulkitt-er9dr]

This one has a lot to recommend an early Mitchum performance Kim Hunter and William Castle directs I'm probably one of the few who enjoys his exploitation movies The tingler Homicidal I saw what you did

[@juancervantes4085]

Wasn't there a movie with Clark Gable also named Betrayed? It was not a film noir.

[@CinemaCities1978]

yes, it was made in the 50s. He co starred with Lana Turner. There's also a film from the 1930s named When Strangers Marry. . .

[@dk60ish]

Thanks for making my summer!

[@CinemaCities1978]

you're welcome!

[@seymourskinner2533]

Double indemnity will always be my favourite so I’m not a fair judge to compare the two.

[@CinemaCities1978]

There really is no comparison. I suspect Orson was being provocative with that statement.

[@carl.nooner]

Love this Movie. Love your Channel.

[@CinemaCities1978]

hank you 😊

[@maryperkins5867]

Excellent movie. Ive seen it before.

[@jdrenigan]

Ohh, that sounds interesting! I'll give it a watch, and keep on the lookout for the twist.

[@CinemaCities1978]

let me know if you figured it out.

[@jdrenigan]

​@@CinemaCities1978I did! 😊 Mainly because the movie wanted me to think one way. But I knew there was a twist coming, so I figured "hmm, it's probably the *other* thing"

[@samp.8099]

3:27 Where's Orson Welles' Twitter account?

[@ariesroc]

50 grand in 1944 was like 850,000 now so still very low budget as opposed to Gunga Din from 1939 with it's 1.9 million dollar budget which would be 42 million today. Still low budget but you see the difference.

[@CinemaCities1978]

This an extremely cheap movie. Even compared to some of the others I’ve covered, it’s on the very low end of the Bs.

[@zetectic7968]

Interesting: only aware of Kim Hunter as Zira in Planet of the Apes & from A Matter of Life and Death plus A Canterbury Tale by the original dynamic duo(Powell & Pressburger). I have downloaded the film & will try to watch it soon but life is not giving me a lot of free time at present. Thank for bringing this oldie to my attention.

[@anniebardelli7007]

I was only aware of her in Streetcar named Desire opposite Marlon Brando, but I thought she turned in a very good performance in that…

[@CinemaCities1978]

Young Kim Hunter is also in Val Lewton’s fantastic horror noir The Seventh Victim kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZicgmlplJiJnZosi=RTxMrJzifbG-bIPH

[@lindacecile5647]

Just watch. Gotta say, plot twist got me. At first I thought, this is noir, can't be so evident. (Well any woman who'd choose Jagger over Mitchum is nuts! Wrong 😮). Sorry,Orson. Laura surpasses. Besides, it's got Tierney

[@CinemaCities1978]

orson’s take was waaay base 😂

[@Hi-jw7oq]

Have you seen "The Night of the Hunter"? That one seems to be right up your ally. Its on tubi

[@peterharrer3261]

The man with his back to us who exits the bar with the prospective murder victim is unmistakable by his loping walk, his height and those incredible shoulders. (Tho it's supposed to be Dean Jagger, otherwise how would his character know about the $10K? Castle was full of such tricks.) So I guessed the murderer early on. However, had I not been clued to the twist ending would I have known to look? -- Really enjoyed the movie, which parallels visually with Val Lewton's work, even some of the actors worked for Lewton. And unless I'm mistaken, the lady dancing in the Harlem bar sang "Your Red Wagon" in "They Live By Night" a few years later. Another great selection from Cinema Cities.

[@CinemaCities1978]

There are definitely homages to both Lewton and Hitchcock in this one. You are right! The singer from They Live By Night is also in this film. Her name is Marie Bryant. In the 1930s and 1940s she performed with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington and taught dance and did choreography at Fox and paramount.

[@hypnotrixplays]

So the twist is Rhonda Fleming turns up at the end as a newly wed.

[@CinemaCities1978]

That's a nice little added bonus 😉

[@nickimontie]

Added to my list! Might be moved to the top....

[@CinemaCities1978]

Let me know what you think! So far the consensus is Orson was waaaay off and just being provocative 😂

[@danthsmith]

Castle became a very pedestrian director in his later, more famous movies. The idea usually more interesting than execution. I'll check this out though ❤

[@CinemaCities1978]

I’d be interested to know what you think of his work on this film. In think it’s his fifth movie, so very early in his career.

[@Hi-jw7oq]

So yeah, I saw this movie. It wasnt bad but i still think Laura is better. The twist for me was a surprise. Honestly the actress was cute, but sometimes the was they did her hair was just bad, like why? Haha

[@lindacecile5647]

That was the style then. 40s had lots of pincurls whether hair was down or pulled up on the head

[@Hi-jw7oq]

@@lindacecile5647 I've seen quite a bit of movies from this era, even for the time, this was bad

[@anniebardelli7007]

Yes I kept getting distracted by her awful hair too😂.

[@Porsche996driver]

The film link is now kaputt.

[@allegory6393]

Orson Welles, who made great, perhaps the greatest, with the exception of Grigori Kozintsev, Shakespeare-on-film films, and who could give a good quote (not as good as Talulah, though), dropped a huge clanger there, me thinks. No one in their right mind, no one who was not out to stir unnecessary controversy and fulfil the part of the 'officially designated maverick' that is, would prefer this film over 'Double Indemnity' (Orson must have spoken out of envy there) or 'Laura', both of which are better than 'Betrayed' in terms of story, acting, directing, etc. It is true that 'Betrayed' is not at all bad, although the character Kim Hunter (excellently) plays is quite annoying, and the ending is indeed surprising (it surprised me, I started suspecting the unravelling of it only a few minutes before the actual revelation) without being gimmicky. In fact, had not Orson Welles tried to be so meaninglessly provocative, one would think of this film as a minor but well-made and acted interesting noir. Now thanks to Orson opening his trap, I will forever think of it in comparison to a masterpiece like 'Double Indemnity' and a wonderful study in perversion-noir like 'Laura'.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I totally think Orson was being provocative and it was probably out of some professional envy. Betrayed is a solid B and definitely entertaining with some nice direction. But, is obviously outclassed by both Laura and Double Indemnity.

[@JohnInTheShelter]

Good catch. I love these B movies that were knocked off in a few weeks. I think Hollywood has become so creaky and dull because they don't make B's anymore, so filmmakers don't get a chance to learn their way by MAKING movies, as opposed to just coming out of film school and going directly to ads/TV/BIG movies. Today's films for the most part really do seem plastic, because the filmmakers only know movies, without having lived much life. WHEN STRANGERS MARRY should be seen as I saw it, at 2AM when you can't sleep, so the ragged energy of the thing can really make you feel drunk. :P

[@CinemaCities1978]

B movies were the perfect training grounds for both acting talent and technical crew. It's a shame they don't make them anymore. I'm so jealous; I watched this for the first time around 5 pm on a Tuesday! I wish I could've experienced that 2 am vibe you had.

[@dbarker7794]

Millie really bugged me. And we never did find out why her husband used a fake name. He says "for business purposes," and her response is like "oh okay." And I never expected to see Mitchum in a robe smoking a pipe with a little dog on his lap. I have seen nearly all of Mitchum's movies, including the old westerns, but had never heard of this one. Definitely had some Castle touches. Thanks for the recommendation and for the archive link. 👍 Oh, and the ending surprised me.

[@CinemaCities1978]

yeah , Paul was a shady character and I actually found Millie to be annoyingly naive.

[@stevenstanley3157]

And what about conveniently leaving the photo of the previous resident on the mantle?!

[@CinemaCities1978]

that was the director William Castle. His version of the Hitchcock cameo 😂

[@stretch9952]

You can see traces of the savvy beyond his years character that will become central to his screen persona in future films in Robert Mitchum's performance here. This only makes the scene where he is rattled, anxiously anticipating the fall of his envelope through the mail chute seem conspicuously weird. This must be one of the few times he ever was asked to appear emotionally unsteady, and it did not suit him. Dean Jagger's performance as withdrawn and less than straight forward is also out of character with performances yet to come (see Twelve O'Clock High and White Christmas). Mitchum's characters at the center of his career seem have been between age 28 to 32, smart savvy, and cynical. Dean Jagger seems to have been forever 52, even here, causing you to wonder what ever made Kim Hunter hook up with this guy?

[@wentmad]

Castle did a lot with a little - you can’t be the bad guy with a dog like that though

[@CinemaCities1978]

that dog is adorable

[@nickbovi]

I thought it was kind of thin, and unbelievable. I love Orson Welles, but he must have been out of his mind saying this was better than Laura or Double Indemnity. There was really no tension at all, it didn't do much for me at all. Also what woman would chose Dean Jagger over Robert Mitchum.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I would never choose Jagger over Mitchum. I think Orson was indeed out of his mind.

[@patrickfreeman8257]

I couldn't get through the first scene. It was like watching a bad community theater production.

[@dk60ish]

I watched the film before following through on watching this feature to avoid seeing anything given away, & enjoyed it! Though usually quite astute, Orson Welles may have been a bit overzealous with his opinion here, after all he took the upfront money over top-dollar points offered him for acting in "The Third Man", of which accepting the latter would have made him extremely wealthy instead of struggling for film financing the rest of his life, so he wasn't always spot-on about things. I really liked the scene depicted in the Black Harlem nightclub done in a positive manner, that no major Hollywood studio ever would have done at the time, but was shocked by seeing mainly character actor Dean Jagger in a lead, though he was good at it here. This is probably the youngest I've seen Robert Mitchum in a film, where he still looked the beefcake type he stubbornly refused Hollywood studios to lock him into (a pot bust & some jail-time only served to boost his career) by intentionally growing a slight potbelly to avoid having to do any such publicity photos, what a manly man!

[@CinemaCities1978]

The Harlem scene is really a standout set piece and the dancers in that scene included Marie Bryant. She worked at Fox and Paramount and taught and choreographed people like Gene Kelly and Betty Grable.

[@peterhall5070]

Okay, I just watched this and found it to be a very entertaining and well done film. I must admit that I did not figure out the twist in advance of its revelation. It's remarkable that William Castle was able to pull off such a fine film with good performances and excellent cinematography on such a low budget. Good screenplay too. It held my interest throughout but I didn't find it to be the nail biter that some other reviews have suggested. In fact I found it to be a bit anti climactic. I strongly disagree with Orson Welles' opinion that the direction and performances, as well as they are carried out, surpass or even equal "Laura" or "Double Indemnity" C'mon Orson. I think he was just being contrary for the sake of being contrary. As far as Millie goes, I agree with the latter choice given in the video; "naive and dopey". In fact I felt like slapping her at times (figuratively speaking) and saying "wake up and smell the coffee!". That final scene on the train in which that girl joins Millie and Paul in the same set of circumstances that Millie joined the couple at the beginning of the film is just absurd and silly. I can't stand that plot device. The same device is used at the end of "All About Eve", perhaps for a more symbolic and meaningful reason, but I even dislike it in that fine film. What would have been ideal and saved that scene would have been if Millie started to berate the girl for marrying a man she hardly knew.

[@CinemaCities1978]

I agree, it definitely wasn't a nail-biter, and for me, it did seem to drag towards the end. Millie really tested my patience, and in a 77-minute film, that's saying a lot! 😂 I love your idea for the ending. Even better, if Millie was alone on that train headed back to Ohio without Paul.

[@peterhall5070]

LOL! @@CinemaCities1978

[@aliceperry3448]

Orson, Orson, Orson, you are wrong. Of course, I would never say that his face. I couldn't get into this film -- until Millie and Paul went on the lam, then it came alive. Before that, I felt Millie was so clueless. Maybe it was the casting. Kim Hunter comes across as too sharp to be so naïve. One minor stumble was there is no such place as Bleeker and 7th St. --- it should have been Bleeker and 7th AVE. Despite all that I just wrote, I enjoyed it!

[@CinemaCities1978]

I agree. I found her to be so clueless it bordered on outrageous. But, for 50,000, Castle did do a good job keeping the film visually interesting.

[@davidhull1481]

You are funny!

[@CinemaCities1978]

Sometimes 😂

[@mgman6000]

Try the wonderful country

[@stevemcnary7963]

Orson Welles has no business criticizing other actors after his horrific Irish accent almost ruins The Lady From Shanghai.

[@CinemaCities1978]

😂😂😂😂

[@rogerpropes7129]

Dean Jagger is much more attractive than Bob Mitchum.

[@CinemaCities1978]

Depends on who you ask 😂

[@anniebardelli7007]

I strongly disagree 😅

[@CinemaCities1978]

😂

[@prairiehawker]

Nice Neil Hamilton sighting

[@CinemaCities1978]

😉