classicsoncall Discovering IMDb about a decade ago has sent me off in various directions to derive my movie entertainment, and one of my goals is to sample work from as many of the principal actors and actresses through the ages as possible. This was my first look at Norma Shearer and though I came away satisfied with her performance here, I thought the story was rather incredible; translate that as not credible at all. I just can't get over the idea that the close of the story had her character walking out of the theater with a guy who was such a cad throughout the picture. Not that her morals were any better, but gee, what were the odds things were going to get any better once the lovebirds became a couple? My summary quote offered by Lisbeth's (Shearer) friend Geneva may have been offered in a different context, but the sentiment still holds true.I don't think I'll dwell on the story too much because other reviewers here have done so already, and I found some other interesting elements that caught my attention. Starting out, did anyone notice in the opening scene when Lisbeth and Alan got off the plane together - where was the pilot? There didn't seem to be much room in the compartment when they got out, and there wasn't anyone else visible in the plane! How does that work? And say, how about the crowd at the football stadium for 1931! It matched the view of the arena from last night's Super Bowl game as I write this (Denver 24, Carolina 10), and it just stunned me that so many people would be attending a ball game in the Thirties.And finally, when was the last time anyone has seen a fur coat with the animal's head still on it? I always thought that was rather disgusting from an aesthetic point of view. When Lisbeth shows up at a Paris night club she's wearing one that looked like it might have been a fox. An elderly aunt of mine had one once (decades ago) and it was fashioned so the mouth latched on to one of the legs to snap it in place and it just grossed me out.So just getting back to my original point, it was totally frustrating for this viewer to see how Alan kept giving Lisbeth the brush off and she kept rolling with the punches. Finding out about the wife in Paris would have found most mortal women going through the roof and she simply regarded it with general equanimity. For his part, the long put off and put upon Steve (Robert Montgomery) should have read the tea leaves long ago and moved on, but then I guess we wouldn't have had this troublesome dynamic. Interesting that Alan and Steve never came to blows over their respective relationships with Lisbeth, another plot element that doesn't stand up to scrutiny in the human nature department.

MartinHafer This sort of film clearly is an example of a so-called 'Pre-Code' film--one that had story elements that clearly would not have been allowed following the enactment of the strengthened Production Code in 1934. As such, plots involving adultery, premarital sex and the like were fair game--and might be shocking to audiences today who assume that sex wasn't invented until the 1960s! "Strangers May Kiss" features a modern woman (Norma Shearer) who sees no need to marriage and carries on with two men (Robert Montgomery and Neil Hamilton)--often going on dates with BOTH at the same time. It's uncertain if the film makers were implying a ménage à trois--though it can easily be inferred. It also is one of the most cynical films when it comes to marriage and infidelity--strongly implying that conventional marriage is a sham. In this film, 'happy marriages' are those where the wife has not yet discovered that their husbands are being unfaithful!! And this is the apparent justification for Shearer's care-free lifestyle. This is a girl who clearly enjoys men (and sex) and makes no pretense about it!As far as the two boyfriends go, the casting is a bit unusual. Neil Hamilton (who usually played well-educated and erudite gentlemen) is quite the bohemian when it comes to women. He travels the world covering revolutions and the like for newspapers and has no interest in marrying Shearer--and makes this clear. Montgomery, on the other hand, is much more conventional (but a bit of a sap) and repeatedly proposed to her--and seems willing to let her have her little fling with Hamilton. It's unusual, as so often in later films Montgomery played the rogue and Hamilton the nice guy. And, Montgomery never would have played such a weak man.Eventually, Shearer makes her choice of the two men and follows Hamilton on his next assignment to rural Mexico. At first she is deliriously happy. However, her liberal-minded views on marriage are put to the test when she discovers he is already married. Considering what she's said throughout the film, this shouldn't have mattered. So how does Shearer reconcile this---does she change her attitudes to the more conventional or does she simply continue this steamy affair regardless of the consequences? Tune in and see in this interesting drama--as the answer isn't that clear until the very end.For lovers of Pre-Code films in all their sleazy glory, this film is a must-see. While it's not a great movie, it is just permeated with the sort of amoral cynicism that would shock many today and makes the movie fascinating. The bottom line is that stories like this that flaunted the moral code of the day (at least the STATED moral code) and featured in idle rich did not resonate well in middle America--though apparently city folk were more accepting of such plots. This disparity alienated many potential viewers and led to the new and rigidly enforced Code.Perhaps the moral of this movie is "be careful what you ask for...you might just get it"! That's because although the film revels in amorality, the end seems to reinforce that perhaps this sort of life isn't all it's cracked up to be--making the film not nearly as cynical as the Queen of Pre-Code films, "Red-Headed Woman"! And, for that matter, not quite as satisfying as the very final end of the film seemed all wrong.

st-shot Fresh from her Oscar winning performance in the Divorcée (30) Norma Shearer more or less reprises the same role of the scorned woman in Strangers May Kiss. The glamorous Shearer wears a multitude of gowns, sports a few different hairdos and creakily overacts with a series of tremulous outbursts.In Strangers men behave badly as they drink, carouse, chase skirts and keep wives in the dark. Lisbeth Corbin (Shearer) vows she will not get caught up in such dishonesty, especially after witnessing one such discretion that leads to tragedy. She goes to Mexico with a married archaeologist (Neil Hamilton) and they fall in love but he leaves her for the job. Vowing she won't get fooled again she embarks on a two year spree across Europe seducing men from Paris to Madrid.Strangers gets the full MGM treatment in terms of set design and costuming. Ms. Shearer is exquisitely posed and framed but the bosses wife (Irving Thalberg) comes across shrill and smug most of the time. The films construction is disjointed and so poorly edited it has you wondering if reels are missing.Strangers May Kiss is clearly a star driven vehicle for Shearer but she breaks down often while more dependable supporting jalopies like Marjorie Rambeau and a touching Irene Rich leave her in the dust.

Bucs1960 I give this film a 6 only because it contains the ever elegant Norma Shearer swanning about in those great clothes of the 1930s. The plot borders on the ludicrous......well, maybe I should say the ending is ridiculous but the rest of the film is pretty well done.Basically, it tells the story of a "modern" woman who believes that marriage is for chumps and proceeds to make a fool of herself over Neil Hamilton(!??!), while her faithful and always tipsy pal Robert Mongomery waits patiently in the wings in hopes of winning her hand. Hamilton is extremely unlikeable and after a long affair with Shearer, he deigns to tell her that he already has a wife in Paris but the marriage doesn't mean a thing. Does she care?....nooooo. But she takes up a life of "loose morality" and globe trots through most of cafe society while never forgetting her love for Hamilton. Robert Montgomery, always close by, pulls her irons out of the fire and brings her back to the United States to start over. Then, in the last few minutes of the film, the story descends to sheer melodrama and unbelievablitly. Who shows up but Hamilton, now divorced, and he and Shearer are seen walking out of the theater on their way to a happy life together. Give me a break!!! The attitude of the main protagonists toward man/woman relationships is rather hard to take in this day and age.......but with that said, it is still worth seeing this pre-Code slice of history. Nobody ever looked better on the screen than Mrs. Thalberg.