HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER

 

Did you know there was a 1969 TV movie for ABC that starred Janet Leigh? And Barbara Steele?? I didn't have any knowledge of this either, until recently. HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER is a decent suspense/mystery tale with some effective twists. 

Janet Leigh plays Sandra, an American woman who has recently married a European playboy named Ernesto (Joseph Lenzi) after a whirlwind romance. Ernesto takes his new bride to one of his many domiciles, a modernized castle in Spain. It appears that Sandra's life has become too good to be true, and that's exactly the case. Sandra goes to the local town to report that her husband has gone missing, and soon another man (Cesare Danova) shows up at the castle, claiming that he's Ernesto, and that he married Sandra. Ernesto's lawyer (Eric Braeden) and younger sister Carla (Barbara Steele) arrive to back up the second man's claims. Sandra appears to be on the edge of a nervous breakdown over all of this....but there's more revelations to come, with everyone involved concealing all manner of secrets. 

I became aware of this movie through Michael Eugene Wilson's blog Mike's Movie Room (https://michaelsmovieworld.blogspot.com/). Michael is a huge Barbara Steele fan. I've read plenty of things about Steele and her career, but the subject of HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER never came up as far as I know--another example of a performer's television work being considered unimportant. Barbara doesn't have a lot of screen time here, but she looks quite stylish in her contemporary wardrobe, and she plays the cold-blooded Carla very well. One big bonus with this movie is that Steele isn't dubbed, so you get to hear her actual voice. 

Barbara Steele in HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER

Janet Leigh takes advantage of a role that allows her to literally go through the gamut of emotional states. Joseph Lenzi, Cesare Danova, and Eric Braeden give the production a continental flavor, even though their characterizations are simple and to the point. Rossano Brazzi plays the local police inspector investigating the goings-on, and he also gets the chance to have a tentative romance with Leigh's Sandra. 

HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER was directed by Joseph Peyser and written by David P. Harmon and Henry Slesar (all three were long-time veterans of American network TV). The story on which the teleplay was based has been adapted for film or TV several times. The Spanish locations do make the picture stand out a bit from the typical fare being made at the time, but I have to say that the way the movie was shot and edited still gives it a very American TV feel. 

I must admit that I kind of anticipated the major plot twist, but it was still pulled off effectively nonetheless. The storyline reminded me very much of the "Mini-Hitchcocks" suspense thrillers made by Hammer Films and usually written by Jimmy Sangster, where a plot twist takes you down one avenue, and another plot twist has you go back and rethink everything. In HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER, there's a couple of plot details that seem unimportant at the time, but become vital when the viewer finally knows exactly what is going on. 

I watched HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER on YouTube--unfortunately the video quality of it was mediocre. As far as I can ascertain, this movie has never had a major home video release. I'm surprised at that, since the involvement of Janet Leigh and Barbara Steele would certainly be an enticement for prospective buyers. This movie is the type of product that Kino or Shout Factory would be interested in. 

I liked HONEYMOON WITH A STRANGER and would recommend it. Hopefully a better version of it becomes available in the future.