Main Cast: John Drew Barrymore, Lita Milan, Robert Bray, Steve McQueen, R.G. Armstrong, Salem Ludwig
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Never Love a Stranger--especially if it's young hoodlum Frank Kane (John Drew Barrymore). When it is discovered that his natural parents were Jewish, Kane is removed from the Catholic orphanage that has been his only home. Seething with resentment, he vows to succeed at gangsterdom. He rises spectacularly to the top before his inevitable downfall-and has a high old time doing so. The basis for Never Love a Stranger was a Harold Robbins novel, which obviously drew upon actual people and events; it's quite entertaining to guess who the fictionalized characters are supposed to be. Of the stellar supporting cast, Robert Armstrong is a standout as a soft-spoken gunman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
This 1958 crime drama is set mostly in the '30s, but it looks and feels more like the late '40s. The filmmakers haven't bothered much with detail and the plot follows an obvious pattern and tends to telegraph the next scene. Steve McQueen plays a goody two-shoes and John Drew Barrymore is a street tough and orphan. In the scenes where they are supposed to be young, they look to be in their late '20s or early '30s and director Robert Stevens has done nothing to make them appear to be youngsters. It's ridiculous when you see Frank Kane (Barrymore) running away from an orphanage when he's obviously a grown man. It makes a little more sense then when the film skips ahead twenty years or so, though Kane is made to appear a bit older, the mobster, Silk Fennelli (Robert Bray) looks exactly the same. If you put all that aside, the writing and story are also less than inspired. Barrymore does a pretty good job in his role which evolves from an orphan to a bum to New York's most wanted mobster. Though, would New York's most wanted mobster in the crime-crazed '30s really be involved only in gambling? It looks like this film was thrown together on a small budget with little attention to anything but action. ~ Adam Bregman, All Movie Guide
Douglas Rodgers - Brother Bernard; Felice Orlandi - Bert; Augusta Merighi - Mrs. Cazzolina; Abe Simon - Fats Crown; Dolores Vitina - Frances Kane; Walter Burke - Keough; Gino Ardito - Willy; Dort Clark - Madigan; Joseph Leberrnan - Price; Bob O'Connell - Kelly; Mike O'Dowd - Piggy; Peg Murray; Mike Enserro - Tony the Bartender
