When Strangers Marry [re-released as Betrayed]

Opening with a rousing score that transitions to a romantic tone, featuring a dominant piano, the background title graphics display a box illustration of a tiny woman trying to run away, leading to a neon-lit sign for The Philadelphia Hotel welcoming The Lions. The first shot is typical William Castle, dubbing in a lion’s roar over a shot of a convention-goer wearing a lion mask, ducking from behind a curtain, shocking his audience.

People today associate William Castle with such 1950s films as Macabre, House on Haunted Hill, and The Tingler, not realizing that Castle’s career consisted of producing and directing approximately 40 films before his well-known features. He was already a veteran of film noirs and was instrumental in helping to participate in the Whistler B-movie series as it transitioned from radio.

The man with the lion mask takes it off to order a drink at the bar, discouraged that everyone recognizes him even with his mask on. The man, obviously drunk, orders drinks for the house, even though the bar is closing and only one patron remains. Mr. Sam Prescott (Dick Elliott) is carrying a lot of money and lets everyone know in his alcoholic stupor. We only see the back of the head of the unknown patron, and the bartender is listening to Sam give his drunken rant. Sam exits the bar with the unknown patron we never see clearly.

The next morning, a housemaid is busy cleaning 26 rooms when she comes across Sam Prescott, who is silently sitting in a chair wearing the lion mask. When the maid removes the mask, she screams, which cuts to a shot of a speeding locomotive, where the porter asks a couple if a young lady could sit in their compartment. She nervously sits down and asks, “Are you married?” The older man nearly chokes on the question. “It’s my first trip to New York, and I was just married too. You folks know what I mean?” The elderly woman, out of politeness, asks her how she met her husband. Millie Baxter (Kim Hunter) then shares, “I was working in a small restaurant in Grandville, Ohio—that’s where I live. He just came in. I didn’t pay much attention to him. I remember our first date—I didn’t want to go, but somehow that first night I found myself waiting for him…” Time passes as the train enters a tunnel. The older woman asks, “You mean you only met this man three times before you married him?” When the older man asks what he does for a living, Millie can’t specifically remember.

Millie enters the hotel where her husband has reserved a room and goes to the front desk to inquire. The room has been reserved, but her husband has not yet arrived. But as Millie hears that news, she recognizes a dog and its owner, Fred Graham (Robert Mitchum), an old flame. When the bellhop shows Millie, Fred, and his dog to Millie’s room (it’s never explained why), the first thing Fred tries to do is kiss her, and she naturally steps back, politely telling him to stop, that she’s here because her husband sent for her. Fred is visibly upset that she is married, and Millie seems to be almost embarrassed. Her husband, Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger), is a traveling salesman, and Fred happens to be one too, which is why Millie said she wouldn’t marry Fred when he asked. Fred finally congratulates Millie.

The same man, who had been in the bar but was never fully seen, is checking into the hotel, already knowing the front desk clerk, Charlie (Milt Kibbee). He shows him a newspaper headline he just spotted, “Silk Stocking Murder!” Millie waits alone in the dark for her husband to arrive. Suddenly, she hears loud music blasting outside her room as a neon sign flashes "Dancing!” Suddenly, she sees a letter that has been pushed under her door. So far, a fantastic film noir mood has been established with flickering outside light, deep darkness, and shadows created by the intersection of both. Opening the note, she sees it is only an ad for valet service. The phone rings, and the rousing music makes it impossible to hear, but it’s only Fred checking up on her.

The next morning, she joins Fred for breakfast but doesn't feel like eating. However, Fred advises her to have at least a cup of coffee while she waits to hear from Paul. She is visibly upset. Fred suggests she go to the Bureau of Missing Persons and offers to take her right away. There, they speak with Police Lieutenant Blake (Neil Hamilton), who is actually a homicide lieutenant but takes an interest in Millie’s case, noting that Paul was in Philadelphia on August 12—the exact date of the murder. Lieutenant Blake asks the usual questions but ends up saying, “But you practically married a stranger,” meaning Paul Baxter will be difficult to locate.

Fred and Millie are relaxing in her hotel room when the phone rings. Fred says, “Places are all alike, you can’t run away from yourself.” Suddenly, the phone rings and Millie answers it. “Oh, Paul! Darling, it’s so good to hear your voice. Where are you? What’s happened? Come right over, darling, right away.” Millie suddenly looks quite upset. “But why, why? I’ll come to you, darling, please, Paul!” Fred asks why he won’t come over here; the meeting place is not a nice neighborhood. Fred wants to go with her, but she puts a stop to that right away.

Millie waits for her husband in the rain at the corner of Bleeker St. and 7th Avenue. She waits, and Paul isn’t there until she looks inside a restaurant and sees the back of Paul’s head, the same head recently seen in the Philadelphia Hotel bar. Before she goes in, Fred appears, ready to protect her. When Millie looks back in the window, she notices that Paul has vanished once again.

The next morning, Fred discovers that Millie has checked out, first receiving a phone call before she left the hotel. Walking down the street with her suitcase, she enters an apartment building, knocking on Apartment C’s door. She notices Paul’s hat on a table as a voice calls out. It’s Paul who kisses Millie. Paul tells her everything is all right. Millie asks why he didn’t meet her last night, but he utters, “I told you to come alone.” But Millie explains who Fred was and that he was an old friend from Ohio. Paul sinisterly asks, does he know where you are? And Millie obediently answers that she told no one. The apartment blinds are all drawn, so Millie opens one, allowing the sunlight in. Returning from buying groceries, Millie notices the name on Paul’s apartment mailbox, P.J. Moore, is not Paul Baxter’s, and the music grows eerie. Paul says the mailbox name differs because he sometimes uses it for business purposes. Millie asks about a photo framed on a table, actually director William Castle’s portrait, and Paul says it was there when he moved in. Instead of eating the food Millie just bought, Paul decides to take her out to eat, and she wants to see Coney Island.

While at Coney Island, Paul and Millie check out Hugo the Great, a mentalist, who claims to guess your occupation in 3 guesses or fewer. Millie volunteers. Hugo immediately guesses that she was just married, laughing at the timeliness of his answer. As a gift for Millie, he offers to guess her husband’s occupation for free, Paul protesting all the way. However, Hugo is wrong three times in guessing his occupation, yet he still wins the prize.

Back home in the apartment, Millie is preparing dinner and asks if Fred can come over on Tuesday. She’s very excited about the dinner date. But Paul says, “I’d rather you didn’t, Millie. I don’t want him over.” Millie is visibly upset, even angry. Paul then turns on the charm, hugging her, and is suddenly startled by hearing news of the stocking killer from the apartment across the courtyard. He dons his hat, telling Millie that he has to make a call and will be back later.

The bartender at the Hotel Philadelphia, Jacob Houser (Lou Lubin), tells Lieutenant Blake that a man in a truck tried to run him over. Then he recalls Prescott with a suitcase labeled for New York City, being led out by a salesman of some kind, who was about 6 feet tall, with dark eyes, dark hair, and a dark suit. Too generic a description for Blake. Forced by a policeman to remember the label on the suitcase, Jacob struggles and finally says, “Hotel Sherwin.” When Lieutenant Blake investigates further, he finds out that Paul Baxter had checked out earlier. But his friend, Fred Graham, is identified as being in the steam room and is soon questioned about the silk stocking killer, who murders for money, in his most recent case for $10,000.

Fred runs into Millie at the police station and gives her a ride. Fred tells Millie what he learned from Blake—that he wanted Millie’s address and that Paul is in some kind of trouble in Philadelphia. Millie says that Paul is upset about something he doesn’t want to talk about. Millie finds matches from the Hotel Philadelphia when Paul had said he was just passing through on a train. After they go to a movie together, Millie leaves the auditorium and uses a pay phone to call Fred, learning Paul quit his job a few days earlier. Starting to suspect that something’s wrong with Paul, she leaves the theater without him. She walks down shadowy streets as dramatic music swells.

Millie walks to a newsstand and buys a Philadelphia newspaper for August 12. She then goes to a diner and calls Fred to meet her there. At the diner, Millie tells Fred about all the inconsistencies regarding Paul, and she starts to believe he’s the silk stocking strangler. But Fred warns her not to be completely convinced by just one newspaper article. She gives him her number and address, and Fred says he’ll call her in half an hour to confirm everything is in order.

Continuing to walk home alone, the street shadows deepen, frightening her as she glances behind. A well-constructed montage of laughing men saying “He’s a murderer” prompts Millie to start running toward home. When she finally reaches her apartment, she slowly enters while Paul is packing his bag. She confronts Paul with the newspaper, which he sets aside. Millie asks, “Haven’t you anything to say?” as he remains silent. While romantic music swirls, Paul says he’s leaving for good. But when he sees Lieutenant Blake entering the building, Paul duck upstairs. Blake goes to Millie’s apartment, asking where Paul is. Paul listens in as Blake advises Millie not to help her husband. After a few minutes, Blake leaves. Paul, who planned to leave for good, hides inside the apartment when he sees the police outside. Seeing Millie, he says he never made it out. He adds he won’t cause her any more trouble, but she says she wasn’t thinking of herself. Paul comments, “You say that like you mean it.” She replies that she does. The police say they can always identify their suspect, showing the familiar photo of William Castle (given to them by Millie) to falsely identify Paul Baxter, who walks past them slowly, even wishing them a good evening.

Paul and Millie meet up later that night, with Paul admitting he didn’t want to go on alone. They then book automobile tickets to Louisville. While driving, the Louisville driver (Billy Nelson) glances at a newspaper about killer Paul Baxter escaping, and his face suddenly looks suspicious. He immediately looks at Paul in the back seat, suspecting he’s the escaped killer, as a baby cries loudly. In a fit of rage, Paul yells for the driver to stop. Millie and he get out of the car, and Paul tells the driver to keep moving.

Paul takes Millie to “Big Jim’s,” a black bar with piano music, striking a festive tone and creating a happy atmosphere as a couple dances. But everyone stops to notice as a white couple enters. Suddenly, sirens blare as a motorcade stops outside, and a newspaper boy announces, "The champ is here.” And the champion enters, tipping his hat, to a rousing ovation. As the round of applause continues, amid hooting and hollering, Paul and Millie leave. Still walking the streets of New York, avoiding the gaze of police, the couple comes upon a door that says, “Room for Rent.” But only Millie appears to the landlady and tells her that she’s alone. She shows the room, Millie pays, and she soon opens the outside door to let Paul in, as a little girl silently observes.

In the darkened room, Paul says there’s something he must tell Millie. “It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Everything changes completely in a single night. You go along for years, fighting for $50 a week. And that $50 feels like the most important thing in the world to you.” Then he pictures drunken Prescott. “Ten thousand dollars, Millie. Ten thousand dollars was lying on the floor, looking at me. I was worried about your coming to New York. I was wondering how I was to take care of you. I was wondering how we’d get by together... I don’t think a man like that should have all that money. I wanted his money, but I didn’t kill him. I didn’t kill him!”

A letter Fred wrote to Grandville before he knew she was married is forwarded to his hotel, and Millie intercepts it, slipping it into her pocket. She takes the elevator to the rooftop, where Fred is waiting. He asks if she saw Paul. She suddenly remembers to tell Fred that her letter was forwarded, and she wishes to read it, but Fred insists on having the letter, clearly indicating he doesn’t want her to see it. Curiosity gets the better of her, and Millie reads it, which is another attempt by Fred to ask her to marry him. As she stands by the ledge, still reading, a quick flash of understanding crosses her face, and Fred’s hand reaches out slowly to push her over the edge, but the ever-alert dog notices. Fred is now ready to push with both hands when Millie abruptly turns around because the dog barks. A sinister expression appears on his face (the kind he would revisit in Night of the Hunter or Cape Fear) as Millie realizes, “The present I never got was a pair of silk stockings … you were in the Hotel Philadelphia that night, the night Prescott was .... Fred, you! Now I understand. You were trying to find Paul so you could tell the police. That’s why you took me to … The Missing Person Bureau … you had to get hold of me before I figured out what happened!” Millie backs away as she speaks and suddenly leaves the rooftop.

Millie immediately points out Lieutenant Blake, telling him that Fred was the murderer, not Paul, but Blake needs more than just her word. Blake says they haven’t recovered the money, implying that would be the proof he needs. Meanwhile, Fred Graham’s hands place the money in an addressed envelope sent care of himself in Georgia. Lieutenant Blake arrives at Graham’s apartment with the letter in his suit pocket. Fred asks about silk stockings and says he promised them to her, but couldn’t get them. Blake is eager to search his apartment for the $10,000, which his crew does. As Graham and Blake talk, they stand next to a mail chute, focusing on “Last Collection 10 p.m.” Blake grows suspicious as Graham begins sweating. Nervously, Graham starts talking faster and louder. Nearly raving and out of control, Blake tells him to shut up and orders his men to search him. Then, asking the pick-up mailman about Fred Graham’s Georgia address, they find the letter in the mail slot with its Georgia address.

Paul and Millie are on a train, and a porter asks if a young lady can sit in their compartment, as the train is crowded. Paul reluctantly agrees as a young lady enters. The first thing she says with a smile is that she was just married in June. Millie bursts into boisterous laughter while Paul kisses her. Then Millie eagerly asks her to tell everything about it. The woman shares her story as the end credits roll.

Monogram, like PRC, was known as the king of the low-budget studios, and William Castle cut his teeth directing “B” movies, such as When Strangers Marry. Fortunately, this was one of his better early movies. First of all, he was fine-tuning his exploitation edge, piling on gimmick after gimmick, such as using his own photo as a ruse to allow Paul Baxter to slowly exit the apartment building untouched. Opening the film with a man wearing a lion mask jumping out from behind a curtain definitely drew attention. Segueing from one scene to another, from a scream to a whistling locomotive, was, at that time, clever. Having us believe that Paul Baxter was the silk tie killer for most of the duration of the film, while Fred Graham, Millie’s old boyfriend, was the actual killer, was a novel twist. Having the movie bookend with a naive girl announcing that she has recently married ties up the picture nicely. Having a bellhop walk through a hotel lobby yelling out there’s a message for Mr. King, slyly winks to the fact that the King Brothers produced this movie. The gimmick, which shows only the back of the suspect's head, is another cheesy but effective device. So even in 1944, William Castle was preparing himself for Percepto, Emergo, Fright Breaks, Illusion-O, Punishment Polls, and Coward’s Corner.

However, one thing people often overlook is that Castle’s films were sometimes based on previous “A” and “B” movie hits, and he attempted to ride on the coattails of other successful films. Such was the case with When Strangers Marry. A year earlier, in 1943, RKO released Val Lewton’s production of The Seventh Victim, a suspense classic, and perhaps the most depressing movie ever made. As the Lewton production unit was to the 1940s what Universal Pictures was to the 1930s, The Seventh Victim was certainly a film worth copying and a classic of the genre. The Seventh Victim was not about a serial killer but followed a satanic cult in modern New York. This is not the similarity.

Instead, the movie follows a young, naive girl who leaves a boarding school to go to New York City for the first time in search of her missing sister. She befriends someone who helps her in the search, an older adult protector. Periodically, the sister mysteriously reappears only to vanish again. The naive girl is played by Kim Hunter in both films. Also, Lew Lubin, who plays the frightened bartender in When Strangers Marry, portrays a detective who gets killed for seeing too much and getting too close. But what truly inspired Castle were the long, tense walks on the wild side, with their mix of light, darkness, and shadows in between. Many scenes in the various apartments are cloaked in darkness, with shimmering neon signs casting dense, shadowy effects. William Castle excels at creating this film noir style, with shadowy atmospheres. He really knows how to generate a sense of dread. He demonstrates this effectively in the rooftop scene, where Robert Mitchum tries to kill Kim Hunter.

Perhaps When Strangers Marry is not The Seventh Victim, but for a low-budget Monogram

Picture it shows a young creative director honing his talent, developing a unique personal style, and patiently waiting for the opportunity to bring major studio films to life from his own imagination. His bright future was shortly to come.

MILLIE BAXTER (KIM HUNTER AND FRED GRAHAM (ROBERT MITCHUM) Notice how the bad guy gets the bright, cheerful background.

MILLIE AND HUSBAND PAUL BAXTER (DEAN JAGGER) Notice how the good guy gets the dark, shadowy background.

This looks like it could be a Val Lewton-produced film, but it actually is an early William Castle film.