Never Love a Stranger (1958)

When John Drew Barrymore was making films in the 50s he opted for a more modern style than his father John Barrymore ever tried. The elder Barrymore's classical style of acting was quite passé and would never have been accepted. Sad to say that young Barrymore tried and failed to be a James Dean type rebel. For Never Love A Stranger that's especially interesting because supporting Barrymore was an actor who would become the ideal image of cool.With elements taken from Manhattan Melodrama and Little Caesar, Never Love A Stranger is an old fashioned type film that probably was an anachronism in the 50s let alone now. Young Barrymore plays a slum kid who suffers an identity crisis when he discovers his Jewish roots after having been raised in a Catholic orphanage. He goes away but comes back one mean and tough punk who becomes kingpin of the rackets, taking over from Robert Bray who gave him his start. And as it turns out his childhood friend, Steve McQueen becomes the special prosecutor with the mission of bringing Barrymore down.Steve McQueen might have made this film slightly better had he been cast in the lead. But frankly this film was a turgid mess and I doubt that would have helped.

1912: Frankie Kane is born, his mom dies, the put him a catholic orphanage. 1928: Frankie is shining shoes for crime boss Silk plus he befriends Steve McQueen (a "Jew-boy") and Julie. Suddenly the orphanage finds out Frankie is a Jew so the kick him out cause "it's the law"). Frankly, Frankie ain't too happy about being a Jew so he joins Silk running money and one day Silk gets shot up so Frankie splits town in a freight car. 1935: Frankie is back in town, bitter, angry, mad, gray around the temples..and broke..he's a bum. Silk hires him as a chauffeur in his 1942 Cadillac (yes, it's 1935...detail, details). 1938: Frankie's hot now in the organization and telling the boss Silk what to do. 1941: Frankie takes over and sets up his own empire but the Governor, mayor,police commissioner & district attorney declare him a menace to society and appoint a prosecutor to get rid of him...a bright young lawyer (gasp):Steve McQueen his old Jew pal. Lots of back & forth, plots and sub plots and more Jew stuff and gangs and Julie who loves Frankie but is Silks gal, but wants Frankie and he wants her an then the final shoot-out (actually where we came in). The end. Whatever flick. Frankie is John Drew Barrymore, son of the famed John...his daughter is Drew. He's not a good actor. Skipped genes I guess. H

For once I am in agreement with the majority of posters. The plot may be accurately described as a cliché's cliché since it is that old chestnut about two childhood friends who take different paths until they wind up diametrically opposite one another. Having established something of a neat twist - a mother dies in childbirth and her child, with the best of intentions, is placed in a Catholic orphanage and raised in the religion; years later an accidental discovery reveals that the mother was really Jewish. Rather than exploring the moral and other dilemmas this raises the film prefers to segue into a run-of-the-mill gangster melodrama. It may be novel to see Steve McQueen bullied to such an extent that he needs to be given lessons in self defense but novels don't necessarily make good movies not even when they are written - as this one was - by Harold Robbins. For trivia buffs only.

This film is painfully inept and should be avoided by all except lovers of camp. It's the oft-told story of the boyhood friends--where one goes straight and the other becomes a crook. For a vastly better version of the story, watch "Manhattan Melodrama." In "Never Love a Stranger," the dialogue is incredibly wooden and the plot contrivances both silly and obvious. Really, I don't know why I watched to the end except that I was hoping for a good courtroom scene, but none ever materialized.