Never Love a Stranger
Never Love A Stranger is a 1958 crime and gangster film that is based on Harold Robbins' 1948 debut novel with the same title. The film was shot in black and white starring John Drew Barrymore and Robert Bray, and featuring a young Steve McQueen. Plot. Frankie Kane (Barrymore) is brought up in a Catholic orphanage. He befriends a Jewish law student named Martin Cabell (McQueen) and becomes romantically involved with Cabell's maid, Julie (Lita Milan). Kane learns later that he is also Jewish, and when told he will be removed from the orphanage and  moved to a Jewish home he runs away and turns to a life of crime. Later, after joining a major crime syndicate, he reconnects with Julie, finally deciding to join Martin, now a district attorney, in shutting down the syndicate. Original novel. Robbins' novel was published in 1948. It became a best seller. The book was one of a number banned in Philadelphia as indecent. The ban was overturned the following year. Production. In August 1957 it was announced that Barrymore would star and Robbins would write and produce. The "Los Angeles Times" called the part "the usual Barrymore role