Kiss Me, Stupid
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Movie Reviews of Kiss Me, Stupid
Movie Review: Changing morals
Summary: 5 Stars
I am old enough to remember the slaghter of Kiss Me Stupid. The Catholic League condemned it. Life magazine had a big story about how it had gone over the line. No one would even talk about it on TV. Did you know How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying received an R rating and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was initially given an X? This in the swinging 60's. Must have had something to do with JFK being wacked.
Yet nine years after the public public lynching of KMS, people were giggling over Deep Throat. Go figure.
I had never seen it until I bought it from Amazon last week. It's a good movie with no weak links in the caste, although I must say Dean Martin blew me away. Good God Almighty, what a powerful job. Truth is, he should have been nominated for an Oscar.
Two more general comments. I have read other reviews and a commonality is thinking Peter Sellers would have been better than Ray Walston and knocking the songs. Sellers did a number of brilliant performances and many poor ones; such is genius. He was worthless in Casino Royale, but, really, what did he have to work with? Plus he wouldn't have fit in KMS. He was too big for the part. Spencer Tracy, James Cagney and Zero Mostel were great at comedy, but they would wrongly dominated in the jealous piano teacher role. The composing duo were unknowns and with Sellers there, and wiith something to work with, poor Cliff Osmond would have disappeared and poor Dean Martin would have awoke in cold sweats thinking "I'm with Jerry again."
Some times cast changes are for the best. For example I am happy Ronald Reagan was not available for Casablanca or Shirley Temple for The Wizard of Oz.
The songs? Hey, boys and girls, the songs were good, and they were not written to be bad. First of all, I get the impresssion the people writing about the poor quality don't realize George Gershwin died in 1937 and Ira, who wrote the words for Can't Get Started, was retired. He hauled out George's unpublished music and added lyrics. I'm a Poached Egg is a good 1920's list song, like Cole Porter's You're the Top. And when Osmond brags over using "Mona Lece" to rhyme ("That's it's charm") he is commenting on the lyricist who wrote 'S Wonderful, DeLISHious and Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, which starts "You say either and I say either, you say neither and I say neither," and had a line in another song of "My dear, I feel so tinilish,, I'll even overlookk your Engel-ish."
Besides, the Gershwin's protected George's reputation like the Kennedy's did jFK's. Ira would never perposefully do a bad lyric to George.
So see it and dra your own conclusion. It certainly was establishment sodomized unfairly almost fifty years ago.
Movie Review: "If it weren't for Venetian blinds, it'd be curtains for us..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Billy Wilder's most notorious flop, KISS ME STUPID (1964) was one of the first mainstream Hollywood movies to deal with the risque subject of partner-swapping. Dean Martin is the top-billed star (his character is very much a supporting one); but the film belongs to the sublime comic talents of Ray Walston and a surprisingly mellow, downbeat Kim Novak.
In the small town of Climax, Nevada, struggling songwriter Orville Spooner (Ray Walston) and his friend Barney (Cliff Osmond) attempt to trap visiting singer Dino (Dean Martin) into covering one of their pop songs. To sweeten the deal, Orville sidelines his wife Zelda (Felicia Farr) and substitutes local good-time gal Polly "The Pistol" (Kim Novak). Complications arise when Orville and Polly start taking their married couple act a little too seriously; and a drunken Zelda accidentally spends the night with Dino!
Wilder injects the story with equal parts hilarity and heartache. Kim Novak in particular will haunt you with her downbeat performance as the local floozy aching to enjoy the kind of stable, loving life which Orville's wife takes for granted. Novak's chemistry with Ray Walston is delightful, and their performances really cement this as one of the best romantic comedies of the 60's. As one would also expect from Wilder, the ending is very bittersweet but appropriate for the characters. I suspect this was another reason why the movie flopped with audiences during it's original release.
The DVD is sadly devoid of extra features. KISS ME STUPID is a brightly-written, intelligent romantic comedy (remember them?), and is highly-recommended from this corner.
Movie Review: Very Obscure Wilder Film that I Thoroughly Enjoy
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this film by chance on TV a few years back. I remember the title but I never really had seen it previously. I thought it was a very curious looking film and I actuality found it fascinating. I have always enjoyed Dean Martin's style, and his personality and other unique qualities are certainly on hand here and injected in the character he portrays by director Wilder. A lot has to do with the setting of Dino stranded in a small Nevada town in this black & white film and the sumptuous presence of Kim Novak that make this film so alluring. The plot is a farce to be sure but all the cinematic elements make this a rather curious film and give it real texture and style. The Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle (LAURA, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, THE NAKED AND THE DEAD) and Art Direction by Alexandre Trauner (THE APARTMENT, PARIS BLUES, LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON) deserve a lot of credit for the look and feel of this film. Composer André Previn (ELMER GANTRY, IRMA LA DOUCE, THE FORTUNE COOKIE) turns in another good score. The very funny Ray Walston and the distinctive looking Cliff Osmond (along with Novak) are all part of this farce to lure Martin to get their songs featured on the big entertainment circuit. The beautiful Felicia Farr is also on hand. This is a truly underrated little gem.
Movie Review: Drop In and Get Lost
Summary: 5 Stars
This is absolutely essential for any Rat Pack collector. Martin plays "Dino" and, along with a piece of his own Vegas show, appropriate name checks abound. Dino, unshaven, wearing shades, golf clubs in the back seat of his incredible chariot, is even cooler here than in any Rat Pack movie, except maybe Some Came Running. Cooler, and crummier, minutes before knocking the Beatles off the charts with "Everybody Loves Somebody" ~ what a ripe role! Martin gets top billing but, really, Ray Walston, never more neurotic or energetic, is the male lead. On fire, throughout. Then there's Kim Novak, never so easy on the eye. This is a stupid role for her but, like so many others, she injects her usual quiet dignity into it. Great comic supports throughout. Great cinematography, too. Music is swell. What lively direction, a reminder that movies are supposed to move. Maybe smuttier than funny, giddy from swinging, and no way profound like The Apartment, but no doubt classic Wilder, symmetrical and smart, with lots of money tension flowing through the sex tension. Diabolical.Movie Review: Great Comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this film because I like Kim Novak. Though her acting was good, I was not too crazy about her Marylyn Monroe impersonation. I discovered Felicia Farr for the first time in this picture and I hope to find other films she was in. The film is funny, acting and narrative is good, set is great. Dean Martin plays a great Bacchus and Ray Walston is very funny as the jealous husband.