The Kissing Bandit

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source: The Kissing Bandit

Quick review... This movie is like a prototype of an Elvis movie: Silly plot, a few songs, slapstick comedy, pretty girls, etc. etc. One distinction: The Fiesta Dance number, which makes up for a multitude of other weaknesses. Hard to go wrong with this. It's entertainment!

The lavish production values and a few good comic performances from J. CARROL NAISH, MILDRED NATWICK and BILLY GILBERT are not enough to save THE KISSING BANDIT from a witless script. It's an MGM musical in which there are only two compensations: KATHRYN GRAYSON effectively warbling "Love Is Where You Find It" and an interesting Spanish-style menage-a-trois dance routine performed vigorously by RICHARDO MONTALBAN, CYD CHARISSE and ANN MILLER. There's a Zorro-like flavor to the inept storyline that has FRANK SINATRA masquerading as his bandit father, "the kissing bandit," and wooing the lovely governor's daughter, Grayson, who has the camera in love with her most of the time. Sinatra looks uncomfortable throughout and one can't blame him but he does manage to croon a couple of ballads in his easy style. It looks as though MGM had the use of leftover sets from THE PIRATE, but the color photography, sets and costumes are lavish enough on their own to elevate the film to passable entertainment for Sinatra fans and those who fancy Grayson's rather shrill soprano voice. Summing up: The dance trio (Montalban, Charisse and Miller) easily steal the show with their fascinating Spanish dance.

I bought and watched this solely as a Sinatra completist. I has no illusions, I've been hearing for years how bad it was and now I've seen for myself. Four For Texas, Sergeants Three, Marriage On The Rocks, want some beating but Kissing Bandit is up to the task. Basically it's Destry Rides Again crossed with The Desert Song with spin, the spin being that the Sinatra character really IS a big girl's blouse and not Macho Man in drag. For reasons best known to himself J. Carroll Naish sports a false nose but otherwise he and the ever reliable Mildred Natwick work their socks off in support while Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse contribute class in a tacked-on number shot in isolation. See it once just to say you have.

I love a garish Technicolor musical! Absurd story about a 'Bostonian' Frank Sinatra (!) forced to become a Mexican bandit. Absurd silly story that rates 5 stars out of 10.... However, I love the actors, as uncomfortable as they are - (the closeups of Frank with his Jersey accent and delicate pink lips and blue eyes are hilarious. I will love Kathryn Grayson till the end of the time, no matter if much of the world despises her shrill trilling. There are a few other familiar faces in the movie, too.) . That alone earns another star... The sets and elaborate costumes are in eye poppingly Technicolor, and that earns another star.... There are nice, mostly forgettable songs, save for 'Love Is Where You Find It' by Ms. Grayson - but the highlight is an out-of-nowhere dance number by Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, and Ann Miller that is just electrifying! That earns the final star, total of 8 stars out of 10. Don't think too hard about it, just sit back, admire the real charms of the silliness, and marvel at how far Frank Sinatra's career went after this curiosity.

A strange post-World War II Technicolor curiosity from the Joe Pasternak musical unit at MGM, which had neither the budget nor the taste of the Arthur Freed unit on the same lot. Set in Mexican California as imagined by the Culver City art department, the bandit Chico is played broadly by the dialectician J. Carrol Naish (Irish) with a fake bulbous nose worthy of W.C. Fields; Don Jose by the Moscow-Art-Theater actor Mikhail Rasumny; and Ricardo by Hoboken-born Italian-American Frank Sinatra in his skinny bobby socker's heart-throb days. Along the way you'll see Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charrise dancing and not acting to choreography by soon to be director Stanley Donen. Future cowboy star Ben Johnson did some of the stunts. Cinematography by Robert Surtees is replete with soft- focus close-ups of Kathryn Grayson who often looks as if she was photographed through Vaseline. The film was directed by the Hungarian Laslo Benedek, best remembered today for THE WILD ONE (1963) with Brando. Sad to note, the real Mexicans in the cast were delegated to minor roles.

The Kissing Bandit (1948) * 1/2 (out of 4) Chico (J. Carrol Naish) has Ricardo (Frank Sinatra) come to Mexico because it turns out that he's the son of the infamous Kissing Bandit. Chico plans on taking the guy, who has been staying in Boston, and turning him into the next Kissing Bandit to steal more than just the heart from Teresa (Kathryn Grayson) but Ricardo has other ideas. THE KISSING BANDIT is apparently a film that Sinatra hated making and it's pretty obvious that this film simply wasn't meant for him. While going through some Sinatra pictures on Turner Classic Movies, host Robert Osborne made some good comments about the legends early days at MGM. Instead of playing off his image and music, MGM instead decided to make Sinatra play nerdy roles where the characters didn't know how to speak to women and usually made a fool of themselves. With these types of roles it's easy to see why Sinatra's career would pretty much crumble before being rescued with FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. As for THE KISSING BANDIT, it's pretty darn bad on several levels but we can start with Sinatra who is downright awful here. Why on Earth anyone would think this would be a good role for him is just mind-blowing and you have to wonder if someone in MGM's office really wanted to kill his career with this film. Playing a Mexican bandit is just downright stupid and especially with there being no attempt for even an accent. It's also clear that Sinatra isn't giving the character much effort but I guess we can't blame him. Naish and Grayson are both good in their roles and I'd argue that the Technicolor is quite good and at least gives us some pretty stuff to look at. With that being said, the rest of THE KISSING BANDIT is rather bad with some really boring dance numbers and all of the songs are rather forgettable. One has to wonder what Sinatra thought about singing these things. THE KISSING BANDIT is a film Sinatra hated and it's easy to see why.

Frank Sinatra was a wonderful performer, and made some good films where he shone in. 'The Kissing Bandit' is not one of them in either case. 'The Kissing Bandit' is not unsalvageable by all means. The production values are as lavish as can be, with particularly beautiful photography that clearly loves Kathryn Grayson. It has one great song in "Love is Where You Find It", the one song that's truly memorable and the only one to stir any genuine emotion where Grayson sings her heart out and digs deep into the soul to deliver the impact needed. The other highlight is the electric dance number "Dance of Fury" with Cyd Charisse, Riccardo Montalban and Ann Miller, the most energetic the film gets and the highlight of the film. There are three good supporting performances, those of Mildred Natwick, Billy Gilbert and particularly J. Carroll Naish. Sinatra however is ill at ease and looks miserable throughout, it was abundantly clear that he didn't want to make 'The Kissing Bandit' and although he would constantly joke about it being his low-point one can't help thinking that he was actually being serious. He does sing as mellifluously as ever and his phrasing and breath control are impeccable. Grayson shines in "Love is Where You Find It", but she has performed with much more charm and spark as well as being in better voice elsewhere that suited her operatic voice far better. The two generate very little chemistry together, and due to their two different singing styles they don't blend and at odds stylistically and vocally. Montalban shines only in "Dance of Fury", he has little to do in the rest of the film. Worst thing about 'The Kissing Bandit' is the daft, paper thin which makes the film drag badly story which meanders all over the place. The script is similarly witless, while the direction is far too stolid, only coming to life properly in "Dance of Fury". "Love is Where You Find It" aside, the songs and music are at best very forgettable, no matter how well Sinatra sings it "Siesta" is particularly mundane. All in all, Sinatra's worst and easy to see why it was such a major flop. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The IMDb score for this film is under 5--indicating it's a bad film. While I agree it is very slight and has many problems, the film isn't bad and is a decent time-passer. Frank Sinatra is completely wrong for the part, though his singing was great--better than his co-star Kathryn Grayson. He plays a Bostonian who has moved to Mexican California (before it became a part of the US). His thick New Jersey accent sounds completely unlike a Bostonian and midway through the film he is impersonating a man from Spain!! As I said, he's completely wrong for the film. Sinatra moves to California to assume control of his father's inn. However, he doesn't realize that inn-keeping was NOT his father's real job--he was the infamous 'Kissing Bandit'. When the father's old henchman (J. Carrol Naish) informs him he MUST assume control of the old gang and take up the tradition of kissing fair ladies who he robs, Sinatra is afraid--he doesn't think he is up to the task! When he's on his first robbery, he meets a gorgeous lady (Grayson) and ISN'T up to the task--and cannot make himself kiss her. It isn't that he's not attracted--it just seems wrong to kiss a stranger! As for her, she's intrigued...and a bit disappointed he didn't kiss her! The story gets a lot weirder--especially when later Sinatra and Naish pose as emissaries from Spain--and Grayson's father (the Governor) wines and dines them! What's next? Tune in and see. As for the plot, it's really silly--completely silly, actually. And, in this era of political correctness, it's also likely to offend some of the more feminist bent. But it is fun! What isn't fun, however, is the singing. As I said above, Sinatra is great--with a gorgeous voice as you'd expect. As for Grayson, she has a quality voice but it's also VERY operatic--and hard on the ears. Also, most of the songs are completely forgettable. An odd exception is "Love is Where You Find it". I say odd, because only about a week ago, I heard this EXACT song in the movie "A Date for Judy" in which Jane Powell sang the same tune. While IMDb doesn't indicate it, they sounded EXACTLY the same to me--like one was perhaps not really singing the tune but using a recording of the other woman (though which is which, I have no idea). Overall, not a bad little film but a bit silly and the singing was a definite low-point.