Customer Reviews

Kiss Me, Stupid

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kiss Me, Stupid is an interesting misfire, but despite a promising and outrageous setup - Ray Walston's would be songwriter tries to keep Dean Martin's promiscuous crooner in the small town he breaks down in long enough to buy his songs by using his wife as bait: but, being insanely jealous, he hires Kim Novack to pretend to be his wife only to still find himself becoming jealous - it never really delivers the laughs. Walston, replacing Peter Sellers after he dropped out because of a heart attack, is too broad and Novak's Marilyn-with-a-cold impression too artificial, while Dean Martin's gleeful self-parody as a drunken lecherous and very superficial crooner called Dino sometimes seems a little too sidelined. Only Cliff Osmond really comes up with the goods with a performance that's often as theatrical as the patently phoney soundstage sets. Some nice moments, but this time Wilder and Diamond seem too enamoured of the censor-baiting premise to make it really work.

Sex runs rampant throughout Billy Wilder's films. One can only wonder what they would have been like if he had continued past the sexual revolution of the late sixties. As it is, this little set piece of the swinging sixties shows a tolerance, if not sanction, of the stray, recreational encounter, while celebrating the bond of devotion.

Dean Martin and Kim Novak are dead on as the swinging idol and the experienced escort, but the centerpiece of the movie is a loving couple. Ray Walston has been criticized as being too serious and energetic as the jealous husband, a part originally created for Peter Sellers just before a heart attack forced the casting change. Sellers would have added the right comic touch to keep the early jealousy scenes from getting uncomfortably realistic. But this character requires Walston's strong emotional depth to make his sudden love and protection of an imposter wife hired for the id-driven singer believable. Plus, Walston's broadway musical background doesn't hurt when he ends up singing the unfamiliar Gershwin tunes he has supposedly written and is trying to sell to the lusting Dino.

Felicia Farr has the pivotal role of the beautiful wife with a healthy enough spirit to tolerate and correct her husband's foibles, and find a way to support him by indulging in some recreational fulfilment. She is the embodiment of early sixties sophistication.

Good, not great. Better than any sex comedy you are likely to encounter any time soon.

This is an amazing movie, which was un-successfull when released and has yet to garner public attention. The film, among other things, is a harsh criticism of America's overzealous and often hypocritical sense of morality during the 1960's. This aspect of the film is probably the reason for its obscurity, but it is also the reason I find this movie so powerfull and ground breaking. The film is touching, harsh, funny and disturbing almost at the same time and also features incredible performances. If you're a Dean Martin fan, this movie is a must. Not only is he great in the film, but the opening of the movie features live footage from one of his concerts. If none of these reasons apeal to you, then see teh movie simply becuase it was made by a true master Billy Wilder. See this movie, grant it the popularity it deserves, but do yourself a favor and see it widescreen. You should be able to enjoy the gorgeos and sometimes powerfully harsh cinematography and framing. I can only sit by and wait until this forgotten masterpiece is finally recognized and released on DVD.

I saw Billy Wilder's neglected KISS ME, STUPID (1964) two weeks ago on letterboxed DVD and cannot get it out of my head. I have a special fondness for this movie that was panned by critics originally and condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. So some of my readers will find this sex farce smutty and unfunny; it has a PG-13 rating.

You can probably tell from these sentences whether you will enjoy KISS ME, STUPID, which was filmed in B&W Panavision: in the desert town of Climax, Nevada, Orville J. Spooner (Ray Walston) and Barney Milsap (Cliff Osmond) run the local gas station, give piano lessons, and are failed songwriters; Felicia Farr is Orville's likeable and patient wife. Walston and especially Osmond are riotously funny. And Kim Novak (in one of her best roles) plays waitress (and prostitute) Polly the Pistol at the Belly Button Cafe. Location filming, for all of my Department of Defense friends, was done at Twentynine Palms, California one or two years after Stanley Kramer and company tore up the place for IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD,MAD WORLD.

Many of Wilder's best comedies are adult masquerade sex farces, which is what this one also is. Dean Martin (in a devastating self parody) basically plays himself to perfection. His "Dino" is a Vegas entertainer with car trouble who gets waylaid in Climax and forced to listen to failed Gershwin songs (which are quite good, including "Oh the Live Long Day and the Long Lonely Night" and "Oh, Sophia, Be Mine") from Orville and Barney.

The action gets hilarious (for me) when Polly becomes Dino's sex customer of sorts for the night, but later Dino ends up in Polly's trailer, where Mrs. Spooner is posing as Polly. Unlike Wilder's flawed THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (1955), where we don't believe Tom Ewell really sleeps with Marilyn Monroe, the sexual overtures are more satisfying here. I believe that Dino does sleep with both Polly (at the Spooner home) and Mrs. Spooner (inside Polly's trailer). In the cold light of dawn, as in the best Ernst Lubitsch masquerade farces, everyone goes back to their right partner and all eventually seems forgiven.

Something about KISS ME, STUPID appeals to me, makes me laugh out loud as I watch it and listen to both Dean Martin's wisecracks and to the underrated (and previously unpublished) Gershwin songs, and especially enjoy Cliff Osmond's screwball dialogue. All of the actors are wonderful and the script, by Wilder and Diamond, is refreshingly adult. 1964 was a time when the censorship board was starting to crumble. The masquerade motif is skillfully handled, and the wide-screen compositions on DVD are excellent.

KISS ME, STUPID is a wonderful and underrated comedy that certainly won't appeal to everyone, but I as least love it. And if I make it sound funny, then it is probably an enjoyable Netflicks rental for you.

Do yourself a favor and ignore the negative reviews. This movie is hilarious. Kim Novak is a living doll in her role as 'Polly the Pistol' and Dean Martin's self-parody is worth the price of admission!

THE CHARACTERS.

KISS ME, STUPID is a black and white movie from 1964, starring, Ray Walston, Cliff Osmond, Dean Martin, Kim Novak, and Felicia Farr. Ray Walston, who played the Devil in movie DAMN YANKEES, is the main character of KISS ME, STUPID. Cliff Osmond plays a gas station owner and mechanic, and is Mr.Walston's side kick. Mr.Walston and Mr.Osmond are a team of two budding songwriters, hoping for eventual recognition. In fact, that is the consistent theme of KISS ME, STUPID, that is, the quest of the two songwriters to get recognition. Ms.Novak plays a hooker who works at a brothel called The Belly Button, while Ms.Farr plays Mr.Walston's doting and devoted wife. In my opinion, Felicia Farr is much more pretty than Kim Novak. Felicia Farr is just as pretty as Barbara Eden.

THE PLOT.

The film begins with the camera focused on the side of a truck with writing that reads, "LAS VEGAS SIGN CO." This is very clever, that is, to show a sign on the truck, rather than an actual neon sign. Then the camera pans upwards, and we see a huge marquee that announces Dean Martin's show. Then, the viewer is treated to about ten minutes of Mr.Martin's actual stage show. His spiel goes, "Last night she was banging on my door for 45 minutes, but I wouldn't let her out." (This is a funny and clever line.) The character (Dino) then slips and falls on the stage. (This is funny in view of Mr.Martin's actual reputation as an alcoholic.) Then, Mr.Martin provides another joke about alcoholism, "I have an 85year old mother who no longer needs glasses, she drinks right out of the bottle." Between Mr.Martin's jokes, the camera shows a line of waiters in back of the theater, all of them hysterically laughing, except for one waiter in the center. This waiter is stoney-faced and never laughs. (This is another very clever part of this movie.) Then, the plotline goes back stage, and the showgirls file past, while Mr.Martin speaks with the stage manager. Two of the stagegirls invite Mr.Martin upstairs for hanky-panky, but Mr.Martin declines, in view of the fact that he must drive to Los Angeles for another performance. (This part of the film shows Dean Martin to be decent and self-effacing, just as his self-effacing jokes about alcoholism. Mr.Martin is likeable during the entire movie.)

Mr.Martin is shown driving a desert highway, but he encounters a roadblock, and he must take a detour through a dirt backroad, leading through the town of Climax. At this point, KISS ME, STUPID resembles several episodes from the TWILIGHT ZONE, where drivers taking a back road encounter bizarre adventures in a desolate town. And this is exactly what happens to Mr.Martin in the town of Climax (bizarre adventures). In Climax, we see Barney (played by Cliff Osmond) manning his gas station. A truck driver stops for gas, but only for filling up his cigarette lighter. Mr.Osmond complies. When the truck driver motors away, Mr.Osmond cries out, "You forgot your green stamps." (This particular episode is extremely clever. It seems lifted right out of the Andy Griffith Show. Mr.Osmond is a bit like Jim Nabors -- both of them are good singers.)

Next to Barney's Service Station is the home of Orville Spooner, a piano teacher played by Ray Walston. Mr.Walston is busy giving a piano lesson to a 14-year old boy. Then comes yet another clever joke. Mr.Walston's wife slips both of her hands underneath Mr.Walston's shirt, and wiggles her hands around. "NOT NOW!" exclaims Mr.Walston. but the wife was only after a pen, because she needed to write a note for the milkman.

So far, the film is a clever, light-hearted comedy. But then, the film takes a turn towards the dark side. Mr.Walston accuses the boy of going after the wife, and Mr.Walston gets violently angry with the boy and chases him out. Then, Mr.Walston accuses his own wife of hanky-panky with the milkman, and hanky-panky with her dentist. During these accusations, the soundtrack plays deep-throated cello music and gothic harpsichord music (reminiscent of the ominous harpsichord music in Twilight Zone's psychodrama, PIANO IN THE HOUSE).

At 21 minutes into the movie, Mr.Martin pulls into Barney's Service Station, and is immediately recognized by Mr.Osmond. Mr.Osmond immediately cooks up a plan to persuade Mr.Martin to spend the evening at Orville Spooner's house, with the goal of auditioning his songs -- songs of Mr.Osmond and Mr.Walston -- for Mr.Martin. Most of the time consumed in KISS ME, STUPID is spent on this particular goal.

Then, the plot thickens. The song-writing duo (Mr.Osmond and Mr.Walston) realize that they must get rid of Mr.Walston's wife, and replace her with a hooker posing as the wife. Eventually, they succeed. Mr.Osmond goes to a nearby brothel, The Belly Button, and fetches Kim Novak. Mr.Walston succeeds in getting rid of his wife, by focusing his psychotic melodrama at her. She leaves for her mother's house. Mr.Walston had to get rid of the real wife, because his goal was to use Kim Novak (posing as the wife) to entice Mr.Martin, and to help persuade Mr.Martin to purchase a couple of tunes from the song-writing duo.

The second half of the film takes place in Orville Spooner's home, where Mr.Walston and Mr.Osmond, with the cooperation of Kim Novak, focus their attention on persuading Mr.Martin to listen to their compositions. The songs are actually rather good. The lyrics are clever. During this time, there are jokes about doing it (we hear the bedsprings squeaking, but it is only Mr.Martin hopping up and down alone on the bed). There are jokes about weenies (Kim Novak poses with a breadstick, and does suggestive things with the breadstick). There plenty of cheesecake scenes in this part of the story. The film concludes with a surprise ending. Actually, there are two surprise endings, occurring at the same time, one involving an array of television sets in the window of a hardware store, and the other involving Kim Novak driving away in a second hand automobile. The two surprise endings are in the tradition of the finest Twilight Zone episodes.

ANALYSIS.

Although one might expect this movie to be a light comedy, it is actually not a comedy. This movie is a melange that contains:

(1) Happy elements reminiscent of a typical Broadway musical movie, such as SINGING IN THE RAIN;

(2) Psychological torment, such as is found in MISERY starring Kathy Bates, and also found in the Twilight Zone episode PIANO IN THE HOUSE; and

(3) Bawdy themes, such as those found in abundance in SIXTEEN CANDLES by John Hughes or in ANIMAL HOUSE.

In other words, KISS ME, STUPID could reasonably be characterized as a schizophrenic movie. While almost every minute contains bits of script that are extremely clever, the storyline tugs you first to one way and then the next. The end result is confusion. Is this mainly a story about budding song-writers? Is this a bawdy movie about hookers? Or is this a Twilight Zone episode, with typical Twilight Zone themes such as: (1) A road trip where a character encounters a weird town while driving the back roads, (2) Where a character is a psychopath, and (3) Where there is a surprise ending. KISS ME, STUPID contains all of these three Twilight Zone themes. The surprise ending is an excellent one. But the psychological melodrama of the jealous rages of Mr.Walston detracts from the overall tone of the film, and causes the message of KISS ME, STUPID to be somewhat muddled.

HOW TO REPAIR THIS MOVIE. Any freshman college student can tell you how to fix this muddled movie. First, leave out the parts where Mr.Walston goes psycho, and replace these parts with something else (ANYTHING else!). Second, leave out the part near the end where Mr.Martin does it with the wife. With these two things left out, the movie would become more coherent. Once the parts where Mr.Walston goes psycho are removed, these parts can be saved, and then used as a basis for a new movie, that is, for a psycho-thriller movie.

This Billy Wilder movie is potentially great but ruined by Ray Walston's poor acting. The movie is much more sexually explicit than most movies of its time period. Kim Novak is great as the sexy waitress subtly dodging the fingers of the men who are trying to fondle or pinch her well-rounded ass. But Walston's jarring portrayal of a jelous husband almost ruins the picture.

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.

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.

Just one of the great lines in this underrated film. In an era of pure garbage, this wonderful film is playing for one week in NYC at the Film Forum. If you read this message before the end of June 2002, run to see this provocative and endearing film.

Ray Walston was an inspired choice to replace Peter Sellers; Kim Novak and Dean Martin are equally wonderful as the two other elements in this strange romantic triangle set in Climax, Nevada.

Sharp, caustic, and very funny. Fans of director Billy Wilder should check out this 1964 film to check out the fun.