Product Details

• Actors: Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston, Felicia Farr, Cliff Osmond
• Directors: Billy Wilder
• Writers: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond, Anna Bonacci
• Producers: Billy Wilder, Doane Harrison, I.A.L. Diamond
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: January 27, 1993
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630224112X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,517 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A rare misfire for Wilder, but not an uninteresting one, February 9, 2008

By 

Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Kiss Me, Stupid (DVD)

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.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a perverse little comedy, August 1, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kiss Me, Stupid (DVD)

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.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kiss me Stupid, January 3, 2000

By 

Jake Fleisher (New York City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss Me Stupid [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.