''Kiss Me, Stupid'' is a 1964 American
sex comedy film
Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, literary works such ...
produced and directed by
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...
and starring
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
,
Kim Novak
Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter.
Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...
, and
Ray Walston
Herman Raymond Walston (November 2, 1914 – January 1, 2001) was an American actor and comedian, well known as the title character on ''My Favorite Martian''. His other major film, television, and stage roles included Luther Billis (''South Paci ...
.
The screenplay by Wilder and
I.A.L. Diamond is based on the play ''L'ora della fantasia'' (''The Dazzling Hour'') by Anna Bonacci, which had inspired ''
Wife for a Night
''Wife for a Night'' ( it, Moglie per una notte) is a 1952 Italian film starring Gina Lollobrigida. It was based on the play ''The Dazzling Hour'' by Anna Bonacci, which was later updated for the Billy Wilder film ''Kiss Me, Stupid''.
Plot
The la ...
'' (''Moglie per una notte'', 1952), an Italian film starring
Gina Lollobrigida
Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...
. The comic song lyrics were written by
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...
, using some of
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's unpublished melodies.
The supporting cast features
Felicia Farr
Felicia Farr (born Olive Dines; October 4, 1932) is a American former actress and model
Early years
Farr was born in Westchester County, New York. She attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied sociology at Penn State.
Career
Farr bega ...
and comedy actors
Cliff Osmond
Cliff Osmond (born Clifford Osman Ebrahim; February 26, 1937 – December 22, 2012) was an American character actor and television screenwriter. A parallel career as an acting teacher coincided with his other activities.
Early life
Osmond wa ...
,
Howard McNear
Howard Terbell McNear (January 27, 1905 – January 3, 1969) was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of ''Gunsmoke'' and as Floyd Lawson, the ...
,
Cliff Norton
Clifford Charles Norton (March 21, 1918 – January 25, 2003) was an American character actor and radio announcer who appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades.
Early years
Norton was born in Ch ...
,
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...
and
Henry Gibson
Henry Gibson (born James Bateman; September 21, 1935 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor and poet. His best-known roles include his time as a cast member of the TV sketch-comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 19 ...
.
Plot
While driving his
Dual-Ghia
Dual-Ghia is a rare, short-lived, automobile make, produced in the United States between 1956 and 1958. The idea for a sporty limited production car came from Eugene Casaroll, who controlled specialized vehicle builder Dual-Motors Corporation ba ...
from
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, lecherous, heavy-drinking pop singer Dino is forced to detour through Climax, Nevada. There he meets the amateur songwriting team of Barney Millsap, a gas station attendant, and piano teacher Orville J. Spooner, a man easily given to jealousy. Hoping to interest Dino in their songs, Barney disables the "Italian" sports car and tells Dino he will need to remain in town until new parts arrive from
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. (Dual-Ghia was actually an American
marque
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
, mating a Dodge frame, drivetrain, and engine with Italian coachwork.)
Orville invites Dino to stay with him and wife Zelda, but becomes concerned when he learns the singer needs to have sex every night to avoid awakening with a headache. Anxious to accommodate Dino but safeguard his marriage, Orville provokes an argument with his wife that leads to Zelda fleeing in tears. He and Barney then arrange for Polly the Pistol, a waitress and prostitute at a saloon on the edge of town called the Belly Button, to pose as Orville's wife and satisfy Dino.
That evening after the three have dinner, Orville plays his tunes for Dino on the piano and Polly requests a particular song. It is one she knows he wrote for his wife when trying to persuade her to marry him. Doing so, Orville gets lost in emotion, as does Polly, who has fallen a little for the dream of a domestic life that she doesn't have. Under the influence of wine and song, Orville starts thinking of Polly as his wife and tosses Dino out. He then spends the night with Polly.
Dino seeks shelter at the Belly Button, where Zelda earlier had gone to drown her sorrows. When she became drunk and rowdy, the manager deposited her in Polly's trailer to sleep. Hearing about the talents of Polly the Pistol and declaring himself eager "to shoot it out with her," Dino goes to the trailer and finds Zelda there and mistakes her for Polly. A longtime fan, she succumbs to Dino's charms and allows him to seduce her, persuading him how perfect Orville's song would be for him at the same time.
Zelda meets Polly the next morning and figures out the trick Orville played on her. She gives Dino's money to Polly, who needs it to leave Climax and start a new life.
A few nights later, Orville is distraught knowing that Zelda intends to divorce him. Suddenly he hears Dino singing one of his songs on coast-to-coast television. He is at a total loss as to how this could have happened. He wants an explanation, but Zelda simply orders him: "Kiss me, stupid."
Cast
Production
Wilder initially offered the role of Orville Spooner to
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
(Farr's real life husband), whom he had directed in ''
Some Like It Hot
''Some Like It Hot'' is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney and N ...
'', ''
The Apartment
''The Apartment'' is a 1960 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond. It stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David ...
'', and ''
Irma la Douce
''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1963 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder from a screenplay he co-wrote with I. A. L. Diamond, based on the 1956 French stage musical of the same name by Marguerite Monnot and Alexa ...
'', but prior commitments forced the actor to decline. The director then signed
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
for the role. Six weeks into filming, Sellers suffered a series of 13
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
s and was hospitalized in
Cedars of Lebanon Hospital
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
. Upon his release, the actor returned to England under doctor's orders. Unwilling to wait while Sellers completed a six-month recuperation period, Wilder opted to replace him and reshoot all his scenes.
[Article on "''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964)"]
by John M. Miller, at Turner Classic Movies.
The role of Polly the Pistol was written with
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
in mind. After
her death in August 1962, filming was postponed while the role was recast. It was later reported that
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
would take over the role, but she had to withdraw from the project because of her pregnancy with future actress
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, director and philanthropist. The daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a People's ...
. Sometime thereafter, it was decided that
Kim Novak
Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter.
Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...
would play the role, coming out of a two-year absence from acting to appear in the film.
Wilder approached friend
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...
and asked if he would like to collaborate on the songs written by Barney and Orville. Gershwin suggested he write lyrics to unpublished music by his late brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
, and as a result three new songs by the Gershwins – "Sophia," "I'm a Poached Egg," and "All the Livelong Day" – debuted in the film.
The film was shot on location in
Twentynine Palms, California
Twentynine Palms (also known as 29 Palms) is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Twentynine Palms serves as one of the entry points to Joshua Tree National Park.
History
Twentynine Palms was named for the palm trees found there in ...
. The opening sequence was filmed at the
Sands Hotel
The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic American hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent high sign, the Sands was the seventh ...
in Las Vegas, using a portion of Dean Martin's actual show and the hotel's marquee from his appearance there. Some interior scenes were filmed in the
Moulin Rouge night club in Los Angeles. The car that Martin drove was his own.
The
Catholic Legion of Decency
The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictu ...
strongly objected to the completed film. Wilder was willing to soften the suggestion Zelda had committed
adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
with Dino, but he refused to comply with other demands, and the film was condemned, the first American film to be so designated since ''
Baby Doll
''Baby Doll'' is a 1956 American dramatic black comedy film directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, and Eli Wallach. It was produced by Kazan and Tennessee Williams, and adapted by Williams from his own one-act play '' ...
'' in 1956. As a direct result of the rating, United Artists decided to release the film under the banner of
Lopert Pictures, a subsidiary previously used for imported films.
In 2002 a print was shown in several U.S. cities containing the originally-shot seduction scene in Polly's trailer (seen in European exhibition), rather than the tamer replacement Wilder has supplied in hope of satisfying the Catholic Legion of Decency.
Wilder rarely mentioned the film in later interviews, although he discussed it briefly for ''On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder'', a biography by
Ed Sikov
Ed Sikov (born 1957, Pennsylvania) is an American film scholar and author. His books include ''Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers'' (published in 2002), ''On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder'' (published in 1998), a ...
. "I don't know why the film shocked people. It's the most bourgeois film there is," he declared. "A man wants a career and the person who wants to help him wants to sleep with his wife. He replaces his wife with another, but when he is nearest to success, he refuses it and throws the guy out . . . The public accepted it better in ''The Apartment'' because it was better conceived, better written, better lubricated."
Wilder also discussed ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' in director
Cameron Crowe
Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, for wh ...
's 1998 book ''Conversations With Wilder,'' citing his admiration for Dean Martin, saying "there was much more, 90 percent more, to him than just the jokester. I am a sucker for Dean Martin. I thought he was the funniest man in Hollywood." The movie's use of an unflattering version of Dean Martin ("Dino") was a forerunner of the current trend of celebrities doing comic send-ups of themselves on film.
Critical reception
Like ''
The Carpetbaggers
''The Carpetbaggers'' is a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title. The prequel '' Nevada Smith'' (1966) was also based on a character in the novel.
In the United States, the term "car ...
'' of the same year, the film was widely considered to be vulgar by critics. It became one of the targets for denunciations of the negative impact of films on society.
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
blamed both films for giving American movies the reputation of "deliberate and degenerate corruptors of public taste and morals".
A. H. Weiler of the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' called the film "pitifully unfunny" and "obvious, plodding, short on laughs and performances and long on vulgarity." He added, "The finesse, speed, artistry and imagination of . . . ''Some Like It Hot'' are sadly missing in this pungent exercise. Instead, we have cheapness that will not shock a grownup. However, this heavy-handed sex fable does call for a light, subtle approach that is rarely apparent."
The ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' review called the film "a jape that seems to have scraped its blue-black humor off the floor of a honky-tonk nightclub" and "professionally shrewd and zippy
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
a kind of vulgar integrity." It concluded, "The result, spelled out in dialogue that sounds like a series of gamy punch lines, is one of the longest traveling-salesman stories ever committed to film. Like all dirty jokes, it will probably evoke a shock wave of self-conscious laughter and pass swiftly into oblivion."
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' said the script "calls for a generous seasoning of
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
but, unfortunately, it provides a dash of same only now and again . . . Wilder, usually a director of considerable flair and inventiveness (if not always impeccable taste), has not been able this time out to rise above a basically vulgar, as well as creatively delinquent, screenplay, and he has got at best only plodding help from two of his principals, Dean Martin and Kim Novak . . .
ehas directed with frontal assault rather than suggestive finesse."
Michael Scheinfeld of ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' rated the film 3½ out of four stars, calling it "a kind of cinematic litmus test that separates the casual Billy Wilder fan from the true connoisseur" and "a monument of satirical tastelessness that . . . in retrospect, is now seen as one of Wilder's most fascinatingly original films." He added, "Amid the
riginalfuror, it's easy to miss the film's comedic accomplishments, which are considerable. Its idiomatic wordplay and social satire is vintage Wilder, and the opening sequence where Dino performs in a nightclub is one of the funniest things that Wilder has ever done. Sprinkling in bad jokes and Rat Pack references, Dean Martin's comic timing and delivery is impeccable . . . The rest of the cast is equally superb, right down to the smallest bit part . . . although Ray Walston's relentless mugging becomes a bit much."
In 2002, J. Hoberman of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' discussed the film when
Film Forum
Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Ka ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
ran a restored print. He observed, "The first half is an unending parade of smutty gags and single entendres, with a few toilet jokes thrown in for good measure. The constant tumult in the Spooners' cramped bungalow betrays the movie's stage origins, and indeed, Climax itself is an appropriately desolate stage-set. ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' is likely Wilder's harshest view of the American landscape since the orchestrated media feeding frenzy of ''
Ace in the Hole'' . . . The rancid atmosphere conceals the virtues of the movie's classical structure, detailed
mise-en-scène
''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, ...
, and deft comic timing . . . ''Kiss Me, Stupids mutually redemptive adultery is closer to the grown-up world of
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...
's ''
Faces
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...
'' than to Wilder's adolescent ''
Seven Year Itch
''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role. ...
'' — but it's ultimately a more knowingly tolerant, not to mention funnier, movie than either."
[J. Hoberman. (June 18, 2002)]
"Zero for Conduct"
''Village Voice''.
Home media
Olive Films released the film on DVD and Blu-Ray February 17, 2015.
See also
*
List of American films of 1964
A list of American films released in 1964.
''My Fair Lady'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
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G-H
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See also
* 1964 in the United States
References
External links
1964 filmsat t ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1964 films
1960s English-language films
1960s sex comedy films
American black-and-white films
Films about adultery in the United States
Films scored by André Previn
Films about composers
Films about prostitution in the United States
Films about prostitution
American films based on plays
Films directed by Billy Wilder
Films set in Nevada
George Gershwin in film
Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder
Films with screenplays by I. A. L. Diamond
United Artists films
American sex comedy films
Obscenity controversies in film
1964 comedy films
1960s American films