Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Anna Bonacci (play)
I.A.L. Diamond (writer)

Release Date:

25 December 1964 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A jealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to a famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town.

Plot Keywords:

Piano Teacher | Piano | Singer | Gas Station | Nevada

Cast

Dean Martin	...	Dino
Kim Novak	...	Polly the Pistol
Ray Walston	...	Orville Jeremiah Spooner
Felicia Farr	...	Zelda Spooner
Cliff Osmond	...	Barney
Barbara Pepper	...	Big Bertha
Skip Ward	...	Milkman (as James Ward)
Doro Merande	...	Mrs. Pettibone
Bobo Lewis	...	Waitress
Tom Nolan	...	Johnnie Mulligan (as Tommy Nolan)
Alice Pearce	...	Mrs. Mulligan
John Fiedler	...	Reverend Carruthers
Arlen Stuart	...	Rosalie Schultz
Howard McNear	...	Mr. Pettibone
Cliff Norton	...	Mack Gray

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (1994) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Aquarius Theatre - 6239 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Trivia:

During a costume fitting on St. Patrick's Day, Kim Novak made people laugh by wearing an emerald in her navel instead of a rhinestone.

Quotes:

Dino: Did you hear a story about the girl and the lobster?
Orville J. Spooner: No, how's it go?
Dino: Well, this girl was sittin' in a movie house and this guy sat down next to her, and they were sittin' in the dark, and they were watchin' the picture, see? And suddenly she felt somethin' crawling up her leg and
[pinches Polly]
Dino: pinched her!
Polly the Pistol: [jumping] Ouch!
Orville J. Spooner: Go on!
Dino: Then she felt something crawling again and
[pinches Polly]
Dino: pinched her again! She said, "What is the idea, you pinching me?" And he said, "Well, it wasn't me...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Fun in Acapulco (1963)

Soundtrack:

I'm a Poached Egg

Don't believe the critics.

First stumbled across late one Friday night on Tv, this is a much maligned little film. Sure, it's a little odd, perhaps confrontational given the (alleged) morality of it's era but once you get over your initial surprise that Dean Martin star of so many truly awful Jerry Lewis films made something as quirky as this, then it's well worth staying up until two in the morning like I did. Dean Martin gives a good performance as - well, Dean Martin, but the show gets stolen by the husband and wife whose marriage is busy falling apart in smalltown America when Martin turns their world topsy turvy. Wilder, it seems, cannot make bad movies and this is a refreshing twist on the now over-used "handsome stranger stuck in small town after car trouble scenario." Much better than everyone claims....