1957 Directed by Stanley Donen
Three navy war heroes are booked on a morale-building "vacation" in San Francisco. Once they manage to elude their ulcerated public relations officer, the trio throw a wild party with plenty of pretty girls.
Bésalas por mí, El beso del adiós, Een duivelse zwierpartij, Une sacrée bordée, O Beijo da Despedida, Dejte jim za mě pusu, Dajte im za mňa pusu, Kys dem fra mig, Laivasto riemulomalla, Embrasse-la pour moi, Baciala per me, よろめき休暇, Urlop na lądzie, Quatro Dias de Loucura, Sărută-i pentru mine, Поцелуй их за меня, Kyss dom från mej, Älskling, kyss mej!, Benim için öp, Поцілуй їх за мене, Bésalas por mi, 香吻盟, Dóna'ls un petó per mi
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Kiss Them for Me is a film that I have been interested in checking out for ages. I love this particular period in Hollywood history, and it features Cary Grant, one of my favourite classic film stars. I've also seen several other films from the filmography of Stanley Donen which I have enjoyed greatly, so I was keen to see what Kiss Them for Me had to offer. I did have high hopes for Kiss Them for Me, but was left feeling a little underwhelmed by it. Kiss Them for Me is a film that definitely has its moments, but is far from being perfect.
The film follows three navy pilots and a Navy PR man during the Second World…
I know Kiss Them for Me has a very low reputation, but I've always liked it a lot. It is a service comedy with a very frivolous surface informed by a desperate undertone. It is a very dark movie that mostly taken over by fuckup guys with suicidal drive pretending they just wantto have a good timeç. It certainly has flaws as one either goes along with the total tonal crash or find it unberable, plus the non-Grant soldiers are a little non-descript and Donen directed Mainsfeld far too broadly in her comic relief part. One might ask why does a comedy has a comic relief part, but then that's part of this patchwork movie charm. I find the scenes between Grant and Parker among the best Donen did as well. I had also forgot this essentially lifts Only Angels Have Wings ending. Anyway, there should be more lighthearted comedies about war as death wish machine.
Starring Cary Grant, Stanley Donen's "Kiss Them for Me" is an enjoyable World War II-set comedy that profits from Grant's charm and its buoyant sense of self. Delivering laughs and a touch of post-war politics, the film is engaging mid-century piece of work.
The kind of shore-leave comedy that could lead to singing and dancing, "Kiss Them for Me" is a non-musical film that finds its leads taking some much need R and R as war rages an ocean away. They play, they flirt, and they create a bit of a scandal with a shipyard magnate.
The comedy is lightweight, but the narrative allows shades of war-era depth to bubble forth. The film never forgets the price of war, and…
What a wonderful coincidence it was finishing my journey of watching Jayne Mansfield’s entire filmography on her birthday. She would’ve been 89 today had her life not been claimed in that tragic accident back in 1967. Her movie career definitely had its ups and downs - this was the last big US production she did before she was palmed off to Europe to star mostly in low budget noirs and b-movies for the rest of her life. However, despite some of the terrible films I’ve had to sit through, Jayne was always the highlight of whatever she starred in. Sure, despite the fact she was simultaneously loved and hated for her publicity antics, there was something about her that was…
I am a huge Cary Grant fan. This was my second viewing of Kiss Them For Me. I was not too impressed with this one the first time around. In this Cary Grant is an ace fighter pilot who gets a 4 day pass in San Francisco. Movie takes place in 1944...so World War 2 is still in full force.
I think the first time I watched this movie I was expecting a laugh out loud comedy. The movie provides some light moments.....most come from Jayne Mansfield...and the fact that Grant's hotel room becomes party center. But Grant is actually playing a serious part in this one. His pilot has been scared by the war....and he puts up a brave…
The party aspects of the film were a detriment to the serious aspects, rather than properly juxtaposing them. Some of the war points of the film work really well and those alone could have made a decent war film, but the constant backdrop of the party ruins a lot of the dramatic moments. Grant and Parker do a great job, but most of the other actors and characters were pointless or annoying, or like Mansfield brought down every scene they were in. Still felt overall like a waste of time though, sadly.
Cary Grant and Jayne Mansfield? They aren't really a couple in this so it's OK.
Three Navy flyers and a Navy PR man in WWII have a chance for 4 days leave in San Francisco after a few years in the Pacific. They are hoping for more so they can stay out of the war since they figure they've done enough. Grant in particular is bitter and quick to snap on someone who asks for stories or wants anything from him. The screenplay can't decide if it's for the war or cynical about the war.
A talky film, adapted from a play. Grant and his love interest Suzy Parker don't seem to really kiss in this. I don't know if she didn't like him, or he didn't like her, but it looks rather awkward at times.
There's some funny stuff, some good lines, like Mansfield saying about her hair, "It's all natural, just the coloring isn't."
Cary Grant was, just like James Stewart, one of the stars I've seen most films of in 2014 so I am off to a somewhat predictable start for my 2015 film watching.
Grant is a NAVY flyer who makes his own kind of luck, and finds himself in San Francisco for a few days shore leave for him and a few buddies. He gets into the shenanigans you would expect for Cary Grant in a situation like this, but the film also takes time telling a more serious tale, that of combat stress and the tolls the awful experiences take on soldiers long after the battle has been fought.
It's interesting that a studio comedy would try and tell such…
Deceptively marketed as screwball soldier antics, which it is for about the first hour, but then gets progressively darker during the somber middle portion. Although not quite up to modern examinations of the psychology or mental health of the soldier, the fact that this film acknowledges something akin to PTSD and the scarring of war is remarkable for its time. The portrayal of soldiers commiserating over something only they could understand, while having a short fuse around clueless opportunists is startling for a major studio picture directed by a guy who normally traffics in musicals. Kind of squanders a bit of that in the more frivolous third act, but also predicts a lot of the inability to cope with civilian life that movies like THE HURT LOCKER would explore later on. All of that and Jayne Mansfield too.
The first of four Donen-Grant pictures, Kiss Them For Me isn't notable for its humour - it's only sporadically amusing - and there's next to no chemistry between Grant and the much younger model-turned-actress Suzy Parker, whose acting is rudimentary at best in her first film role. Jayne Mansfield isn't given much to do either. Mainly it's noteworthy for the surprisingly jaded military cynicism expressed by Grant and his two Navy aviator buddies, and for the saving grace that for once Werner Klemperer wasn't required to play a Nazi, and could actually play a role he had personal experience of: a US serviceman stationed at Hawaii.
