Film Review
Kiss Me, Stupid is generally
regarded as one of Billy Wilder's weaker comedies, although to dismiss
it as a minor work of marginal interest would be to do it something of an
injustice. Certainly, it does lack something of the
crispness, focus and maturity that we find in Wilder's better film
comedies, such as
Some Like It Hot (1959) and
The Apartment (1960). The
film was ill-received on its first release and, thanks partly to a
severe condemnation from the Catholic League, it was one of the
director's biggest box office failures. Yet, whilst it may
not be perfect,
Kiss Me, Stupid,
is still a highly enjoyable piece of Wilder farce. It is also a
film which offers a perceptive and rather cynical portrait of American
society in the early 1960s, and therein lies its main interest.
The film deals with two themes which were dear to Wilder's heart -
celebrity culture and marital infidelity. In its depiction of
characters who are desperate to break away from their present milieu,
at whatever cost, the film serves as a dark parody of the American
dream. One of the characters - the music teacher Orville J.
Spooner - is willing to destroy his marriage (and comes perilously
close to giving his adoring wife the full James Cagney grapefruit
treatment) so that he can advance his career. Success for the
individual
at any price - is
this the true spirit of America?
The irony is that whilst Orville and his sidekick Barney are busy
conniving to win fame for themselves, they hardly fail to conceal their
contempt for those who are currently basking in the tender glow of
celebrity. To Orville, Dino - a brilliant self-parody by Dean
Martin - is no more than a self-absorbed, skirt-chasing nonentity who
thrives by exploiting others. Yet Orville and Barney are no
better than Dino - they ensnare the hapless singer and contrive the
most outrageous scheme to con him into offering them a lucrative
contract. They are doomed to become the thing they despise, and
so the back-stabbing celebrity maelstrom perpetuates itself.
Meanwhile, whilst these machinations are afoot, the two women in the
drama have their part to play and, ironically, it is they who resolve
the drama, without the male characters knowing anything about
it. Polly the Pistol realises her dream by chance and by
the kindness of others, not by deceit; she is probably the only
character for whom the happy ending is real. Orville's wife Zelda
appears willing to kiss and make up when the crisis is over, but who
knows what marital strife lies ahead for the couple as Orville
continues to slither up the greasy poll of celebrity.
Kiss Me, Stupid has its flaws
- it is at least twenty minutes too long and some of the humour tends
towards the juvenile - but it is by no means a bad film and is worth
watching just to hear the hilarious songs provided by the Gershwin
brothers. If you can forgive Kim Novak her slightly irritating
New Jersey accent, the performances will both delight and
entertain. Ray Walston and Cliff Osmond form one of the most
successful double acts of any Wilder film, virtually relegating Dean
Martin, for all his evident on-screen charisma, to the role of a mere
supporting character. It may not be as slick or as intelligent as
other Wilder comedies, but
Kiss Me,
Stupid is still highly enjoyable - and with its darkly acerbic
underbelly, it offers one of cinema's most scathing critiques of
contemporary attitudes towards marriage and celebrity.
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Billy Wilder film:
The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Film Synopsis
Once his tour of Las Vagas is over, star singer Dino takes to the road
and heads for Hollywood, where a film crew anxiously awaits his
arrival. On the way, he stops at Climax, an inconsequential small town
in Nevada. He is instantly recognised by the petrol station
attendant, Barney Millsap, who, a budding songwriter, sees an
opportunity to sell his songs and become instantly rich. With the
help of his friend Orville J. Spooner, a music teacher who composes the
music for his songs, Barney sabotages Dino's car, forcing the singer to
spend the night in Climax. Dino accepts Orville's offer of a room
in his house, but Orville gets anxious when he learns that: (a) his
wife Zelda is a big fan of Dino and (b) the singer has a voracious
appetite for women. For these reasons, Orville gives his wife the
bad husband treatment, driving her back to her parents, while Barney
collects a prostitute named Polly the Pistol from a local night
club. By getting Polly to pose as his wife, Orville hopes to lure
Dino into buying his songs. Naturally, things do not go quite as
planned...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.