A Kiss for Corliss (1949) User Reviews

Shirley Temple's Final Film Flop "

[PamelaShort · 6/10 · 17 November 2013]

Shirley Temple reprises screen character Corliss Archer from the film Kiss and Tell, in this her last film. The film co-stars David Niven a man in the middle of his third divorce. Corliss's father Harry Archer ( Tom Tully ) happens to be the lawyer of Niven's third wife. To make her boyfriend Dexter ( Darryl Hickman ) jealous, Corliss invents a romance with the suave Kenneth Marquis ( David Niven ) and writes it in her diary. The diary becomes known to Corliss's parents and Corliss fakes amnesia, while the confronted Marquis proclaims he will marry Corliss, just to spite her father, his ex-wife's lawyer. Is your head spinning, even Shirley Temple was the first to admit " the result was not terribly good. " Niven went further and called it " a disastrous pot-boiler." Shirley is pretty as always and a capable actress, she does her best with this flimsy storyline. This is a film that will either satisfy or disappoint, unfortunately a sad ending to the film career of the ever talented Shirley Temple.

Corliss must decide between a rich older man or the boy next door.

[weezeralfalfa · 6/10 · 6 July 2018]

The last Hollywood film starring Shirley Temple, when she was around 21. The alternative title is "Almost a Bride". It's essentially a follow-up on "Kiss and Tell", released 4 years earlier , where Shirley is also named Corliss Archer. A number of other roles were given the same name, although , in most cases, a different actor was used. Both are a sitcom-type of film. I think Shirley would have done well in the right TV sitcom series, but she wasn't interested.......The main new role in this film is Kenneth Marquis, played by 39y.o. David Niven. He attracts the attention of Corliss when her father, played by Tom Tully, is the divorce lawyer for Marquis's 3rd wife. Corliss takes a keen interest in the proceedings, although not allowed in the courtroom, suggesting she has a possible romantic interest in Marquis. When she does meet him, she makes goo goo eyes at him, trying to make a very romantic impression. Corliss varies in her attitude toward Marquis as a potential boyfriend or husband. At one point , she refers to him as "that 37y.o. old goat, who's had 3 wives." (Corliss is supposedly 17). Sometimes she seems to be interested in him only to make boyfriend Dexter jealous, as when she writes some imaginary things about Marquis in her diary. When he sends her some expensive or intimate gifts, her interest in him perks. But, during their wedding ceremony rehearsal, she runs away. We wonder how much Marquis's seemingly blunted interest in her is driven by a desire to get back at her father for winning the divorce case against him. Marquis doesn't have that much screen time, but I see no real chemistry with Corliss. He exudes sophistication, but no real romantic spark. I think the film would have gone over better, if they had found a Marquis whom Shirley could better relate to........Tom Tully was good as Corliss's excitable father, often providing comedy in his frequent outbursts, especially against boyfriend Dexter or Marquis. Darryl Hickman makes a very nice and patient contemporary boyfriend for Corliss, who often gets harassed by Corliss or her father when he comes over.......Kathryn Card, as Louise, is a middle-aged woman who lives with the Archers. She's perpetually crying about the least little matter. I guess this is supposed to be funny.......Actually, I liked the first half of the film better, when Dexter and Corliss interact more. I thought Shirley's pretending she had a sudden case of amnesia and psychological regression to the age of about 8 was well done and amusing......Of course, Shirley had been charming older men since her early days in films. To a lesser extent, this continued during her teen films. However, now, the older man was seen as a possible romantic partner, rather than a father figure. For example, all 3 of her films released in '47: "Honeymoon", "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer", and "That Hagen Girl", involved a romantic attachment to a man at least twice her age, often to the embarrassment of the man. I suppose it's fitting that her last film should involve such a relationship, however tenuous. Shirley certainly made a cute teenager, although often pouting in her films, which made her films worthwhile to me.

Kiss and Tell was better

[HotToastyRag · 5/10 · 20 February 2018]

A Kiss for Corliss is a sequel to 1945's Kiss and Tell, but if you missed that one, you won't be lost. There's only one mention to the previous film, a few cast members were even replaced with no explanation, and the main crux of the first one was expected to be conveniently forgotten about by the audience. Still, Kiss and Tell is infinitely better than the sequel, so I recommend you watch that one instead.

Shirley Temple, a senior in high school, is still a troublemaker and enjoys manipulating her on-again, off-again boyfriend Darryl Hickman, who lives next door. Her father, Tom Tully, is a lawyer who's representing David Niven's soon-to-be third ex-wife. Shirley accidentally meets The Niv in her father's office and practically swoons, overwhelmed by his magnetism. Obviously; it is David Niven! In her diary, Shirley writes some incriminating fictitious romantic passages about Niven, hoping her boyfriend will read it and get jealous-but what happens when her parents read it instead?

It's a very hilarious set-up, but unfortunately, it winds up being very silly. Kiss and Tell was adorable and hilarious, but only a few scenes in A Kiss for Corliss were that way. It felt like Shirley had hurt feelings about her poor reviews of her adult acting chops, and the screenwriter wanted to further the downfall of her career. David Niven was hardly in the movie, and while his comic timing is always very good, it was a throwaway part that he easily walked through.

Funny, warm, great family fun

[daisyduke8000 · 25 July 2001]

I saw this movie on Family Channel a few years ago and LOVED it! Anyone who likes Shirley temple, or just classic movies in general will love this sweet movie. I'm still waiting for Family Channel to run it again. The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is another movie sort of like this one, with the same kind of happiness and fun.

I'd Rather Not Meet Corliss Archer, Thank You

[boblipton · 4/10 · 4 August 2019]

Shirley Temple tries to make her boyfriend angry by writing in her diary about her imaginary affair with David Niven. Later, when she's pretending to have amnesia, her father and David Niven find out and proceed to torture everyone.

It's a sequel to Miss Temple's 1945 vehicle, KISS AND TELL, in which she plays Corliss Archer, a fifteen-year-old girl created in a short story by F. Hugh Herbert. Miss Archer's sixteenth year of life lasted from 1943 through 1956 on the radio, and 1951, 1952, 1954 and 1955 on syndicated television. At least five actresses performed the role, plus however many did so in the stage play in 1943.

This was Miss Temple's last motion picture feature, and her most poorly received. It's episodic nature and idiotic plotting explain why. This was the period of time when America began to look upon teen-agers as a separate demographic, and all the old, stupid chestnuts were pulled out of the ashes for this one.

I could see why Temple called it quits after this one...

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 24 May 2014]

This was Shirley Temple's final film, and when I saw it I could see why. While she had once been the top-grossing actress in Hollywood as a child, by the late 1940s, she wasn't commanding such huge salaries and the projects they gave her were often inferior. "A Kiss for Corliss" is a film that looks like it was designed a kooky sitcom--not the work for an accomplished actress.

As far as "A Kiss for Corliss" goes, it has a mildly interesting pedigree. Temple played the same character a few years earlier in "Kiss and Tell". Two other actresses later played the character on two short- lived television series--and perhaps their being short-lived is because the character was a bit annoying!

In this installment, Corliss is wooed by a creepy old guy (David Niven), though he really is doing this to bother Corliss' father*. Additionally, Corliss has some adventures with her boyfriend (Daryl Hickman) and as a character, she's very broadly written, insufferable, annoying and hard to believe. In fact, it was so bad that I almost expected to hear a laugh track in the film! I found Corliss so over- the-top and difficult to like that I can see exactly why she then walked away from her film career. In addition, how many times could they cast the very youthful looking Temple as a love interest in a May-December romance (such as in "That Hagan Girl" and "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer"--both films which are actually much better than this Corliss Archer film. Tough to like.

*Although Corliss was once again played by Temple, her family was oddly played by a different cast.

UPDATE: I just saw the original Corliss Archer film, "Kiss and Tell". It was MUCH better than this one and is well worth seeing...and also stars Temple. It's amazing how much better writing influences how much you like or hate a character.

Diary of a Teenaged Drama Queen

[mark.waltz · 1/10 · 2 January 2013]

They say one lie leads to another, and in order to get out of a fix (being out until 5:00 in the morning), a 20-something teenaged Shirley Temple pretends to have amnesia in order to save face with her frustrated parents (Tom Tully and Gloria Holden). Too bad Ms. Holden couldn't turn back into Dracula's Daughter to hypnotize the truth out of Temple (or put her out of our misery) in this miserable comedy which co-star David Niven has referred to as one of the most horrid pieces of celluloid he ever had to appear in. Looking as if she's swallowed ecologin tablets (or had lip-o-suction), Temple (with dimples so thin and deep here they look like they could accept subway tokens) repeats her role of Corliss Archer (first played in 1945's "Kiss and Tell"), and finished her film career off here, if the film didn't do it for her.

I am one of the few critics who actually thought "That Hagen Girl" (her notorious bomb with Ronald Reagan) wasn't as bad as I had read it to be, but this film makes up for my acceptance of that film as mediocre, but basically entertaining in spite of its implausibilities. This film has so many implausibilities I couldn't list them all, but the major one is that it expects us to believe that Niven, a rival of Tully's, would use Temple just to get back at her father by sending her a dresser full of lingerie and pretend that they've cohabitated so Tully is forced to insist that Temple and Niven marry. Darryl Hickman is Temple's easy going boyfriend, and actually gives the one likable performance in the film. Holden, totally wasted here, escapes judgment totally simply by being misused. If you want to remember Shirley as she was in her post-teen years, skip this one and watch her "Mr. Belvedere" film instead.

Shirley wraps it up with a minor harmless comedy

[jjnxn-1 · 8/10 · 10 March 2014]

Innocuous comedy with Shirley, looking lovely, appealing as Corliss Archer, a sometimes savvy but often slightly addle-pated teen. She's surrounded by a competent cast, handed some nonsensical situations too work with but doing their best with what's given. David Niven in particular has a meaningless role that is little more than a cameo.

The fact that Shirley was a grown woman in a troubled first marriage with a child didn't deter the film makers from casting her as a high school student and at twenty one she could still pull it off. This cute, featherweight trifle marked the end of her time as a professional actress. After years of holding sway at the top of the world box office polls Shirley had the timidity to grow up and as she did her career slowed and ultimately after this trifling comedy she chose to throw in the towel. Never the strongest dramatic actress she did possess quite a skillful comic touch and had she chosen to continue acting she probably would have been able to sustain her career for several more years. She had already been announced for her next film, Career Girl- which was never made, when she decided not to continue. Initially retiring to raise her young children she eventually re-entered the public sphere in politics, using her fame perhaps more effectively than any other celebrity in positive manner.

The film is nothing that hasn't been done time and again but it does provide a nice farewell to a leading light of the screen.

The dog steals the show

[Philipp_Flersheim · 3/10 · 8 December 2021]

While parts of this picture are mildly amusing, all in all it is a failure. The storyline is convoluted and occasionally plain weird and the characters (including Corliss Archer, played by Shirley Temple) are off-putting. By 1949, Temple had lost all her pre-adolescent charm and had failed to develop any redeeming qualities that she was able to bring to bear in this film. Everyone, including David Niven in his role as Kenneth Marquis, is horribly overacting (the sole exception is the dog that does a decent job as the family pet). I really cannot imagine what Richard Wallace as director and Howard Dimsdale and F. Hugh Herbert as writers were thinking when they concocted this mess.

David Niven meets Corliss Archer

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 8 June 2015]

With the failure Bonnie Prince Charlie to reestablish David Niven as a box office star, that began a period for several years where Niven was scrambling for work. It's why he appears essentially as a guest star in a big screen version of the Meet Corliss Archer radio series, A Kiss For Corliss.

Shirley Temple is the star and this is the second time she appears as the eternally innocent Brooklyn bobbysoxer, she did Kiss And Tell four years earlier. Fans of the radio show probably were disappointed.

Temple's father is Tom Tully who is a lawyer and representing the third wife of playboy David Niven in a divorce suit. His daughter is having her usual troubles with her boy next door boyfriend Darryl Hickman. In a Lucy Ricardo type scheme she fakes a diary where says she's involved with Niven. The 'diary' falls into the wrong hands and Niven almost winds up marry Temple. I suppose that was better than That Hagen Girl where Ronald Reagan actually does marry Shirley Temple.

This is a most unfunny comedy. Niven looks embarrassed to be appearing in this. But he was a recent widower with two small sons and declining box office. He appeared in a few films like this in secondary roles to support his family.

Shirley Temple would also quit the movies after A Kiss For Corliss. No one in this film comes out with any career enhancement.

Last Call for Shirley Temple

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 17 March 2014]

Perky teenager Shirley Temple (as Corliss Archer) is fascinated by the divorce trial of suave playboy David Niven (as Kenneth Marquis), who is shedding his third wife. After the verdict, Ms. Temple meets Mr. Niven in her father's office and flirts openly with the older man. Temple's father Tom Tully (as Harry P. Archer) is understandably appalled. Meanwhile, Temple has become increasingly angry with cute boyfriend Darryl Hickman (as Dexter Franklin) – especially after he secretly takes a frizzed-out blonde to the seedy "Penguin Club". Temple fantasizes a relationship with Niven and writes suggestive details in her diary. When Temple and Mr. Hickman are locked in the "Penguin Club" overnight, Temple's parents read her diary and assume Temple and Niven are dating. They think Temple spent the evening with Niven. Not wanting to reveal she spent the night anyone, Temple pretends to have amnesia...

Specifically, Temple reverts to speaking and behaving like a pre-teen child...

This unflatteringly draws comparisons to Temple's more successful career as a 1930s child star. While still a popular "teen" star in the 1940s, her celebrity no longer guaranteed box office hits. "A Kiss for Corliss" was the last feature film for Temple and veteran director Richard Wallace, who died in 1951. It was a hesitating sequel to their "Kiss and Tell" (1945) and deceptively reappeared as a third Corliss film ("Almost a Bride"). The teenage character headlined a radio and television series. Bobby Ellis, memorable here as Raymond, took over Mr. Hickman's role of Dexter on television. Had small-screen situation comedy been an interest, Temple might have had great success there. A decade later, she hosted a TV series for children (of all ages). Later, she enjoyed a successful second career as United States ambassador Shirley Temple Black. Having Temple represent America abroad was inarguably a good idea.

***** A Kiss for Corliss (11/25/49) Richard Wallace ~ Shirley Temple, David Niven, Darryl Hickman, Tom Tully

Mediocre Comedy

[dougdoepke · 16 September 2015]

Plot-- A suburban teen causes a community uproar when she fakes a diary entry suggesting she spent a night with a much older man.

I didn't find the movie as bad as many other reviewers. Maybe it's because I don't hold comedy shtick to the same standard of plausibility as, say, crime drama. To me, the main standard of comedy is whether it's funny or not. This one's only mildly so, certainly not enough to fill out and hour and a half. Still, the madcap has its moments—Bobby Ellis as the officious teen newshound, Temple as a winsome 40's youngster, and Tully when he's blowing only half a gasket. And is Corliss's mom (Holden) really Dracula's Daughter (1936) who scared the pants off me many years ago!

Actually, the movie's a pretty good look at teen mores, circa 1949. I hadn't heard the phrase 'breech of promise' for decades, til this film, (deflowering a maiden on the promise of marriage and then reneging). There's also quite a bit of innuendo swirling around the misspent night—more than I would expect. But then that's half the draw, seeing the virginal Temple flirt with adult themes.

All things considered, it was probably wise for Shirley to exit the business since her movie image was so confining and not likely to change, as this 90-minutes shows. (For example, note how her "memory loss" personality mimics her moppet cuteness.) No, the movie's only memorable for being her last. But then, despite the general mediocrity, it does have its moments.

The film that drove Shirley Temple OUT . . .

[cricket30 · 5/10 · 10 March 2014]

. . . of American movie houses, as producers forced her to portray a 17-year-old school girl PRETENDING to be regressing to a 9-year-old ("Carry me up the steps, Daddy;" and even when in her "right mind," acting far LESS mature than the characters played by the now 21-year-old Miss Temple 15 YEARS earlier--when she was just six!). Hollywood, then and now, tries to pigeon-hole actors as one-trick ponies. They previously had allowed Miss Temple's characters to reach the advanced age of 18 (THAT HAGEN GIRL, for one), but with A KISS FOR CORLISS, they became permanently hell-bent on making her spoof herself as forever 17. Smart enough to realize it would be hard to "sell" this "17 act" when she turned 30 or 40 (let alone in her sixties and seventies), Miss Temple abandoned the Good Ship Lollipop for the U.N. ambassador slot (with a few side trips here and there). The plot of A KISS FOR CORLISS is too ridiculous for a serious critique. The romantic pairing of Shirley Temple with David Niven does NOT produce a credible chemistry such as the reaction that had allowed Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart to successfully bridge a similar age chasm a few years earlier, in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. Therefore, A KISS FOR CORLISS definitely comes down on the HAVE NOT side of the equation.

How in the world did this end Shirley's career?

[PatrynXX · 8/10 · 28 April 2020]

Musta been some awful idiots who didn't have a funny bone. Totally silly film. Start to finish. Big problem I have is it was a follow up to a movie thats technically not on a legit dvd. o_O Oh it's out there just not officially. Still the movie is up there in funniest videos of that era. I mainly know Shirley for the obvious and Heidi. (I'm Sarah!!!) Been watching Westerns but might swing a little for a humor few. This one was a treat.. David was hilarious. I know him from 2 movies at least My Man Godfrey and um this Pink Panther movie. The way he does his eyes... They is pure classic fun. I'm not bothering to give the plot away.

Quality: A Nose and 9/10 Entertainment: 10/10 Re-Playable: 8/10

Shirley hangs it up

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 20 February 2022]

Fawning teenager Corliss Archer (Shirley Temple) becomes infatuated with Kenneth Marquis (David Niven). He's getting divorced for the third time and her father is one of his attorneys. When her diary filled with an imaginary affair is discovered, it becomes a full blown scandal.

This is Shirley Temple's last film before quitting acting for about a decade. She just doesn't have it after being a child superstar. She's golly gee trying so hard that the humor isn't allowed to breathe. Her acting is old school. She's cute enough to lead but I don't think she has the ability to do more. The other issue is the paper thin backing for Corliss's romantic interest. One can put it down to a flighty teenager. She's just not a compelling character.