Kiss Them for Me (1957)

Three decorated Navy pilots finagle a four day leave in San Francisco. They procure a posh suite at the hotel and Commander Crewson, a master of procurement, arranges to populate it with ... See full summary »

Director:

Stanley Donen

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (screenplay), Luther Davis (play),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Jayne Mansfield, Leif Erickson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Cary Grant	...	Cmdr. Andy Crewson
Jayne Mansfield	...	Alice Kratzner
Leif Erickson	...	Eddie Turnbill
Suzy Parker	...	Gwinneth Livingston
Ray Walston	...	Lt. (j.g.) McCann
Larry Blyden	...	Mississip
Nathaniel Frey	...	CPO Ruddle
Werner Klemperer	...	Lt. Walter Wallace
Jack Mullaney	...	Ens. Lewis

Storyline

Three decorated Navy pilots finagle a four day leave in San Francisco. They procure a posh suite at the hotel and Commander Crewson, a master of procurement, arranges to populate it with party people. Lieutenant Wallace is trying to get the pilots to make speeches to rally the homefront at shipyard magnate Eddie Turnbill's plants, but they're tired of the war and just want to have fun. While Crewson begins falling in love with Turnbill's fiancée Gwinneth Livingston, he tries to ignore the distant call of war.

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Plot Keywords:

pilot | navy | hotel | buxom | shore leave | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 December 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Baciala per me

Filming Locations:

Fairmont Hotel - 950 Mason Street, Nob Hill, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Jerry Wald Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The fake response Cary Grant gives in the interview is from critic Walter Pater's "The Renaissance": "To burn always with this hard gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life".

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Goofs

The aircraft shown flying off the carrier at the end of the film are Douglas AD-1s. They did not enter service until after the end of World War II.

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Quotes

Gwinneth Livingston: Crewson, I love you very much.
Cmdr. Andy Crewson: That's the only way to love a person, otherwise it isn't worth all the trouble. I love you very much too.

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Connections

Referenced in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957)

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Soundtracks

"You Turned the Tables on Me"
(uncredited)
Music by Louis Alter

User Reviews

A Monumental Disappointment and a Waste of Fine Talent

There is a level of high expectation when you sit down to watch a comedy with a cast headed by Cary Grant, Jayne Mansfield, Ray Walston and Werner Klemperer. Those expectations are buoyed further when the film is directed by Stanley Donen, whose comic touch was so evident in, among others, DAMN YANKEES!, BEDAZZLED and CHARADE. For the first five minutes, or so, it seems that those expectations might be met and then…. Nothing. What is supposed to be a light comedy, plunges into leaden, heavy handed melodrama, with nary a chuckle to be had.

Relative newcomer Suzy Parker has often been criticized for her performance, or lack of one, in this film, but in a movie in which even the great Cary Grant frequently appears flat and wooden, attacking Parker seems unfair. Not even as bright a light as an Audrey Hepburn or Doris Day could have changed the fortunes of this meandering, dreary and wholly pointless script, which drags itself lamely along and drags the viewer's interest and patience down with it.

The rest of the cast, especially Ray Walston, keep trying to breath some life into the proceedings, but the horrible script is beyond resuscitation. The desperate, inane effort to drag a half hearted laugh from the numbed audience in the film's final moments only serves to add insult to injury.

This film is nothing but a major disappointment on all levels.