The Kissing Bandit (1948)

Ricardo, the milquetoast son of a Mexican bandit, would rather lead a quiet life in Boston. But the family would rather that he follow in his father's footsteps and become "The Kissing Bandit".

Director:

Laslo Benedek

Writers:

John Briard Harding, Isobel Lennart

Stars:

Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, J. Carrol Naish

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Frank Sinatra	...	Ricardo
Kathryn Grayson	...	Teresa
J. Carrol Naish	...	Chico
Mildred Natwick	...	Isabella
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Don Jose
Billy Gilbert	...	General Felipe Toro
Sono Osato	...	Bianca
Clinton Sundberg	...	Colonel Gomez
Carleton G. Young	...	Count Ricardo Belmonte
Ricardo Montalban	...	Fiesta Specialty Dancer
Ann Miller	...	Fiesta Specialty Dancer
Cyd Charisse	...	Dancer
Edna Skinner	...	Juanita
Vicente Gómez	...	Mexican Guitarist

Storyline

Ricardo, son of a Mexican bandit, becomes against his will a bandit. He falls in love with Theresa, the daughter of the governor, who is expecting tax collectors from Spain. Ricardo sees a good chance there.

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Plot Keywords:

inheritance | hotel | garden | peso | red wine | 

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Taglines:

Ann Miller will thrill you!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was first telecast in Seattle Saturday 26 January 1957 on KING (Channel 5), in Hartford CT 10 February 1957 on WHCT (Channel 18), in Phoenix 23 February 1957 on KPHO (Channel 5), in Minneapolis 4 March 1957 on KMGM (Channel 9), in Los Angeles 8 March 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), in Chicago 16 June 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), in Philadelphia 26 July 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6), in Altoona PA 23 August 1957 on WFBG (Channel 10), and in New York City 3 November 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2); in San Francisco it was finally seen 3 August 1959 on KGO (Channel 7). At this time, color broadcasting was in its infancy, limited to only a small number of high rated programs, primarily on NBC and NBC affiliated stations, so these film showings were all still in B&W. Viewers were not offered the opportunity to see these films in their original Technicolor until several years later.

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Connections

Featured in MGM: When the Lion Roars (1992)

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Soundtracks

Señorita
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Earl K. Brent
Kathryn Grayson and Frank Sinatra

User Reviews

The film would have been stronger had they paired Frank with someone whose singing style wasn't as vastly different.

The Kissing Bandit was an attempt by MGM to build up Frank Sinatra as a leading man. This is a lively, bright, and goofy comedy musical. Sinatra plays Ricardo, a California born, Boston-bred young man who returns to California to take over the family business, not knowing that his father was the infamous Kissing Bandit. So named because he kissed all the women after he was done with his thievery. Ricardo is the last possible candidate to take up his father's mask. He is a proper and uncoordinated, and in his funny entrance he literally crashes through the inn that his father owned, having fallen off of his horse. J. Carroll Naish plays the comic relief on the male side as Chico, who was Ricardo's father's right hand man. Frank Sinatra is fine, but stiff at times in his role.

Sinatra's leading lady is operatic coloratura singer Kathryn Grayson, and this is a strange pairing. When they are doing songs by themselves, both actors shine, but their lone duet in the film (and thank goodness there is only one!) just doesn't work. Sinatra's smooth, jazz crooning is an odd, almost jarring pairing with Grayson's operatic arias. The film would have been stronger had they paired Frank with someone whose singing style wasn't as vastly different. The songs in the film are all good and memorable, including the Grayson solo "Tomorrow Means Romance", the Sinatra solo "Siesta", and my favorite song in the film "What's Wrong With Me?", which both Grayson and Sinatra sing. The songs were written by Nacio Herb Brown and Earl K. Brent. Brown had been paired frequently with Arthur Freed in the '20's and '30's and their songs were later used as the basis for possibly the best known movie musical of all time, Singin' in the Rain. "What's Wrong With Me", in fact, was used in the stage version of Singin'.

In addition to Naish, the film has a fine supporting cast of character actors, including Mildred Natwick as Grayson's man hungry aunt, and Clinton Sundberg as the bumbling Colonel Gomez, who keeps getting demoted. The plot line is thin and pure silliness, and Sinatra and Grayson have a flimsy chemistry, but it is held up by several strong musical performances and two cool dance sequences, one that includes Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, and Ann Miller. The comedy is not lacking though, and I had a smile on my face throughout. Overall, The Kissing Bandit, provides a fun time-filler for a late night or rainy day.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Me besó un bandido

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,291,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1