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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Me besó un bandido

Filming Locations:

Kennedy Meadows, California, USA

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Frank Sinatra did not want to make this movie, feeling that he was not right for the part. The studio, anxious to build him up as a leading man, forced him to be in it. He stated later that he never watched the film since he was embarrassed by the whole thing. Kathryn Grayson likewise disliked the film saying that it was her least favorite of all her films.

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Connections

Featured in MGM Parade: Episode #1.17 (1956)

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Soundtracks

Siesta
Frank Sinatra

User Reviews

Post-war curiosity

A strange post-World War II Technicolor curiosity from the Joe Pasternak musical unit at MGM, which had neither the budget nor the taste of the Arthur Freed unit on the same lot. Set in Mexican California as imagined by the Culver City art department, the bandit Chico is played broadly by the dialectician J. Carrol Naish (Irish) with a fake bulbous nose worthy of W.C. Fields; Don Jose by the Moscow-Art-Theater actor Mikhail Rasumny; and Ricardo by Hoboken-born Italian-American Frank Sinatra in his skinny bobby socker's heart-throb days. Along the way you'll see Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charrise dancing and not acting to choreography by soon to be director Stanley Donen. Future cowboy star Ben Johnson did some of the stunts. Cinematography by Robert Surtees is replete with soft- focus close-ups of Kathryn Grayson who often looks as if she was photographed through Vaseline. The film was directed by the Hungarian Laslo Benedek, best remembered today for THE WILD ONE (1963) with Brando. Sad to note, the real Mexicans in the cast were delegated to minor roles.