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:

Sono Osato is the screeen's new sensation!

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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

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

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Ricardo Montalban/Eskimo-Indian Olympians/Uri Geller (1973)

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Soundtracks

Dance of Fury
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Danced by Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller

User Reviews

Really Bad Role for Sinatra

The Kissing Bandit (1948)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Chico (J. Carrol Naish) has Ricardo (Frank Sinatra) come to Mexico because it turns out that he's the son of the infamous Kissing Bandit. Chico plans on taking the guy, who has been staying in Boston, and turning him into the next Kissing Bandit to steal more than just the heart from Teresa (Kathryn Grayson) but Ricardo has other ideas.

THE KISSING BANDIT is apparently a film that Sinatra hated making and it's pretty obvious that this film simply wasn't meant for him. While going through some Sinatra pictures on Turner Classic Movies, host Robert Osborne made some good comments about the legends early days at MGM. Instead of playing off his image and music, MGM instead decided to make Sinatra play nerdy roles where the characters didn't know how to speak to women and usually made a fool of themselves. With these types of roles it's easy to see why Sinatra's career would pretty much crumble before being rescued with FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.

As for THE KISSING BANDIT, it's pretty darn bad on several levels but we can start with Sinatra who is downright awful here. Why on Earth anyone would think this would be a good role for him is just mind-blowing and you have to wonder if someone in MGM's office really wanted to kill his career with this film. Playing a Mexican bandit is just downright stupid and especially with there being no attempt for even an accent. It's also clear that Sinatra isn't giving the character much effort but I guess we can't blame him.

Naish and Grayson are both good in their roles and I'd argue that the Technicolor is quite good and at least gives us some pretty stuff to look at. With that being said, the rest of THE KISSING BANDIT is rather bad with some really boring dance numbers and all of the songs are rather forgettable. One has to wonder what Sinatra thought about singing these things.

THE KISSING BANDIT is a film Sinatra hated and it's easy to see why.