Kiss Me, Stupid

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Dean Martin stars in this once-controversial comedy as Dino, a Las Vegas crooner, alcoholic, and celebrity playboy. Dino requires women like oxygen -- a companionless night leaves him with a headache. Ray Walston is Orville, a provincial piano teacher, aspiring songwriter, and jealous husband. Orville violently obsesses over his wife Zelda's (Felicia Farr) fidelity -- any man she encounters becomes his sworn enemy. When a chance detour brings Dino to Orville's hometown of Climax, NV, it is the perfect opportunity for the piano teacher and his songwriting partner, Barney (Cliff Osmond), to pitch their tunes. Yet, Orville predictably fears the possible combination of Dino's libido with Zelda's childhood crush on the singer. Before the two can meet, Orville deceitfully bullies Zelda out of their house and Barney hires local roadhouse prostitute Polly the Pistol (Kim Novak) to pose as Orville's wife. Zelda turns to drink for solace, ending up at the exact bar where Polly plies her trade and, eventually, in the call girl's empty trailer. By the next morning, Orville is with Polly and Dino (looking for a prostitute) finds his way to Zelda -- and husband, wife, hooker, and Barney will all reap the benefits of infidelity. As indicated, this picture (which endured numerous complications on its long journey to the screen, including Walston's replacement of ailing star Peter Sellers) drew a great deal of attention upon release, most of it overwhelmingly negative. The Catholic League of Decency gave it a "condemned" rating (the first one applied since the 1956 Baby Doll), the picture was charged with debauchery, and movie theaters across the nation discontinued its run. This bed-trick comedy had America's panties tied in a knot, with many arguing that one could not imagine a story so distasteful. As a reflection on changing mores and standards, though, it was rated GP in 1970 (eventually changed to PG-13 in 1994). ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Black and White
• Subtitle: English, Spanish, French
• Features:
  • • cc Alternate scene
    • Original theatrical trailer
    • English: mono
    • French: mono
    • English, French, and Spanish language subtitles

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Billy Wilder

• Producer:

  Billy Wilder

• Screenwriter:

  I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder

• Play Author:

  Anna Bonacci

• Cinematographer:

  Joseph La Shelle

• Featured Music:

  George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin

• Composer (Music Score):

  Andre Previn

• Editor:

  Dan Mandell

• Production Designer:

  Alexandre Trauner

• Art Director:

  Robert Luthardt

• Associate Producer:

  I.A.L. Diamond, Doane Harrison

• Set Designer:

  Edward Boyle

• Costume Designer:

  Wes Jeffries, Bill Thomas

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Clem Portman

• Makeup:

  Emile LaVigne, Loren Cosand

• Special Effects:

  Milt Rice

• First Assistant Director:

  Charles C. Coleman, Jr.

• Choreography:

  Wally Green

• Casting:

  Lynn Stalmaster

• Production Manager:

  Allen K. Wood

REVIEW:

• Kiss Me, Stupid is one of several critical and commercial disappointments that tarnish Billy Wilder's later career. Reviewers chastised its reliance on stereotypes, as well as its archaic indoor scenery and filtered black-and-white photography. Audiences resisted the film's guileless approach (such as casting Dean Martin as a boozing rat packer) and cynical moral (that a couple may revive its love and its finances through infidelity). But it is the simplicity and coarseness of this picture that have left it memorable and even commendable. Kiss Me, Stupid is a precursor of such American films as Todd Solondz's Happiness and Neil LaBute's Your Friends & Neighbors -- movies that exploit paper-thin characters and unadorned filmmaking to develop an honesty often celebrated for being unpleasant. With Kiss Me, Stupid, Wilder does not hide behind the attractive fallibility of William Holden or Jack Lemmon. They may have been praised as appealing to the "everyman," but Martin and Ray Walston are every man -- a little too typical and a little too familiar. Their characters react predictably to each plot turn, and are thus too uncomplicated to have their behavior excused. They inhabit the unforgiving real world -- a fact emphasized by Wilder's drab living room backgrounds and his decision not to glamorize them in Technicolor. Kiss Me, Stupid is necessarily abrasive, understandably painful to watch, and brilliantly ahead of its time. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi