I’m a giant Sinatra fan, so when the topic of a so bad, it’s good movie came up, I knew I wanted to do this one. The Kissing Bandit gets a LOT of flack, but, there are plenty of redeeming moments in a pretty goofy and at moments, problematic, movie.
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Synopsis
So basically a band of old bandits in California are without a leader, so they are jazzed when his son Ricardo (Sinatra) writes that he is coming from Boston to restart his father’s business. When he arrives, Chico (his father’s friend) reveals his father’s true nature to him—that his dad was a bandit and not just any bandit. He was “The Kissing Bandit” who would kiss every woman he met and the ladies would all swoon and faint because he was super good at kissing. This revelation freaks out Ricardo, who thought his dad was just an innkeeper. As is the case with many of Sinatra’s early films, his character here is inexperienced and timid around women, but they take him on a carriage heist anyway.
Enter the governor’s daughter Teresa, played by the lovely Kathryn Grayson. When Ricardo’s band of bandits stops their carriage, the horses escape, sending Ricardo and Teresa plummeting down the hill to certain death, except it somehow rolls to a stop. While Teresa expects him to kiss her, instead he refuses because (we find out later) he has never kissed a girl. Of course, Teresa takes this as an insult and then muses about why she’s the one girl he wouldn’t kiss since she knows him only by his father’s reputation.
Sinatra has a similar song, musing about why he couldn’t do it.
Then, he decides to go see her so he can get that kiss, so he, in true Sinatra fashion, serenades her from the ground under her balcony. She comes out, but the kiss is again delayed as he is chased out. Chico decides that Ricardo just needs to get the kiss out of his system, so he sends a sexy girl to entice him, but he only has eyes for Teresa, so he runs away from her… as is the case with many of his characters during the 1940s. Not sure I can really blame him in this instance, she does use a whip a whole bunch in her dance scene.
After this, the inn gets some real guests instead of just being a front for the bandit operation. A Count and General/head of the secret police show up, but the Count is super snotty and self-important, so besides his pretty pink attire, we don’t love him. Anyway, Chico has a hard time ignoring his stealing instincts, so he decides to steal from their rooms, but Ricardo catches him and while they’re putting it all back, the Count catches them. So what else are they to do? They tie up the men and take their places in their mission to visit the governor and collect on the taxes he owes the king.
Chico discovers the governor doesn’t have the taxes he owes, so he tells Ricardo they should just leave, but he has a hard time leaving Teresa. He has an epifany about how he should abduct her because that’s how his dad got his mom. So… yes, this is a bit problematic, especially when Teresa starts singing about how she now knows nothing is wrong with her anymore since he wants to kidnap her. I mean… yeah, but they do kidnap a bunch of women in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and that turns out, so let’s chalk it up to the intention of it being a romantic gesture even though it is not okay in real life.
So Ricardo plans to take her away with him when Chico reminds him that being the woman of a bandit is a hard life, so he decides he can’t do that to her and intends to leave when he gets distracted by her singing. We’re with you, Ricardo. Teresa (Grayson) has a beautiful voice.
At this point the real Count shows up and he has this odd fight scene with Ricardo where they not only punch each other, but throw potted plants. There are SO MANY potted plants. After Ricardo wins, he decides the bandit life isn’t for him and he’s going to go back to Boston since he thinks Teresa only likes him because he is a bandit.
Say what you will about the issues, but this movie has the slow-burn trope down to the VERY LAST MINUTE of the movie before Teresa turns the tables to serenade him and they finally kiss… and she swoons. Seems like Ricardo has his father’s superpower after all! The End!
The Players
Frank Sinatra
Given how huge a fan I am, I love watching Frank in pretty much anything…especially when he sings. That does not change here. His voice is beautiful and I could listen to him all day long. He does what he does best here. Sure, the premise is a little goofy and he didn’t like this film, but finding the good in it is not hard. The studio wanted to set him up as a leading man, and as we know, he gets there, but this may have not been the ideal vehicle for that. That said, his acting is good, his songs are beautiful, and his facial expressions are on point and make me smile. He’s a great actor, which I think people often forget.
Also…only Frank could sing a love song with a fly in it and still have it be romantic. I dare you to fight me on that.
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn wasn’t a great fan of this one either, but her voice is impressive, as always. She does a great job with the material she had, and I think that’s all that could be done here. She is gorgeous and so is her wardrobe. The bright colors complement her really well. The wedding dress isn’t subtle at all though…
Specialty Dance (Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller)
In addition to Frank and Kathryn’s singing, this is the hidden jewel in this movie. Even if people disagree about the film itself, this is hard to argue against.
Background Trivia
Even though Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse became huge stars, they were still just featured dancers here. It is really cool to see the two of them together, but it’s not something we got to see again. Sinatra and Grayson also mocked this movie for the rest of their careers, but hey, we can still enjoy aspects of it!
As long as you take it for what it is and don’t expect it to be historically accurate, it is amusing and fun to dust off once in a while.
What if…
I wonder what would have happened if Sinatra and Grayson had enjoyed filming this. Would it have been harder on them when it wasn’t received well? What if they’d had a romance off-screen? I wonder if we’d see that translate onto film. What if the film had damaged the career of everyone in it? How would that have affected movie history? We’d miss out on so many great films they all did after this.
If you like alternative history or historical fiction, I write that as well under the pen name Dottie Fray.
Check out the other entries in this blogathon and discover a new hidden gem!
If you purchase this film, I may earn a commission as an Amazon affiliate: DVD or rent/stream! Also available in a box set with It Happened in Brooklyn, Step Lively, Double Dynamite and Higher and Higher.
I am more familiar with Frank Sinatra as a singer than an actor, so I’ve never heard of the kissing bandit! It sounds like a mixture of Goofy and charming and yeah, a bit problematic at times. However, it also sounds entertaining! Great review!
I made mention of this in my contribution to this blog-a-thon, but Frank Sinatra is the poster child for a rule I have. For some reason, singers almost always get short-changed on the credit they deserve for solid acting performances. That also applies to Dolly Parton, who I saw in another contribution here.
Wow — What a difference twenty years makes, from the shy, Kissing Bandit who’s never kissed, to Tony Rome (which I saw not too long ago)!
Love that Montalban-Miller-Charisse dance number. Now That’s Entertainment!
They already had Ricardo Montalban yet they cast Sinatra as a Latin lover?
I enjoyed reading about this films — and the clips were a bonus! I’m a big Sinatra fan, too, but not so much of musicals. Still, after reading your write-up, I might just give this one a go if I run across it! Thank you for introducing me to it!
– Karen
That is a great dance number. I never knew of Montalban as dancer but, looking up his film credits, I see he had several dance numbers over the years.
As a fan of Sinatra, what do you think of his hair in this film? Personally, I feel he could have done with a trim, particularly those side burns. 😀
Yes! I haven’t seen this one all the way through, but it’s got some great stuff. The Ricardo Montalban dance with Ann and Cyd is so much fun. Thanks again for joining the blogathon with this great review!
This sounds like a fun movie. And kidnapping always is the place for boy songs girl in movies.. so good to have you back!!!