KISS ME, STUPID

Despite it being a long time since I first saw this 1964 Billy Wilder sex comedy/satire I had a clear recollection of the story, proving it's a memorable film if nothing else, if not necessarily for the right reasons.

The basic plot, taken from an Italian play, is a doozy.  A guy appears to offer his wife to a lecher who might advance his career, one twist being that he has substituted a prostitute for his wife, a second twist being that unbeknownst to him his wife takes the role of the prostitute.  Complications ensue leading to the protagonist spending the night with his 'wife' whilst his wife spends the night with the lecher.

It's pretty daring stuff for a mainstream film of the period.  

In 'The Apartment', Wilder's film from four years earlier, the protagonist CC Baxter lends his apartment to his superiors so that they can conduct affairs.  That seems no better behaviour than that of the protagonist here (Orville Spooner) so why was that film an outstanding success whilst this one was a commercial and critical flop?

Well whereas in the earlier film CC Baxter's love for Fran Kubelik leads him to see the error of his ways, here Spooner has few redeeming qualities and indeed very little agency.  

To compound the problem he is played by Ray Walston, who does the best he can but he's not an actor to exude much charm or warmth.  His role was first offered to Jack Lemmon (naturally) but when he couldn't fit it into his schedule the part was offered to Peter Sellars.  After several weeks of filming Sellars had to drop out after suffering multiple heart attacks, leading Walston to be drafted in. 

It's a shame the footage with Sellars is lost (I presume) since it would be fascinating to see his take on the role.  I can't see him being any more likeable than Walston but he surely would have brought some comic flair to the more farcical elements.

Given that we can't root for Spooner (a small town music teacher and amateur songwriter) or the lecher, Dino (Dean Martin virtually playing himself) our sympathies naturally go to the prostitute ('Polly the Pistol', played by Kim Novak) and to Spooner's long-suffering wife (played by Felicia Farr), and both make the most of somewhat underwritten parts.

What's at stake is whether Spooner and his song writing partner Barney Millsap can get Dino to feature one of their songs in his show.  Since it's hard to care much about this, the film has to rely on the comic elements of the plot to entertain.

Unfortunately the screenplay isn't as sharp as it needs to be, given that comedy is not the forte of any of the four lead actors.  That the small town is called Climax is perhaps an indication that there's not going to be much subtlety on view, and the way the female characters are treated makes for uncomfortable viewing throughout.  

And at 126 minutes the film is way too long.

However despite all these problems I ended up quite enjoying it - maybe it was the thought of all the outrage the film caused upon its release.  And I found it hard to resist the songs, where Ira Gershwin added lyrics to tunes by his late brother George, especially 'I'm A Poached Egg'!