Eine tolle Nummer

All in all, a mildly entertaining time capsule of days gone bye, bye; the "good old days" when couples married so they could have "legitimate" sex.

Debbie Reynolds, a chorus line cutie is at her perky peak, and Glenn Ford, an Air Force sergeant, is his usual dull-as-dishwater leading man.

This genre of bedroom farce popular with 1950s' audiences is full of contrived complications, titillating juvenile sexual innuendo but is overall wholesome movie fare.

If the Catholic arbiters of morality objected to this movie upon its release, I wonder how the fiery red futuristic car passed condemnation? It's the sexiest thing in the movie. What a babe to ride! Ford's commanding officer tells him the State Department deems the car too "splendiferous." This Lincoln concept car certainly had star power; it went on to be cast as the infamous Batmobile.

As the backdrop for the film is Spain, how could the cultural trope of the heroic bullfighter not be included? So that's inserted into the high jinks too. Olé!

Besides being a slightly better-than-average romantic comedy, this movie features several very familiar television supporting stars -- if you're an old coot like me anyway! -- including Eva Gabor ("Green Acres"), Edgar Buchanan ("Petticoat Junction"), Harry Morgan ("Dragnet" and "M*A*S*H"), Frances Bavier ("The Andy Griffith Show"), Richard Deacon ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"), Marion Ross ("Happy Days"), and last, but not least, the Batmobile!

It Started With A Kiss is the first of two successive films that George Marshall directed Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds in. The second was The Gazebo which I like much better. Not that this service comedy is without merit.

Ford plays an Air Force Sergeant on leave who both buys a raffle ticket from Debbie and then winds up marrying her. The prize is this $40,000.00 car which would now be worth about $200,000.00 in today's money value. When Ford goes back to Spain where he's stationed, Debbie follows him and the car follows Debbie.

Debbie's having a few second thoughts about her hasty marriage and has put the brakes on the sex part of her relationship with Ford, trying now to get to know the guy she's married to. Each of them gets some temptation thrown their way, him with Eva Gabor, her with bullfighter Gustavo Rojo.

But the biggest problem is that car. They can't drive it around as they are warned against ostentatious displays of American prosperity. Glenn finds he can't sell the thing and on top of that as the prize in a lottery, it's subject to taxation like quiz show earnings. What to do?

In Peter Ford's recent biography of his father, he says that this film with Debbie Reynolds and The Gazebo that came after was at a critical time for both. He was ending his marriage to Eleanor Powell and Debbie was the odd girl out in the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds triangle that was front page for months. The two did a lot of commiserating on both sets.

Peter Ford also mentions that his father loved working with director George Marshall. I've done some reviews myself of their joint collaboration and have said they are an unfortunately unheralded actor/ director collaboration.

Fred Clark has a nice part as a most harried Air Force general who has to deal with Ford and Reynolds marital and motor problems as well as a visiting Congressional delegation. Long time Ford friend Edgar Buchanan does well as an acerbic Representative.

It Started With A Kiss is not as good some of the other Ford/Marshall collaborations, but it has a few good laughs and should satisfy fans of Glenn and Debbie.

Air Force staff sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick (Glenn Ford) meets showgirl Maggie Putnam (Debbie Reynolds) at a charity. She's trying to find a rich man, but he won't take no for an answer. He plants a magical first kiss on her and she falls head over heels.

I'm sure that back in the day, Joe is seen as playful and romantic. That's how I choose to see him. Debbie Reynolds remains endearing even as a gold-digger. She's not a gold-digger for that long anyways. The meet-cute is definitely eventful. This is fine as a rom-com. For comic book fans, the car's first appearance would immediately strike you dead. It's the Batmobile. For that, this will go down in cinematic history.

The main attraction going for this film is the futuristic car shown in it, which for 1959 looked way ahead of its times. The comedy, as directed by George Marshall tries to be a movie exploiting the sexual tensions between the two stars. The same premise was achieved with better results in other films of the era, notably, "Pillow Talk".

The mere idea of a young married couple putting such a barrier between their sexual life is risible, at best. The two stars, Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford try their best, but are bogged down because of the screen play.

As someone has already noted, the film shows in minor roles actors that went to better careers in television. Eva Gabor, Harry Morgan, Edgar Buchanan, Frances Bavier, among them.

The basic excuse for watching the film is the car and some views of Spain, as it looked in the late fifties. In fact, a woman in slacks, as we see Ms. Reynolds at the beginning of the film, as she arrived in Madrid, was a big no-no in the Spanish society of the time. Things have changed since then!