Le brigand amoureux

This rarely seen musical gets a bad rap probably because its as silly as it gets. It's not what audiences expected or could accept from MGM in 1948 or now. It starts silly and ends silly, and has equal amounts of good and bad in-between. The writers had a basic idea of Sinatra being weak-willed (similar to parts in Anchors Aweigh and On The Town) so it's not totally different than his other early films. The story meanders all over the place with comedy and musical sequences, a bizarre whip dance with Sono Osato (whose character doesn't show up again) and a total dud of a song called "Siesta". Movie rules: never have a musical number where everyone falls asleep on-screen; the audience will follow. Everyone works hard, especially the excellent character actors, and its tough to create the silly atmosphere. What can't be faulted are the outstanding MGM production values, the excellent "Love is Where You Find It" sung by Grayson and the generally good songs. This movie sat on MGM's shelf from 1947 with an eventual release at the end of 1948 due to poor audience previews and attempts to salvage the film. MGM added the "Fiesta" dance with Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban, and Ann Miller after production ended to spice things up and it's probably the best thing in the movie. It's exciting, the music is propulsive, and the dancing and costumes are beautiful. The movie is cute, deluxe and enjoyable and certainly better many musicals of the period.

I saw this when it was first run and enjoyed it (I was 11). I recently saw it on DVD and, while I didn't enjoy it as much as the first time, it was still fun. First the good: Kathryn Grayson is beautiful as ever and her voice is as good as it ever was. Frank Sinatra handles his singing duties in great style. Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller and Cyd Charisse perform a dance that is the best part of the movie. Now the bad: the story line is weak and unbelievable and both Sinatra and Grayson seem uncomfortable with their roles. Sinatra in particular seems out of place in the action scenes. Sinatra and Grayson have no spark between them which makes the love story part seem a little hard to believe. It is not one of the greatest musicals, but it is far from the worst. The music is forgettable, except for Kathryn's "Love Is Where You Find It", and there are not real laugh-out-loud moments, but all in all it is pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours.

Okay, so it's not West Side Story, but The Kissing Bandit is darned cute. There were so many silly musicals throughout motion-picture history, I'm surprised that this one is getting such a bad rap.

The 1940's, regardless of how thinly the stories were laid-on, was the most beautiful decade in history for films. The remarkable lighting, set, and costume design of the '40's can make just about every movie enjoyable. Sinatra and Grayson are delightful; any scene in which Kathryn appears is worth watching just because she was so adorable and lovely. Mildred Natwick's role isn't very vivid, but she's a wonderful actress no matter how small the part.

If you don't care for the silliness of the "filler", just fast-forward to any scene with singing, dancing, or an actress -- Heck three of the most beautiful and talented women in film are all in the same movie. Just enjoy the pretty colors and all will be well... sleep... sleeeep...

The Kissing Bandit was an attempt by MGM to build up Frank Sinatra as a leading man. This is a lively, bright, and goofy comedy musical. Sinatra plays Ricardo, a California born, Boston-bred young man who returns to California to take over the family business, not knowing that his father was the infamous Kissing Bandit. So named because he kissed all the women after he was done with his thievery. Ricardo is the last possible candidate to take up his father's mask. He is a proper and uncoordinated, and in his funny entrance he literally crashes through the inn that his father owned, having fallen off of his horse. J. Carroll Naish plays the comic relief on the male side as Chico, who was Ricardo's father's right hand man. Frank Sinatra is fine, but stiff at times in his role.

Sinatra's leading lady is operatic coloratura singer Kathryn Grayson, and this is a strange pairing. When they are doing songs by themselves, both actors shine, but their lone duet in the film (and thank goodness there is only one!) just doesn't work. Sinatra's smooth, jazz crooning is an odd, almost jarring pairing with Grayson's operatic arias. The film would have been stronger had they paired Frank with someone whose singing style wasn't as vastly different. The songs in the film are all good and memorable, including the Grayson solo "Tomorrow Means Romance", the Sinatra solo "Siesta", and my favorite song in the film "What's Wrong With Me?", which both Grayson and Sinatra sing. The songs were written by Nacio Herb Brown and Earl K. Brent. Brown had been paired frequently with Arthur Freed in the '20's and '30's and their songs were later used as the basis for possibly the best known movie musical of all time, Singin' in the Rain. "What's Wrong With Me", in fact, was used in the stage version of Singin'.

In addition to Naish, the film has a fine supporting cast of character actors, including Mildred Natwick as Grayson's man hungry aunt, and Clinton Sundberg as the bumbling Colonel Gomez, who keeps getting demoted. The plot line is thin and pure silliness, and Sinatra and Grayson have a flimsy chemistry, but it is held up by several strong musical performances and two cool dance sequences, one that includes Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, and Ann Miller. The comedy is not lacking though, and I had a smile on my face throughout. Overall, The Kissing Bandit, provides a fun time-filler for a late night or rainy day.

It is 19th century California when it is still a part of Mexico. The Kissing Bandit is dead. His men are eagerly awaiting for the arrival of his son Richardo (Frank Sinatra) to take over. Richardo had been studying hospitality in Boston and expects to take over the family inn instead of taking over a gang of bandits. He falls for Teresa (Kathryn Grayson), the local governor's daughter.

This is a musical comedy western. I wasn't in love with any of three genres in this until Bianca brought out the whip. At least, that woke me up. I don't think that I care about any of the other songs. I do think that Frank Sinatra fits this role well if he plays it right. He just needs to act the role instead of resting on being Frank Sinatra. The comedy is pretty broad and not that funny. All in all, it's not quite good enough.