Kiss Her Goodbye

Late-'50s indie with a putrid aroma, about an average Joe trying to protect his mentally retarded but nubile sister from the attentions of uncomprehending suitors. Not much happens, but from the frenzy of fanfares in the bloated musical score, you'd think we'd dropped the A-bomb on Moscow. I also notice that while the movie shakes its little finger at these guys for slobbering all over its heroine, it has no compunction about endless footage of Sharon Farrell in a bikini, Sharon Farrell in a tiny waitress outfit, Sharon Farrell at a playground innocently showing her panties. Her character makes no sense -- she's an incoherent screaming idiot one minute, a perfectly rational miss the next -- and Elaine Stritch, as a youngish widow stuck on the brother, doesn't fit comfortably into a conventional role. (The character also has an infant son, who is the basis of one dramatic incident and then is promptly forgotten.) Steven Hill, as the guy, maintains his dignity in another inconsistent role, and the black-and-white Florida photography is crisp and evocative, but it's one of those lurid Bs that makes you run for the shower once it's over.

This is a drama with a still relevant story line about a mentally challenged young lady named Emily Wilson (Sharon Farrell) whose older brother named Ed Wilson (Steven Hill) puts his own life aside to take care of his younger sister. Emily is an extremely sensual looking 20 something young lady who has the mental capacity and innocence of a six (6) year old girl, but the physical attributes of a well endowed sex goddess.

Ed realizes that his mentally challenged younger sister Emily would be unable to survive on her own without becoming preyed upon by every horny man in town and when that has happened in past years, and in towns they are just passing through, Emily becomes frightened and hysterical and can become violent to the men who are unaware of her mental challenges if they attempt to make unwanted passes at her.

It is a dramatic film with a great story line and even greater acting. Actor Steven Hill went on to great success in the longstanding TV series Law&Order between 1990-2000 as the District Attorney, Adam Schiff.

I would highy recommend this black and white dramatic film as a must see with mental issues and family struggles that remain relevant even today. I give the film a highly rewarding 9 out of 10 IMDb rating.

Elaine Stritch (already a decade into a fascinating Broadway career that would span more than 60 years) and a surprisingly handsome and already understated Steven Hill (MUCH later to create the solid district attorney in the first years of LAW AND ORDER) provide the main points of interest in this wanna-be tawdry independent film that evokes nothing so much as LOLITA meets LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA while driving through Tennessee Williams territory trying to find the way to KEY LARGO. It never gets there.

The inconsistent writing (dropped motivations and theatre references coming out of nowhere) is not helped by the cinematography and direction which looks like 50's television not movie work. A bad episode of Perry Mason perhaps - before the murder happens - all freshly scrubbed, possibly TOO cleanly filmed set-up, lots of innuendo (but none a CBS censor wouldn't pass), no real punch even when it tries to steal ideas from classic tension makers like FRANKENSTEIN (the scene with the monster and the little girl) or DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS (the frustrated boy with oppressive parent). It isn't good enough to be really bad, or bad enough to be really good.

While only released after Stritch's Broadway musical GOLDILOCKS had come and gone (Oct. '58 - Feb. '59 despite a wonderful score and hilarious book - Noël Coward saw Stritch in THAT and wrote a show for her as a result), KISS HER GOODBYE was probably filmed just before she went into rehearsals for the musical - shortly after the all too quick Broadway flop of THE SIN OF PAT MULDOON (one week in 1957 - not long enough to take the bloom off Stritch's well received performance in BUS STOP, 1955-56, which probably got her this role).

The film, like ...PAT MULDOON, didn't appear to make enough of an impression to actually hurt anyone's career - but it didn't help anyone's either. The New York Times Directory of Film doesn't even list a N.Y. Times review for it - though it does list five other film notices involving Hill from 1950 to 1965 and three others for Stritch from 1957 to January of '59.

What a pity. The leads in KISS HER GOODBYE deserved better, but fans of their mature work should enjoy seeing them near the start.

The late 1950s appear to be the age of the child-woman, from "La Strada" (1954) and "Baby Doll" (1956) to "Lolita" (1962) and "Term of Trial" (1962). Smack in the middle, we find this adaptation of a pulp novel by Wade Miller, introducing Sharon Farrell to a long career in TV and movies. Her brother, Steven Hill explains that she has the mind of a six-year old. All the characters are very unusual, but the skillful cast brings them to life in a slow developing but intriguing plot. Oddly, it was director Albert Lipton's only effort. The talented musician, Johnny Richards, also had a brief career. Farrell, who was married several times, worked with her first husband here, Andrew Prine. Did life follow art? This was 94 well spent, but somewhat mystifying, minutes. What exactly was wrong with her?

Turner Classic Movies channel just showed this (10/10/06). I'd never heard of it before. I suspect it was barely released in 1959. It's a very low-budget film that's supposed to take place in Florida, but I'm not sure it was entirely shot there. Some of it looks like Southern Cal. Steven Hill, Elaine Stritch, Andrew Prine and a nineteen-year-old Sharon Farrell are professional and do the best they can with a weak script and in what looks like an amateur production. I see it's the director's only credit. The film is not bad, somewhat interesting, but never rises above its limits. A minor curio. It certainly kept me watching, but in the end it didn't amount to much.