The Kissing Bandit (film)
The Kissing Bandit is a 1948 film starring Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson. The supporting cast includes Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse. The movie was directed by Laslo Benedek.
The Kissing Bandit | |
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Directed by | Laslo Benedek |
Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
Written by | Isobel Lennart |
Starring | Frank Sinatra Kathryn Grayson J. Carrol Naish |
Music by | George Stoll |
Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
Edited by | Adrienne Fazan |
Production company | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | November 18, 1948 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3,291,000[1][2] |
Box office | $1,381,000[1] |
Plot
The film is set in the early nineteenth century. Ricardo (Frank Sinatra) is the son of a robber known as the Kissing Bandit. He however is a shy, Boston-bred young man who does not know how to sit on a horse. He falls for the daughter of the Spanish Governor of California.
Cast
- Frank Sinatra as Ricardo
- Kathryn Grayson as Teresa
- J. Carrol Naish as Chico
- Mildred Natwick as Isabella
- Mikhail Rasumny as Don Jose
- Billy Gilbert as General Felipe Toro
- Sono Osato as Bianca
- Clinton Sundberg as Colonel Gomez
- Carleton G. Young as Count Ricardo Belmonte
- Ricardo Montalban as Fiesta Specialty Dancer
- Ann Miller as Fiesta Specialty Dancer
- Cyd Charisse as Fiesta Specialty Dancer
- Sally Forrest as Fiesta Specialty Dancer
- Edna Skinner as Juanita
- Vicente Gómez as Mexican Guitarist
Songs
Music by Nacio Herb Brown, lyrics by Earl Brent and Edward Heyman.
- "Love is Where You Find It"
- "Tomorrow Means Romance"
- "What's Wrong With Me?"
- "If I Steal a Kiss"
- "I Like You"
- "Siesta"
- "Senorita"
Reception
The film was a financial disaster, earning $969,000 in the US and Canada and $412,000 overseas, resulting in a loss to MGM of $2,643,000. This made it one of the least successful musicals in MGM history.[1][3][4]
It was reviewed - unfavourably - in Picturegoer : "the progress of [the] romance is uninspired and very dull. The one worthwhile performance comes from J. Carrol Naish as The Kissing Bandit's henchman."[5]
References
- The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- Another source puts the cost at $2.5 million Variety February 1948
- Variety says it earned $1.8 million see "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
- "Top Grossers of 1949". Variety. 4 January 1950. p. 59.
- Picturegoer, 4 June 1949, p.16