Billy Wilder directed Kiss Me, Stupid, a sex comedy starring Dean Martin, Kim Novak, and Ray Walston.
The screenplay by Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the play L’ora della fantasia (The Dazzling Hour) by Anna Bonacci, which had inspired Wife for a Night (1952), an Italian film starring Gina Lollobrigida.
The comic song lyrics were written by Ira Gershwin, using some of George Gershwin’s unpublished melodies.
The supporting cast includes Felicia Farr and comedians Cliff Osmond, Howard McNear, Cliff Norton, Mel Blanc and Henry Gibson.
Dino, a lecherous, heavy-drinking pop singer is forced to detour through Climax, Nevada. There he meets the amateur songwriting team of Barney Millsap, a gas station attendant, and piano teacher Orville J. Spooner.
Hoping to interest Dino in their songs, Barney disables the “Italian” sports car, forcing Dino to remain in town until new parts arrive.
Orville invites Dino to stay with him and wife Zelda. He becomes concerned upon learning that the singer needs to have sex every night to avoid headaches.
Wilder initially offered the role of Spooner to Jack Lemmon (Farr’s real-life husband), whom he had directed in Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Irma la Douce, but prior commitments forced the actor to decline.
The director then signed Peter Sellers, but six weeks into filming, Sellers suffered a series of 13 heart attacks and was hospitalized. Unwilling to wait while Sellers completed recovery, Wilder replaced him and reshot all his scenes.
The role of Polly the Pistol was written for Marilyn Monroe, but she died in August 1962. Wilder then cast Kim Novak, in what became her comeback after two-year absence from the screen.
The Catholic Legion of Decency objected to the film. Wilder was willing to soften the suggestion Zelda committed adultery with Dino, but refused to comply with other demands. As a result, the film was condemned, the first American film to be so designated since Baby Doll in 1956. United Artists decided to release the film under the banner of Lopert Pictures, a subsidiary used for imported films.
In 2002 a print was shown in some U.S. cities with the originally-shot seduction scene in Polly’s trailer (which had been seen in the European releases).
The film was widely considered to be vulgar by critics, and became a target for denunciations of the negative impact of films on society. Bosley Crowther of the N.Y. Times blamed this film and The Carpetbaggers for giving American movies the reputation of “deliberate and degenerate corruptors of public taste and morals.”
Cast:
Dean Martin as Dino
Kim Novak as Polly the Pistol
Ray Walston as Orville Spooner
Felicia Farr as Zelda Spooner
Cliff Osmond as Barney Millsap
Barbara Pepper as Big Bertha
Doro Merande as Mrs. Pettibone
Howard McNear as Mr. Pettibone
Tom Nolan as Johnnie Mulligan
Alice Pearce as Mrs. Mulligan
John Fiedler as Reverend Carruthers
Cliff Norton as Mack Gray
Mel Blanc as Dr. Sheldrake
Eileen O’Neill as Mitzi A Show Girl
Susan Wedell as Silvya A Show Girl
Bern Hoffman as Bartender
Henry Gibson as Smith
Alan Dexter as Wesson
Henry Beckman as Truck Driver
