Search - Kiss Me, Stupid on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1964 DVD Release: 07/15/2003 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 6 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Romance, Romantic Comedy

The Catholic League of Decency gave Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid! a "condemned" rating. The Moral Majority charged the picture with debauchery and movie theaters across the nation discontinued its run. The bed-trick comedy had America's panties tied in a knot; one could not imagine a story so distasteful. Dean Martin is Dino, a Las Vegas crooner, alcoholic, and celebrity playboy. Dino requires women like oxygen -- a companionless night leaves him with a headache. Ray Walston is Orville, a provincial piano teacher, aspiring songwriter, and jealous husband. Orville violently obsesses over his wife Zelda's (Felicia Farr) fidelity -- any man she encounters becomes his sworn enemy. When a chance detour brings Dino to Orville's hometown of Climax, NV, it is the perfect opportunity for the piano teacher and his songwriting partner, Barney (Cliff Osmond), to pitch their tunes. Yet, Orville predictably fears the possible combination of Dino's libido with Zelda's childhood crush on the singer. Before the two can meet, Orville deceitfully bullies Zelda out of their house and Barney hires local roadhouse prostitute Polly the Pistol (Kim Novak) to pose as Orville's wife. Zelda turns to drink for solace, ending up at the exact bar where Polly plies her trade and, eventually, in the call girl's empty trailer. By the next morning, Orville is with Polly and Dino (looking for a prostitute) finds his way to Zelda -- and husband, wife, hooker, and Barney will all reap the benefits of infidelity. This tale may be tasteless, but Kiss Me, Stupid! is now a cable favorite. Its modern rating? PG. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide

Dean Martin - Dino
Kim Novak - Polly The Pistol
Ray Walston - Orville J. Spooner
Felicia Farr - Zelda "Lambchop" Spooner
Cliff Osmond - Barney Millsap

While film buffs are still arguing the relative merits of Billy Wilder's infamous comedy of infidelity and mistaken identity, at least MGM's DVD release presents the material in a manner that shows the movie to its best advantage. Kiss Me, Stupid! has been given a rich and well-balanced transfer in letterboxed format at the widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1; the images have also been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16x9 monitors, and visually the picture sure makes a lot more sense letterboxed than it did in earlier pan-and-scan video editions. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono and sounds fine, if not exceptional; along with the original English-language version, a French-dubbed track is also included as well as subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. Two theatrical trailers for the film have been thrown in as extras, as well as an alternate version of the scene between Dino and Zelda (that would have given later events in the movie a decidedly different spin). While a featurette on the controversy that greeted the film on its original release would have been welcome, this is still a strong video release of a movie that might not have been given this much care in other hands. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide