Embrasse-la pour moi

This movie comes off as a half-baked Jane Mansfield / Cary Grant vehicle, but there are some reasons not to immediately turn it off. The plot meanders and the chemistry between the characters is practically non-existent, particularly between Grant's Crewson and Suzy Parker's Gwinneth. It feels as if even the 'war buddies' had just met when shooting began (the movie, not the war). If you've ever wondered why Jane Mansfield was considered the poor-man's Monroe, this film says it all. She has not half of the charm, comedic instinct, or for that matter sexual magnetism of Marilyn.

Having said all that, I found myself actually chuckling out loud at some of Cary Grant's slick lines. Would that we were all as quick-witted and smooth. For younger viewers, it's fun to see Ray Walston (Mr. Hand from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"...aloha!) in his very first big-screen role. And it is my understanding that Suzy Parker was universally panned for this performance; call me unsophisticated, but I didn't think she was that bad (although her voice was later dubbed out). What do you think?

This film about three naval airmen on leave in San Francisco lacks a few things. Either it should have been more madcap to celebrate their enjoyment of leave. Or it should have dealt more with the demands and drama of warfare. As it is, "Kiss Them for Me" lands squarely in the middle of these two alternatives like a dud.

When Cary Grant meets Suzy Parker (whose voice was dubbed), there does seem to be chemistry--fueled by her striking looks and her cool demeanor. But she is no Bacall. As the film develops and more demands are placed on her performance, the cracks begin to show. Finally, it is revealed that she is little more than a mannequin.

The film is adapted from a play. I have a feeling that the play was more madcap. That tone just doesn't happen with the film. The ending of the film is not fulfilling or funny.

It was good to see Ray Walston in his first picture, but the film offers little else. Jayne Mansfield is over the top to the point of being silly, not sexy. Too bad.

Three heroic naval aviators, led by LCDR Cary Grant, wangle four days leave in crowded wartime San Francisco. They are very happy, having spent several years in the Pacific shooting down enemy planes, being wounded, and contracting malaria. Their only goal is "to get drunk and chase girls." Their warder in the city is Werner Klemperer -- also known as Colonel Klink and as the son of famed conductor Otto Klemperer -- who wangles them all sorts of perquisites including a suite at the Fairmont, where loud parties are often in progress.

It's fun. All of us like to see those we approve of having fun. But one irritating obstacle after another threatens to trip them on the hedonistic treadmill. First, there is Suzie Parker, model, who insinuates herself into Grant's affections. Then there is the manager of the Fairmont, whose objections grow more emphatic and who winds up locked in the closet. Then there is the Shore Patrol, regularly nattering them for being in summer kakhis instead of blues. There are solemn encounters with old friends now dying in hospital. Finally, there is poor Lief Erickson, owner of a ship yard, who tries to persuade the trio to tour his plants and make pep speeches to the employees to boost morale, meanwhile removing them from combat duty and seeing that they're properly rewarded. "I know how much money you boys make," bringing a sour expression to Grant's face.

The pace is pretty fast. Episodes and gags follow one another pretty quickly except for some lugubrious dialog involving Suzie Parker, her lost love, and her gradual yielding to the advances of Grant. When you get right down to it, Suzie Parker looks the part of a model out of Vogue or the New York Times Magazine but as an actress she's not convincing. Jayne Mansfield and the bust that precedes her by a quarter of a mile brings more life to the party.

There's something a little troublesome about Grant's character too. As an extremely accomplished and brave pilot he is given a good deal of moral authority and he sometimes misuses it to politely and ironically humiliate those who pay some tribute -- minor or otherwise -- to his status. In a bar he spills a civilian's drink and the victim compliments him on his uniform. "My, civilians are so sensitive these days," says Grant. An intelligent and honest reporter for the Chronicle tries to get a few words from him and Grant treats him with disdain. The blustering and ever importuning Lief Erickson gets a belt in the chops for his trouble. The viewer is always on Grant's side, but still ---

A good cast (with one major exception) pushes its way through Epstein's smart light satire. Mansfield was never better, or funnier, than she is here paired with Walston, who's a veteran who's determined to become a congressman to get out of the war. He and his buddies -- including suave con-artist Grant -- head to San Francisco on leave and start the city's swinginest party while conniving to escape the service altogether through industrial speaking tours. The only thing about this movie that's not delightful is Suzy Parker's one-note performance as Grant's love interest, which takes up too much of the film's time and slows down the pace in the second half. Walston and Mansfield have good chemistry; the gimmick is that she's set on making love to every serviceman (to do her duty for the war effort, of course) but he's a married man who, nonetheless, loves his wife. They steal the movie with little trouble from Grant (who's amusing here in the first part of the film, when not paired with his non-actor co-star.

I would like to second the opinion of that stalwart minority who appreciate the beautiful and vastly underrated performance of Suzy Parker. The majority opinion is that she was stiff, wooden, unapproachable, or simply incompetent as an actress. But one must consider the character she was playing: a beautiful, almost aristocratic young woman who suddenly finds herself carried away by a world-weary, war-weary, bitter, yet still idealistic Cary Grant. What would one expect her do in this situation: instantly fall into Grant's arms? Anyone watching this movie with an open mind and an open heart will see Ms. Parker slowly getting used to Grant's poignant style, and slowly readjusting her view of life just enough to fall in love with him. Parker eventually leaves her fiance in the movie because Grant is everything her fiance is not, and because he is willing to live his navy life as fully and as idealistically as he can; Parker's beautiful face reflects, even without words, the total impact that Grant's personality is having on her. Hers is a wonderful performance, one that was, alas, scarcely appreciated by the critics.