Kiss Her Goodbye

As a movie buff, I will watch almost anything. Today, I tuned into one of those 'gems' that get little airtime. I watched some of Kiss Her Goodbye for the first time today (on AMC). Unfortunately, this movie had already been running for about 30 minutes before I tuned into it. I was pleasantly surprised with the actors, depth of character(s) and the dialog. The dialog in particular, I found to be fairly natural in most scenes. It was also surprising to not see a rating of this 'film noir'. Truly, a very good movie. I hope to be able to see the movie in it's entirety in the future. With luck, this title will be released onto DVD.

This was kind of a surprise finding this movie. I was skimming around my ONDemand Spectrum menu and saw Steven Hill listed. I thoroughly enjoy the two Alfred Hitchcock programs and know I liked him on both series so I decided to try a few minutes of it to see how I'd like it and see if I recognized any other people in this movie. There were a few other people from the Alfred programs I recognized. Won't have to list them because if you watch these shows like I do than you probably recognized them yourself.

Overall this was a pretty good movie. I think the one flaw I wanted to list was how quickly Ed and Marge fell in love. I could've done without that plotpoint.

Ed has basically uprooted his life for his sister. He's not bitter or angry about it. He's a very supportive and kind brother. Ed's honest about some parts of Emily's troubles...he says that she has the mind of a child. She does do some things without really thinking about them to start with. But some of this stuff is also on the men gawking at her. I'll use the two examples I have. At the beginning of the movie it shows Emily being interested in a hula hoop. She's over there hula hooping and the men are gawking at her like she's doing a strip tease. Another scene features Emily undressing in front of a window where the blinds are open and the men are again gawking at her like she's dancing around a pole.

I will feature a scene on the opposite site of the scale. Emily's playing on playground equipment and she's got a dress on. I'm sure you can predict how many times she's flashing her panties to the crowd and doesn't realize she's basically putting on a show for the crowd. Even a lady comes up and cautions her about what she's doing.

I still say Ed's a good brother but he's also only the one person. It seems like if he wasn't with Emily that he expected her to stay in her room. He's trying his best to shield his sister from bad things because Emily is capable of getting into plenty of trouble. And she has and she will get into serious trouble in this movie. Ed tries to cover for her but it just doesn't work. The evidence points clearly to Emily.

I'm trying to be careful with this review because I don't want to give too many details away because this movie is really worth a watch if you're able to catch it on. I'm not sure if this has been playing on Sundance (that was the menu I spotted it on when I was skimming) or if this movie is one that's rarely or never played but managed to show up on the ONDemand menu.

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.

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?

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.