THE KISSING BANDIT

Kathryn Grayson and Frank Sinatra

THE KISSING BANDIT (1948). Director: Laslo Benedek.

"You kiss women you don't even know, whom you've never been introduced to?"

Ricardo (Frank Sinatra) comes down to California in a pre-statehood period to take over his late father's business. Unfortunately Ricardo thinks his father's business is an inn which is really just the front for the man's true activities as the notorious "kissing bandit," who terrorized the land but made all the ladies swoon. Ricardo's friend Chico (J. Carrol Naish) tries to groom the young man to take over as the bandit, but the problem is that shy Ricardo hasn't kissed a girl in his life! Further complications ensue when a tax man arrives from Spain, the snooty Count Belmont (Carleton G. Young), accompanied by  his security chief General Toro (Billy Gilbert); Ricardo and Chico wind up impersonating them at the home of Don Jose (Mikhail Rasumny of Her Husband's Affairs), whose beautiful daughter Teresa (Kathryn Grayson) has fallen for Ricardo and vice versa. Frank Sinatra gives one of his best performances -- playing a milquetoast with no experience with the ladies! -- in The Kissing Bandit, and is both charming and amusing, resisting any attempts to wink at the audience and suggest he's really a "stud." Naish is simply superb as Chico, losing himself, as this fine actor generally does, in his comical characterization. Grayson with her beautiful voice is lovely and adept. Mildred Natwick [Peyton Place] scores as Teresa's Aunt Isabella, who tells her niece at the approach of the Kissing Bandit on the highway that she "will make the sacrifice" and get kissed by the notorious bandit instead; Isabella also develops a hankering for Chico/General Toro. Clinton Sundberg [Living in a Big Way] is notable as the servile Gomez, as are Young and Gilbert. The score is quite nice, with such numbers as "Tomorrow Brings Romance;" "Siesta;" "Love is Where You Find It;" and, especially, "If I Steal Your Heart." [The composers are not credited but Andre Previn may have been one of them.] Another highlight is a lively dance number with Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse.

Verdict: Cute and very entertaining MGM musical with wonderful performances from all. ***.

ANDY HARDY'S PRIVATE SECRETARY

ANDY HARDY'S PRIVATE SECRETARY (1941). Director: George B. Seitz.

"I don't care to discuss anything on such a low level of conversation." -- Andy Hardy to Polly Benedict.

Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) is excited about graduating high school and has put together a ceremony based on Greek tragedy; he will play Apollo in a curly blond wig and beard. Apparently having learned nothing from his experiences with snobs in Manhattan in Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, Andy has a high-handed attitude toward two students -- Kathryn  (Kathryn Grayson) and her handsome brother Harry (Todd Karns) -- who are poor because their father (Ian Hunter) is out of work; the judge (Lewis Stone) soon sets Andy straight. [Judge Hardy also rebukes Andy when he says of Kathryn, "does she have to sing grand opera instead of music?"] Wanting to get the two young people involved in the ceremonies, Andy asks Kathryn to be his private secretary, which results in Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) becoming hysterically jealous, as usual. A worse problem arises when it is revealed that old maid Aunt Millie (Sara Haden) is an English teacher and she has had to give Andy a failing grade -- now he won't graduate! Always superb, Mickey Rooney even outdoes himself in this outing, etching a skillful and amusing portrait of a basically decent young man who can be terribly gauche and insensitive -- and dumb -- at times [wanting to cover up a sign put on the stage to advertise the business that loaned the school the sets, Andy asks a fat girl to stand in front of it]. Andy Hardy's Private Secretary is an amusing romp with lots of interesting developments, and Grayson [Rio Rita] sings an aria from Lucia Di Lammermoor as well as a jazzy-type number. Well-acted by all. Todd Karns was the son of Roscoe Karns and later co-starred with his father on a detective program; perhaps his most famous role was in It's a Wonderful Life. Tall, good-looking, and charismatic, it's surprising Karns didn't have an ever bigger career.

Verdict: Another cute Hardy picture. ***.

RIO RITA

RIO RITA (1942). Director: S. Sylvan Simon.

Bud and Lou think they're traveling by automobile trunk to New York but wind up in the Southwest, where they dally with a famous crooner, Ricardo Montera (John Carroll), his old girlfriend (Kathryn Grayson), an undercover agent, Lucette Brunswick(Patricia Dane), and a nest of Nazi spies headed by Tom Conway. Barry Nelson also has a small part. There are a few nice song numbers, a couple of laughs, and amiable performances by all. Some of the humor is a bit risque, especially when Costello -- under the tablecloth -- traverses a table full of old biddies and makes them all go "whooee," as well as a line Lou delivers to Bud about a cow girl: "She didn't get her calves together."

Verdict: Fun of a minor kind, with appealing players. ***.