Grade: D-
Synopsis: A timid man from Boston (Frank Sinatra) travels west upon learning of his father’s death, only to discover he must assume his father’s secret identity as “The Kissing Bandit.”
The Kissing Bandit is so bad it’s almost funny. If it were only 10 minutes long, the ludicrous Technicolor costumes, lead Frank Sinatra’s casting as a Mexican, and the stilted acting would be a riot, but at 100 minutes, the film quickly devolves into a perverse standoff between your finger and the fast-forward button.
Not helping matters is Kathryn Grays, who play’s Sinatra’s love-interest. Much like their previous paring in It Happened in Brooklyn (1947), her operatic, classical voice is an awful counter to Sinatra’s. Once again, she belts out scales while he tries to swing and the results are disastrous.
This is simply an awful movie. Sinatra, once again miscast as a naïve gawky type, comes across as flat and uninspiring (albeit this time in ridiculous costumes) throughout the meandering script. The songs are weak and forgettable, and the comedy is forced and predictable.
For film buffs, the The Kissing Bandit does feature blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances from Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse early in their careers, but even as a curiosity, this one’s nearly impossible to recommend.
