Sorry, this movie sucks

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson are paired together again in this 1940s musical that's a cross between The Mark of Zorro and The Court Jester. After getting an education in Boston, Frankie returns home to California to take over his dead father's hotel business. J. Carrol Naish, his father's faithful sidekick, is delighted to have another leader, but when Frankie arrives, they're both disappointed. It turns out, the hotel business was a cover-up—Frankie's dad was really "The Kissing Bandit" who kissed women after robbing their stagecoaches. Frankie's not a crook or a ladies' man, so J. Carrol Naish has his hands full when trying to train the new bandit.Hidden in this cute and colorful musical are cameos by Mildred Natwick, Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban, and Ann Miller. Yes, it's a little campy and corny, but compared to a lot of 1940s silly musicals, this one is pretty cute. There are some funny jokes and cute songs, including Kathryn Grayson's "Love is Where You Find It". If you're not looking for anything too serious, rent The Kissing Bandit for a fun girls' weekend!

This rarely seen musical gets a bad rap probably because its as silly as it gets. It's not what audiences expected or could accept from MGM in 1948 or now. It starts silly and ends silly, and has equal amounts of good and bad in-between. The writers had a basic idea of Sinatra being weak-willed (similar to parts in Anchors Aweigh and On The Town) so it's not totally different than his other early films. The story meanders all over the place with comedy and musical sequences, a bizarre whip dance with Sono Osato (whose character doesn't show up again) and a total dud of a song called "Siesta". Movie rules: never have a musical number where everyone falls asleep on-screen; the audience will follow. Everyone works hard, especially the excellent character actors, and its tough to create the silly atmosphere. What can't be faulted are the outstanding MGM production values, the excellent "Love is Where You Find It" sung by Grayson and the generally good songs. This movie sat on MGM's shelf from 1947 with an eventual release at the end of 1948 due to poor audience previews and attempts to salvage the film. MGM added the "Fiesta" dance with Cyd Charisse, Ricardo Montalban, and Ann Miller after production ended to spice things up and it's probably the best thing in the movie. It's exciting, the music is propulsive, and the dancing and costumes are beautiful. The movie is cute, deluxe and enjoyable and certainly better many musicals of the period.

Frank Sinatra as a mild mannered young gent from Boston who arrives in Old California expecting to run an inn, but instead is persuaded to assume the persona of the notorious "kissing bandit" of the title, a leader of highway robbers and a lady killer.It's a Zorro-esque idea and it might have been an enjoyable romp with better writing and direction. The MGM production values are there, and so is some pretty good music. Walter Plunkett designed the costumes, and Stanley Donen choreographed. Robert Surtees shot it on the lavishly appointed MGM sound stages and on location in the Sierra foothills around Murphy's, California. It's beautiful to look at in Technicolor, and good to listen to, when music is featured. But the story fails to entertain.The director, Laslo Benedek, whose first credited Hollywood job this was, went on to more prestigious projects like the film version of Death Of A Salesman, as well as the iconic Brando motorcycle picture, The Wild One. Musicals probably weren't his forte.There's a good supporting cast in the acting department: Mildred Natwick, Mikhail Rasumny, Billy Gilbert, Clinton Sundberg, and J. Carrol Naish (sporting heavy makeup and a heavier accent). In the musical department, there's dancer Sono Osato (from Broadway's On The Town) in a stunning solo, as well as a "Dance Of Fury" from Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse that is possibly the highlight of the film.Kathryn Grayson is Sinatra's love interest; she looks lovely and gets to sing several nice numbers, the most famous of which, Love Is Where You Find It, was also sung that year by Jane Powell in a Pasternak musical, A Date With Judy. It's another highlight.Frank Sinatra was not well cast in this film, he didn't want to make it and he was right. A fun actor in most of his MGM pictures, and later, a fine actor, he just seems unable to believe the situations he finds himself in, here.I guess The Kissing Bandit is worth seeing once, but it's not a classic.

A klutzy young man returns West after being schooled in the hotel business via Boston; he quickly learns his friends in Spanish-colonized Old California expect him to fill his deceased father's shoes instead--that of a romantic thief known for kissing his female victims after robbing them. Colorful but silly M-G-M production has a great deal of talent before and behind the camera, but it never takes off. This might have been fun, second-string material for Abbott & Costello, but Frank Sinatra looks lost and embarrassed in the lead. Combination of raucous comedy and musical interludes are hindered by the poor staging (Sinatra is photographed singing at one point in a mirror, but one doesn't concentrate on his performance so much as noticing how odd the star appears reflected in this way!). Kathryn Grayson is the Governor's daughter who falls for Frank, and her high soprano trilling turns her singing scenes into self-parody. Aside from Robert Surtees' cinematography and the decent art direction, this "Bandit" remains kissless. * from ****