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By the late 1950s, Hollywood's romantic comedies were
getting a little more titillating. Sexual activity had always been slyly
implied in films. It still could not be shown, of course, but now the
innuendo could be more overt, and the "S" word could actually be spoken
on-screen. It Started with a Kiss (1959) is a typical sex comedy of
its era that has a "when will they end up in bed?" scenario as its main
theme. Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds meet cute, kiss quickly, and marry in
a hurry. He's in the Air Force, and they take off for his posting in Spain
with an expensive new car he's won in a raffle. Practical Debbie worries
that theirs is just a physical attraction, and decides to test their love by
not having sex with him for a month.
Sex, love, and marriage
were very much on the minds of the stars during the making of It Started
with a Kiss. Reynolds' supposed "fairytale marriage" to crooner Eddie
Fisher had just ended when he dumped her for Elizabeth Taylor. It was one
of the great tabloid scandals of the era. Reynolds reluctantly left her two
young children to go on location in Spain for the film. But the distance,
the work, and her co-stars turned out to be just what she needed to take her
mind off her troubles. Glenn Ford's marriage to dancer Eleanor Powell had
also ended, and Ford and Reynolds consoled each other. They began dating,
and Reynolds says Ford proposed, but she wasn't ready to get involved.
Nevertheless, they became and remained good friends.
Reynolds
recalls in her memoirs that her costar, sexual free spirit Eva Gabor, took
Debbie under her wing and gave her riotous lessons on how to be sexy. Gabor
would soon be embroiled in her own romantic scandal. Gabor had become
engaged to a New York stockbroker, Richard Brown. Before he got involved
with Gabor, Brown had broken off a relationship with a model. Shortly after
the film company returned from Spain, the model committed suicide, leaving a
note which said she could not go on without Brown. Although Gabor had
nothing to do with Brown ending his previous affair, the tabloid headlines
called Gabor a "love pirate." Gabor married Brown later that year. They
divorced in 1972.
All of this publicity only helped It Started
with a Kiss at the box office. Also part of the publicity machine was
the promotional tie-in with the car in the film, a $40,000 Lincoln Futura,
dubbed "the car of tomorrow." Reynolds and the car made the cover of
Life magazine. And it didn't hurt, either, that critics actually
liked the film. Variety called It Started with a Kiss "highly
amusing," and praised Reynolds' "bright, breezy approach to comedy that puts
her just about in a class by herself." Reynolds' and Ford's private lives
might have been a shambles, but their careers had never been better. Ford
ended 1959 as one of the year's top five box-office stars.
Producer: Aaron Rosenberg
Director: George
Marshall
Screenplay: Charles Lederer, based on a story by Valentine
Davies
Editor: John McSweeney, Jr.
Cinematography: Robert
Bronner
Costume Design: Helen Rose
Art Direction: Hans Peters, Urie
McCleary
Music: Jeff Alexander
Principal Cast: Glenn Ford (Sgt. Joe
Fitzpatrick), Debbie Reynolds (Maggie), Eva Gabor (Marquesa de la Rey),
Gustavo Rojo (Antonio Soriano), Fred Clark (Gen. O'Connell), Edgar Buchanan
(Congressman Tappe), Harry Morgan (Charles Meriden), Robert Warwick
(Congressman Muir).
C-100m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.
by Margarita
Landazuri
 
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