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Absolutely the worst movie.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Frank Sinatra was a wonderful performer, and made some good films where he shone in. 'The Kissing Bandit' is not one of them in either case.'The Kissing Bandit' is not unsalvageable by all means. The production values are as lavish as can be, with particularly beautiful photography that clearly loves Kathryn Grayson. It has one great song in "Love is Where You Find It", the one song that's truly memorable and the only one to stir any genuine emotion where Grayson sings her heart out and digs deep into the soul to deliver the impact needed.The other highlight is the electric dance number "Dance of Fury" with Cyd Charisse, Riccardo Montalban and Ann Miller, the most energetic the film gets and the highlight of the film. There are three good supporting performances, those of Mildred Natwick, Billy Gilbert and particularly J. Carroll Naish.Sinatra however is ill at ease and looks miserable throughout, it was abundantly clear that he didn't want to make 'The Kissing Bandit' and although he would constantly joke about it being his low-point one can't help thinking that he was actually being serious. He does sing as mellifluously as ever and his phrasing and breath control are impeccable. Grayson shines in "Love is Where You Find It", but she has performed with much more charm and spark as well as being in better voice elsewhere that suited her operatic voice far better. The two generate very little chemistry together, and due to their two different singing styles they don't blend and at odds stylistically and vocally. Montalban shines only in "Dance of Fury", he has little to do in the rest of the film.Worst thing about 'The Kissing Bandit' is the daft, paper thin which makes the film drag badly story which meanders all over the place. The script is similarly witless, while the direction is far too stolid, only coming to life properly in "Dance of Fury". "Love is Where You Find It" aside, the songs and music are at best very forgettable, no matter how well Sinatra sings it "Siesta" is particularly mundane.All in all, Sinatra's worst and easy to see why it was such a major flop. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A strange post-World War II Technicolor curiosity from the Joe Pasternak musical unit at MGM, which had neither the budget nor the taste of the Arthur Freed unit on the same lot. Set in Mexican California as imagined by the Culver City art department, the bandit Chico is played broadly by the dialectician J. Carrol Naish (Irish) with a fake bulbous nose worthy of W.C. Fields; Don Jose by the Moscow-Art-Theater actor Mikhail Rasumny; and Ricardo by Hoboken-born Italian-American Frank Sinatra in his skinny bobby socker's heart-throb days. Along the way you'll see Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charrise dancing and not acting to choreography by soon to be director Stanley Donen. Future cowboy star Ben Johnson did some of the stunts. Cinematography by Robert Surtees is replete with soft- focus close-ups of Kathryn Grayson who often looks as if she was photographed through Vaseline. The film was directed by the Hungarian Laslo Benedek, best remembered today for THE WILD ONE (1963) with Brando. Sad to note, the real Mexicans in the cast were delegated to minor roles.

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 ****

The Kissing Bandit was the third and final film that Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson co-starred at MGM with. The first two were Anchors Aweigh and It Happened in Brooklyn. And in both Sinatra wooed and lost Grayson. I guess the third time's the charm.For romance maybe, but definitely not for screen image. Sinatra in his forty's films once again plays the nice little schnook only this time in toreador pants. Poaching on Tyrone Power's territory laid out in The Mark of Zorro, Sinatra plays the son of a man who was a hotel owner by day and The Kissing Bandit by night. He's gone and left California for an education and has come back ready to take Dad's place, but in the hotel business only. And where does he learn the hotel business, Boston.Of course some of Dad's former gang members, grown a little old and paunchy led by J. Carrol Naish, want him to lead the gang again. But Frank's just not cut out for the outlaw life. But he does make a good impression on the Governor's daughter, Kathryn Grayson.Somebody must have had it in for Sinatra at MGM to cast him in this after the bad reviews he got in Miracle of the Bells. Frank's in a part that was more suitable for Red Skelton. But since this was a musical, I guess the brain trust at MGM figured Kathryn Grayson had to have a singing co-star.In fact the best number in the film are for her, Love Is Where You Find It. Also Ricardo Montalban, Ann Miller, and Cyd Charisse do a dance specialty that is nice. Frank's songs are nice, but nothing spectacular.In later years, Sinatra would wince at the mention of The Kissing Bandit and with good reason.