Kiss and Make-Up (1934)

Director:

Harlan Thompson

Writers:

István Békeffy (story)
Jane Hinton (adaptation)

Release Date:

13 JÚLIUS 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Dr. Maurice Lamar
Helen Mack	...	Anne
Genevieve Tobin	...	Eve Caron
Edward Everett Horton	...	Marcel Caron
Lucien Littlefield	...	Max Pascal
Mona Maris	...	Countess Rita
Katherine Williams	...	Vilma
Lucille Lund	...	Magda
Rafael Storm	...	Rolando
Doris Lloyd	...	Mme. Durand
Sam Ash	...	Plumber
Helena Phillips Evans	...	Landlady (as Helena Phillips)
Toby Wing	...	Consuelo of Claghorne
Henry Armetta	...	Banquet Chairman
George Beranger	...	Valet

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Underratedly wacky comedy

An underrated picture of veritable wackiness, KISS AND MAKE UP is a forerunner to the classic screwball comedies of the late-thirties and early-forties. The storyline of a progressive plastic surgeon (Cary Grant) who becomes involved with his greatest creation (Genevieve Tobin) has a great FRANKENSTEIN-esquire aura that contains some surprisingly dark overtones for a film comedy of this era – a darkness which is present, but not really explored. The film is benefited greatly by Cary Grant, who gets an early chance to display his grand prowess at farce, which is one of the many qualities that inevitably made him a huge Hollywood star. The rest of the cast is also rounded out acceptably, with Tobin, Helen Mack, and Edward Everett Horton all turning in fine work.

On the downside, the film is extremely episodic, which is not inherently a problem in many cases, but here it prevents the picture from gelling into the knockabout farce it intended to be. Also somewhat detrimental is director Harlan Thompson's approach to the material, which often lacks energy or pizazz; make no mistake, Thompson's work is perfectly acceptable, but I could not help but imagine how truly dynamic the film could have been with Howard Hawks or (later) Peter Bogdanovich in the director's chair. Thompson earns major points for the frantic final chase scene, however, which concludes the film with a thunderous, side-splitting, wig-ripping bang! The movie as a whole is solidly enjoyable, but this terrific end sequence alone raises it's rating by at least a notch or two.