Kiss and Make-Up (1934)

Director:

Harlan Thompson

Writers:

István Békeffy (story)
Harlan Thompson (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 JÚLIUS 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

...a racy romance of a famous beauty doctor (original ad)

Plot:

Dr. Maurice Lamar is a noted plastic-surgeon who makes his rich clients beautiful, and also makes them...

Plot Keywords:

Cosmetics | Plumber | France | Beautician | Landlady

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
Judith Arlen	...	Salon worker
Joan Gale	...	Salon worker
Hazel Hayes	...	Salon worker
Lee Ann Meredith	...	Salon worker
Helen Cohan	...	Radio announcer
Jean Carmen	...	Maharajah's wife
Gigi Parrish	...	Radio listener (as Gi-Gi Parrish)
Ann Hovey	...	Lady Rummond-Dray
Betty Bryson	...	Salon client
Julie Bishop	...	Salon client (as Jacqueline Wells)
Ann Sheridan	...	Beautician (as Clara Lou Sheridan)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rita Gould	...	Mme. Dupont
Bonita Weber	...	Mme. Severac
Chick Collins	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Dorothy Drake	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Lu Ann Meredith	...	(uncredited)
John Sinclair	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Mary Wallace	...	(uncredited)
Milton Wallace	...	Maharaja of Baroona (uncredited)

Directed by
Harlan Thompson

Writing credits
István Békeffy		(story) (as Stephen Bekeffi)
Harlan Thompson		(screenplay) and
George Marion Jr.		(screenplay)
Jane Hinton		adaptation

Produced by
B.P. Schulberg	....	producer

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)
Ernst Fegté		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Jack A. Goodrich	....	sound (uncredited)

Music Department
John Leipold	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)
Tom Satterfield	....	composer: incidental music (uncredited)

Other crew
Jean Negulesco	....	associate director

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Helen Mack replaced Carole Lombard, who refused to do the role.

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.