It Started with a Kiss (1959)

It Started With A Kiss is the first of two successive films that George Marshall directed Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds in. The second was The Gazebo which I like much better. Not that this service comedy is without merit.Ford plays an Air Force Sergeant on leave who both buys a raffle ticket from Debbie and then winds up marrying her. The prize is this $40,000.00 car which would now be worth about $200,000.00 in today's money value. When Ford goes back to Spain where he's stationed, Debbie follows him and the car follows Debbie.Debbie's having a few second thoughts about her hasty marriage and has put the brakes on the sex part of her relationship with Ford, trying now to get to know the guy she's married to. Each of them gets some temptation thrown their way, him with Eva Gabor, her with bullfighter Gustavo Rojo. But the biggest problem is that car. They can't drive it around as they are warned against ostentatious displays of American prosperity. Glenn finds he can't sell the thing and on top of that as the prize in a lottery, it's subject to taxation like quiz show earnings. What to do?In Peter Ford's recent biography of his father, he says that this film with Debbie Reynolds and The Gazebo that came after was at a critical time for both. He was ending his marriage to Eleanor Powell and Debbie was the odd girl out in the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds triangle that was front page for months. The two did a lot of commiserating on both sets.Peter Ford also mentions that his father loved working with director George Marshall. I've done some reviews myself of their joint collaboration and have said they are an unfortunately unheralded actor/ director collaboration.Fred Clark has a nice part as a most harried Air Force general who has to deal with Ford and Reynolds marital and motor problems as well as a visiting Congressional delegation. Long time Ford friend Edgar Buchanan does well as an acerbic Representative.It Started With A Kiss is not as good some of the other Ford/Marshall collaborations, but it has a few good laughs and should satisfy fans of Glenn and Debbie.

The main attraction going for this film is the futuristic car shown in it, which for 1959 looked way ahead of its times. The comedy, as directed by George Marshall tries to be a movie exploiting the sexual tensions between the two stars. The same premise was achieved with better results in other films of the era, notably, "Pillow Talk".The mere idea of a young married couple putting such a barrier between their sexual life is risible, at best. The two stars, Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford try their best, but are bogged down because of the screen play.As someone has already noted, the film shows in minor roles actors that went to better careers in television. Eva Gabor, Harry Morgan, Edgar Buchanan, Frances Bavier, among them.The basic excuse for watching the film is the car and some views of Spain, as it looked in the late fifties. In fact, a woman in slacks, as we see Ms. Reynolds at the beginning of the film, as she arrived in Madrid, was a big no-no in the Spanish society of the time. Things have changed since then!

Besides being a slightly better-than-average romantic comedy, this movie features several very familiar television supporting stars -- if you're an old coot like me anyway! -- including Eva Gabor ("Green Acres"), Edgar Buchanan ("Petticoat Junction"), Harry Morgan ("Dragnet" and "M*A*S*H"), Frances Bavier ("The Andy Griffith Show"), Richard Deacon ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"), Marion Ross ("Happy Days"), and last, but not least, the Batmobile!

I'll admit, the main reason I watched this was for the car. As is mentioned in the Trivia Section, the car in question is a Lincoln dream car from the mid 1950's. Very rarely do these cars make appearances in the `real world', as most don't really function. They usually have no engine, or are made from some material that would be ruined if actually driven. These cars spend their life on a turntable at an auto show with fashion models in, or on them. After they serve their purpose, they get destroyed, or stored. Few, if any turn up in movies, as this Lincoln did, and then go on to TV stardom, as well! Ford later sold the car to custom car designer George Barris, and it became the basis for the Batmobile in the TV series "Batman". And if you were a kid like me at the time, IT was the star of the show. Sorry Batman and Robin!This is what was best described as a `Bedroom Comedy'. Rock Hudson, and Doris Day made movies like this, with a light amount of `sexual tension' sewn into a light comedy movie. You never saw 'anything', it was left to the viewers imagination, what happened.The film itself is decent enough. I like most anything that Glenn Ford did, and Debbie Reynolds turns in another good performance here. The supporting cast is peppered with plenty of folks who, like the car, went on to fame on TV, Eva Gabor, Harry Morgan, Edgar Buchanan, and of course, Francis Bavier.The country side of Spain is beautiful, the acting is competent, so I'll give it a 6 out of 10.