The Kissing Bandit (1948) - Star of the month... Frank Sinatra

'The Kissing Bandit' is a 1948 musical starring Laslo Benedek and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Ann Miller, J. Carrol Naish, Mildred Natwick, Ricardo Montalban & Cyd Charisse.

Produced by Joe Pasternak, the screenplay was written by Isabel Lennart & ??

Ricardo (played by Sinstra) visits California to discover he is the son of the notorious kissing bandit. Ricardo plans to live a quiet, however his friends have other ideas and encourage him to follow in his father's footsteps.  

Musical progran

• "Tonight Means Romance" - Kathryn Grayson
• "What's Wrong With Me?" - Kathryn Grayson & Frank Sinatra
• "I Like You" - Sono Asato
• "If I Steal A Kiss" - Kathryn Grayson
• "Siesta" - Frank Sinatra
• "Dance of Fury (Fiesta Dance Specialty)" - Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban & Cyd Charisse)
• "Señorita" - Frank Sinatra & Kathryn Grayson
• "Love Is Where You Find It" - Kathryn Grayson
• "If I Steal A Kiss (Reprise)" - Frank Sinatra

Song: "Dance of Fury" - Ann Miller, Cyd Charisse 

Song: "Love is Where You Find It" - Kathryn Grayson

Did you know...

• Frank Sinatra did not want to make this film, as he felt he was not right for the part - however the studio forced him to appear and Sinatra claimed he never saw the finished film
• Kathryn Grayson said this was her least favourite of all her films

Closing remarks

A very underrated MGM musical, which I really enjoyed. I found all  of the songs to be quite good, with the highlights being the "Dance of Fury" dance specialty featuring Miller, Montalban & Charisse. I am a very big fan of Ann Miller (she is in my top 3 stars), so I found it very exciting to see her dance off up against Cyd Charisse (my other fave dancer). Another musical highlight was Sono Asato's whip cracking dance routine "I Like You".

Similar premise to 'The Pirate' (1948), released the same year with Gene Kelly. I actually prefer this film over 'The Pirate', however 'The Pirate' is much more well known and appreciated today.

Black Hand (1950) - Star of the month... Gene Kelly

'Black Hand' is a 1950 mafia meldorama directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Gene Kelly, J. Carrol Naish, Teresa Celli and Marc Lawrence.

Set in Little Italy during the late 19th century, 'Black Hand' is an expose of organised crime gang, the Black Hand, a group who extorts money upon threat of death during a time where a large number of Italians immigrated to puruse the American dream.

After Robert Columbo is murdered by the Black Hand, his widow takes their son Giovanni (Johnny) back to Italy.  Some time passes, and Johnny has grown up (played by Kelly). He returns to New York to seek "la vendetta" (vengeance) against the Black Hand. After a failed attempt, Johnny decides to become a lawyer and seek his revenge through the judicial system. In the process, Johnny reconnects with his childhood friend Isabella Gomboli (played by Celli) for a romantic subplot.


Watch a clip from the film:

Did you know...

• The film was really based on events involving the Italian mafia - however MGM thought it would be a option to use the out dated crime gang 'The Black Hand'

Closing remarks

'Black Hand' is a nostalgic trip back to the Warner Bros. gangster films from the 1930s. Although MGM didn't make gangster films as good as Warner Bros., this film gets rather close.

The film gives us one of Gene Kelly's few non-singing/non-dancing dramatic roles.  Although I am usually a big fan of Gene Kelly, I don't think he was right for this role. I also would have preferred seeing a real Italian-American, such as Mario Lanza in the role of Johnny.

I like 'Black Hand' a lot. I think it's one of the better gangster films from 1950s, but sadly it is a rather forgotten film today.