Main Cast: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Eva Gabor, Gustavo Rojo, Fred Clark
Release Year: 1959
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
George Marshall directed this mild sex comedy about a showgirl who marries a U.S. Air Force sergeant and puts his love to the test by decreeing her body off-limits to him for a 30-day period (usually something built up to in the course of a marriage over a period of years). Debbie Reynolds plays Maggie Putnam, a vivacious showgirl who dreams of marrying a rich man. Instead, in an impulsive move, she marries Sgt. Joe Fitzpatrick (Glenn Ford), a penniless Air Force sergeant who wins a $40,000 car. He is assigned to a new post in Spain, and the two lovebirds pack up for Europe. Unfortunately for Joe's libido, Maggie initiates the aforementioned test, and Joe, laughingly at first, agrees to go along with it -- reasoning that it is lonely in Spain without the bull. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Let's get the main objection out of the way fast: the plot gimmick in It Started with a Kiss is absolutely ludicrous, the kind of thing that exists only so that screenwriters have a peg to hang a film on. Some people won't be able to get past this flaw, but many more will simply shake their heads and laugh it off. And why not? Aside from the premise, screenwriter Charles Lederer has done nothing wrong and quite a bit right -- and ridiculous premises in a sex comedy are pretty much par for the course anyway. Lederer makes up for it with script that is genuinely funny, even when one is aware of how much it occasionally reaches for laughs. The jokes don't come off as smarmy as they so often do in sex comedies, and the situations are well set up and almost always pay off. Clearly, Lederer is helped in this enterprise by his delightful stars. Both Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds are in fine form, physically and dramatically, and they definitely have chemistry. Watching the two of them jump through the screenplay's hoops is a great deal of fun; they seem to be enjoying themselves and so the viewer does too. George Marshall's swift and light directorial touch keeps things hopping, and with the support in the hands of Fred Clark, Edgar Buchanan, Francis Bavier and a very good Eva Gabor, it all is a tremendously fun time. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Urie McCleary - Art Director, Hans Peters - Art Director, Helen Rose - Costume Designer, George Marshall - Director, John McSweeney, Jr. - Editor, Jeff Alexander - Composer (Music Score), Jeff Alexander - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles Lederer - Songwriter, Rudy Render - Songwriter, Robert J. Bronner - Cinematographer, Aaron Rosenberg - Producer, Charles Lederer - Screenwriter, Valentine Davies - Short Story Author
Joe Fitzpatrick, an Air Force Sergeant, and his wife, Maggie Putnam, drive around Europe being mobbed by crowds interested in their car (a 1955 LincolnFuturaConcept car) which Fitzpatrick won in a raffle. A crown prince becomes interested in the exotic car and chases Ford from town to town. In the end, the Prince buys the car.
Production note
This is one of the relatively few motion pictures where an automobile was given the lead role. The car used in the film - of which there was only one - was later customised by George Barris and served as the Batmobile for the 1960s TV series Batman.
