Hold That Kiss

1938 "FOR LOVE, LAUGHTER AND LUNACY...HERE'S A NEW HIGH! IT'S A RIOT AS MICKEY AND HIS SWING BAND OUTSMART CUPID!"
6.1| 1h19m| NR| en
Details

Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely wealthy. Comedy.

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Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
JohnHowardReid Maureen O'Sullivan (June Evans), Dennis O'Keefe (Tommy Bradford), Mickey Rooney (Chick Evans), George Barbier (Piermont), Jessie Ralph (Aunt Lucy), Edward S. Brophy (Al), Fay Holden (Mrs Evans), Philip Terry (Ted Evans), Ruth Hussey (Nadine Piermont), Barnett Parker (Maurice), Frank Albertson (Steve Evans), Ernie Alexander (Mickey, Maurice's chauffeur), William 'Billy' Benedict (boy delivering suit), Evelyn Beresford (Mrs Thornley), Betty Blythe, Betty Ross Clarke (wedding guests at Piermont's), Leonard Carey (Gibley, Piermont's butler), Edgar Dearing (policeman), Martin Faust (taxi driver), David Horsley (chauffeur), Charles Judels (Otto Schmidt), Eleanor Lynn (theater cashier), Tully Marshall (Mr Lazarus, travel customer), Edwin Maxwell (theater manager), Jack Norton (Mallory, a drunk), Tom O'Grady (bartender), Oscar O'Shea ("Pop"), Brent Sargent (Noel, bridegroom), Hudson Shotwell (attendant), William Carey, Buddy Messinger, Billy Taft (ushers), Ben Taggart (doorman), Ray Turner (Fred, the elevator operator), Monte Vandergrift (policeman), Morgan Wallace (Mr Wood, Tommy's boss), Eric Wilton (Piermont's second butler), Forbes Murray, William Worthington (dog show judges).Director: EDWIN L. MARIN. Original screenplay: Stanley Rauh. Uncredited screenplay contributors: Bradbury Foote (dialogue), Ogden Nash, Jane Hall. Photography: George Folsey. Film editor: Ben Lewis. Music: Edward Ward. Supervising art director: Cedric Gibbons. Art director: John S. Detlie. Set decorator: Edwin B. Willis. Costumes: Dolly Tree. Assistant director: Dolph Zimmer. Sound recording: Douglas Shearer. Producer: John W. Considine, Jr.Copyright 9 May 1938 by Loew's Inc. Presented by Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. New York opening at the Rialto, 10 June 1938. U.S. release: 13 May 1938. 8 reels. 79 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A salesgirl and a travel agent meet at a big society wedding. Each assumes the other is a wealthy guest.NOTES: Academy Award, Mickey Rooney, Best Male Juvenile of 1938.COMMENT: When MGM made a "B" movie, the same polish and craftsmanship went into the production as in the studio's "A" features. And in the "B" department, Edwin L. Marin was the top of the heap. His other 1938 films were two features with Judy Garland and The Chaser (again starring Dennis O'Keefe). This one is a slight but pleasant romantic comedy, in which O'Keefe (taking the lead for the first time in a career that encompassed numerous walk-ons and bit parts) was partnered with the lovely Maureen O'Sullivan.
gerdeen-1 During the Great Depression, audiences liked to see the differences between rich and poor people played for laughs. This frothy romance from 1938 is in that vein. If you like mix-ups, silly situations and innocent fun in the classic Hollywood spirit, this should appeal to you.Maureen O'Sullivan and Dennis O'Keefe play working-class folks in the big city who happen to meet under confusing circumstances. They quickly fall in love, but each gets the mistaken impression that the other is rich.As the romance heats up, the two try harder and harder to impress each other with bogus details of their "privileged" lives. But each feels ashamed of being a phony, and each dreads the day when the truth comes out.The girl's wacky relatives (including a younger brother played by Mickey Rooney) take her wealth charade to extraordinary lengths, and their antics supply most of the comedy in the film. Some of the gags are dated, but a few are still laugh-out-loud funny. The main problem is with the leads. While O'Sullivan was perfectly cast in this movie, O'Keefe was not. He was more suited to tough guy roles than to this kind of gentle fluff. But he deserves credit for trying hard. The same could be said for the picture itself.
blanche-2 MGM used their second and third tier actors for their B films, making them really more like A-. These movies were used as a training ground for up and coming actors as well. Here, Dennis O'Keefe and Maureen O'Sullivan star with Mickey Rooney, Frank Albertson, and Jesse Ralph, and another young up and coming, Ruth Hussey, in "Hold that Kiss," from 1938.June (O'Sullivan) comes from a chaotic family and works in the couturier business; Tommy (O'Keefe) is a travel agent. At a posh wedding, she's helping the bride with her going-away outfit, and he's delivering tickets. Each assumes the other is a guest and therefore a member of the rich, horsey set.Both O'Keefe and O'Sullivan were very good, if lightweight actors who never achieved superstardom. O'Sullivan, busy most of the time having her seven children, was very beautiful with a nice Irish lilt to her voice.Enjoyable movie, with an upbeat performance by Rooney. I loved the atmosphere in the family especially, with the brothers teasing one another, and June bringing home that giant St. Bernard. Good fun.
mark.waltz Maureen O'Sullivan and Dennis O'Keefe are attractive and sophisticated looking as two working class people who meet by chance at a wedding reception and assume each other is a member of the upper class. She works for a lavish fashion designer, while he works for a travel agency. They are there only on business and meet thanks to the bride's father. Taking an interest in each other for social climbing and romantic reasons, the two go out of their way to keep up their pretense. O'Sullivan's family takes things a step further with her eccentric Aunt Lucy (Jessie Ralph, one of the forgotten gems of the 30's) who utilizes her employer's lavish apartment to entertain O'Keefe at a family dinner party. Of course, both parties are exposed in time to bring the light plot to a happy conclusion.While the stars do a good job, they are defeated by a weak plot and a not too funny script. The supporting cast does all they can to add amusement, but it's really only a large St. Bernard that gets any genuine laughs. There's Mickey Rooney as O'Sullivan's younger brother being, well, Mickey Rooney. And Rooney's Andy Hardy ma, Fay Holden, has little to do. Edward Brophy, a typically New Yorkish character actor, has some funny moments as a bookie who is accused of stealing Ralph's employee's silverware. O'Sullivan, too well spoken to seem really a member of this lower middle class family, tries to rise above the material. O'Keefe is all right, but he's not star material in a role that calls for someone like Robert Taylor. This is an example of MGM's factory output that was put together a bit too fast and focuses on style over substance.