It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Love & Kisses (1965) – Musical #781

Studio:
Universal Pictures

Director:
Ozzie Nelson

Starring:
Ricky Nelson, Jack Kelly, Kristin Harmon (billed as Kristin Nelson), Jerry Van Dyke, Pert Kelton, Madelyn Himes, Sheilah Wells, Howard McNear, Ivan Bonar, Barry Livingston, Alvy Moore
Cameo Appearance: David Nelson, Skip Young

Plot:
Right before his high school graduation, Buzzy (Nelson) marries his longtime high school girlfriend, Rosemary (Harmon) with the plan of Buzzy still going to college and Rosemary transferring to a nearby high school. The marriage sends Buzzy’s family into a tizzy — Rosemary’s mother is largely absent — and Buzzy and Rosemary find that married life isn’t so easy.

Trivia:
• The only feature film directed or produced by Ozzie Nelson
• Ricky Nelson and Kristin Harmon were married at the time that this film was released.
• Feature film debut of Kristin Harmon Nelson
• The film is based on the 1963 stage play “Love and Kisses” by Anita Rowe Block
• Directed and produced by Ozzie Nelson, father of Ricky Nelson
• Only feature film of Madelyn Himes
• Premiered in Houston, TX, in Aug. 5, 1965, and had a New York premiere in November. An album of the same name, “Love and Kisses” was released on Nov. 15, 1965, with three of the songs from the film.

Highlights:
• Barry Livingston
• David Nelson’s cameo
• Pert Kelton

Notable Songs:
• “Love & Kisses” performed by Ricky Nelson
• “Come Out Dancin’” performed by Ricky Nelson
• “Say You Love Me” performed by Ricky Nelson

My review:
When a Broadway show fails, why not purchase it to adapt into a feature film?

The play, “Love & Kisses” opened on Dec. 18, 1963, and closed Dec. 28, 1963, after just 13 performances. It was directed by former MGM head Dore Schary and co-starred Larry Parks and Bert Convy.

In a review of the play, it was described as play “a sort of Ozzie and Harriett couple in a Ladies Home Journal fiction situation.” This somehow intrigued Ozzie Nelson to purchase it as a vehicle for his son, singer/actor Ricky Nelson, and daughter-in-law, Kristin Harmon Nelson, according to a biographer of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Ozzie Nelson also directed and produced the film.

The play follows high school senior, Buzzy Pringle (Ricky Nelson). On the day of his graduation, he reveals to his parents that he married his high school sweetheart, Rosemary (Kristin Harmon Nelson). Rosemary is still in high school, so their plan is that she will transfer to a school nearby his college. That summer, the two live with Buzzy’s parents (Jack Kelly, Madelyn Himes) and realize that married life is tough. Rosemary no longer has anything in common with her high school friends now that she’s married and is often bored, while Buzzy is working that summer. Buzzy’s older sister Elizabeth (Sheilah Wells) is also engaged to her boyfriend Freddy (Van Dyke) and the two are often in a tizzy.

The thing about LOVE & KISSES is that it’s supposed to be a comedy, but it’s just not funny. There are scenes that are played for laughs, but they somehow just feel random. For example, while Rosemary is cooking in the kitchen, Buzzy dumps salt on her, she cracks and egg on his head and a brief food fight ensues all before they are set to serve dinner. It feels random and brief — and when they enter to serve dinner, they are clean like it never happened. So why did it happen?

Another is Alvy Moore at the end of the film overacting as a police officer in an attempt to be comedic. Somehow none of the scenes played for laughs are funny.

We even somehow have a dream sequence following a fight with Buzzy and Rosemary. Buzzy dreams of going to a burlesque were his wife is now working and somehow gets in a fight. The best part of this scene, though, is a brief cameo with David Nelson.

It mainly seems like the only people trying to act in the film is Ricky Nelson and Pert Kelton. Nelson is the only one that made me laugh or care about his character. He sings three songs at the start of the film at his own graduation party.

Pert Kelton plays the family’s sassy maid. She was a highlight in 1930s films, and she is the best part of the film.

I found myself wishing Buzzy’s parents in the film were played by actors I should care about. Maybe Ozzie and Harrett should have just co-starred in it. Perhaps the worst part of the film is when Kristin Harmon Nelson starts crying in a Lucille Ball-like manner.

When I started watching this movie, I thought it was going to be like GOING STEADY (1958) or THE IMPOSSIBLE YEARS (1968), but it misses the mark.

When I discovered this film, I couldn’t find it anywhere—not on DVD, streaming, etc. Alas, I had to watch this on some random VHS, that I think someone once recorded off TV. While watching I thought, “Maybe there’s a reason no one has seen this movie in years.”

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