Kisses for My President
| Kisses for My President | |
|---|---|
1964 Theatrical Poster
|
|
| Directed by | Curtis Bernhardt |
| Produced by | Curtis Bernhardt |
| Written by |
Claude Binyon (writer) Robert G. Kane (screenplay) |
| Starring |
Fred MacMurray Polly Bergen Eli Wallach |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Edited by | Sam O'Steen |
|
Production
company |
Pearlayne
|
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
|
Release date
|
December 4, 1964 |
|
Running time
|
113 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Kisses for My President is a 1964 comedy film directed by Curtis Bernhardt, starring Fred MacMurray and Polly Bergen. Leslie McCloud (Bergen) makes history when she is elected the first female President of the United States. However, her husband Thad McCloud (MacMurray) is less enthusiastic.
It was the last feature directed by Bernhardt, whose career stretched back to the silent era.
The United States elects its first female President in the form of Leslie McCloud (Polly Bergen). She and her first gentleman, Thad (Fred MacMurray), move into the White House with their daughter Gloria (Ahna Capri) and son Peter (Ronnie Dapo).
Immediately, the new President is too busy for her husband and family as she deals with a powerful opposition Senator Walsh (Edward Andrews), and a Central America dictator Raphael Valdez Jr. (Eli Wallach).
Thad attempts to find something meaningful to do as the "first lady". Much time is given to the husband's chagrin at being assigned an ultra-feminine bedroom and office within the White House. It is clear that no one, especially Thad McCloud, has given any thought to how a President's husband might fit into the scheme of things.
Enter Doris Reid Weaver (Arlene Dahl), Thad's former flame and now an international business woman. She wants Thad back—and during a seductive visit, offers to make him Vice-President of her cosmetics company as bait. Leslie smells Doris's perfume on her husband that night, and confronts him.
Leslie has asked him to show visiting dictator Valdez around Washington, with disastrous results, as Thad brawls with a male diner at a burlesque show they are all attending. To further complicate things, the first daughter is running around town with a very unsuitable boyfriend and using her position to get out of scrapes with the police. Son Peter has become a bully, using his Secret Service men for protection as he terrorizes everyone in his school—including the principal.
The President's husband ultimately finds an important role in a Cold War subplot that resembles the rise and fall of Senator McCarthy, when Thad proves that Senator Walsh blindly supports the Latin American dictator for reasons that are not patriotic. Senator Walsh aggressively portrays the Madame President as weak in resisting Communism because she has the humanitarian integrity to refuse to give dictator Valdez more "foreign aid" money for his personal enrichment while he does nothing to alleviate poverty in his country. The Russians are also co-funding Valdez to prevent him from being influenced exclusively by the United States. As soon as the Madame President drops her support for the dictator, the Russians do so as well.
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