Kiss and Tell
Cast & Crew
Richard Wallace
Shirley Temple
Jerome Courtland
Walter Abel
Katharine Alexander
Robert Benchley
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When their booth at the USO bazaar fails to attract customers, teenager Corliss Archer suggests to her best friend, Mildred Pringle, that they sell kisses. Corliss' idea is a hit, and soon the soldiers are waiting in line to buy kisses. When the girls's mothers discover their antics, Mrs. Archer blames Mildred for corrupting her daughter. At the Archer house that night, Mr. Archer brings Private Jimmy Earhart to dinner. Although the precocious Corliss is dating her next-door neighbor, Dexter Franklin, she flirts with Jimmy and pretends to be older than her sixteen years. Meanwhile, at the Pringle house, Mr. Pringle becomes enraged when he learns of Mrs. Archer's denunciation of Mildred and forbids his daughter and son Raymond to socialize with the Archer family. After the Archer family finishes dinner and goes to a movie, their son Lenny, who is serving in the Air Force, arrives home for a surprise visit. When Lenny sees his sweetheart Mildred, he informs her that he has only seventy hours before being shipped overseas and proposes that they elope. The next morning, the young lovers drive over the state line to Wyndham Ferry and are married by a justice of the peace. They newlyweds plan to inform their families of the wedding that night, but when they return home, they discover that the feud has escalated and that Mrs. Pringle has now forbidden Mildred and Raymond to associate with the Archers. Fearing that the Pringles will attempt to annul the marriage because Mildred is underage, Lenny confides his predicament to Corliss and then swears her to secrecy. The family feud intensifies when Mr. Pringle punches Mr. Archer in the nose and Mr. Archer retaliates by knocking Mr. Pringle's teeth down his throat, resulting in multiple lawsuits. Several months after Lenny is shipped overseas, Mildred discovers that she is pregnant, and Corliss accompanies her to the obstetrician. When Mrs. Wilcox, the town gossip, spots Corliss leaving the doctor's office, she follows her and later sees Corliss meet Jimmy, who has just returned from active duty. Anxious to share her news, Mrs. Wilcox phones Mrs. Pringle. To get even with Mrs. Archer for besmirching Mildred's character, Mrs. Pringle hurries to the Archer house and there announces that Corliss is pregnant and that Jimmy is the father. To protect her best friend and her brother, Corliss admits to visiting the obstetrician. When Mr. Archer threatens to call Jimmy's commanding officer, Corliss lies that Dexter is the baby's father. Corliss then hurries to tell Dexter about Mildred and Lenny's dilemma and begs him to continue the deception. Trying to comfort her overwrought parents, Corliss claims that she and Dexter are married, and when her father demands to see the marriage license, she tells him about the justice of the peace in Wyndham Ferry. When Mr. Archer phones the justice of the peace, the befuddled old man recognizes the name Archer and confirms the marriage. As the Franklins gather at the Archer house, uncle George Archer comes to visit. Learning of his niece's predicament, George, a Navy chaplin, insists on performing a wedding ceremony immediately. Meanwhile, at the Pringle house, Mildred receives a telegram from Lenny and finally tells her parents the truth. After Mildred praises Corliss for accompanying her to the obstetrician, Mrs. Pringle realizes her mistake and the Pringles rush over to the Archer house. They enter to the strains of the wedding march, but when Archer sees Pringle, he begins to chase him down the street. After Mrs. Pringle announces that they are all prospective grandparents, the in-laws reconcile and all ends happily.
Director
Richard Wallace
Cast
Shirley Temple
Jerome Courtland
Walter Abel
Katharine Alexander
Robert Benchley
Porter Hall
Virginia Welles
Tom Tully
Darryl Hickman
Mary Philips
Scott Mckay
Scott Elliott
Kathryn Card
Edna Holland
Bill Dyer
Cliff Rathjen
John Bogden
Leo Schlesinger
George Hoagland
Bob Maclean
Hugh Hooker
George Bruggeman
Carlyle Blackwell
Jerry Shane
Bernie Sell
Darren Mcgavin
Gary Bruce
Gene Garrick
Jessie Arnold
Frank Darien
Isabel Withers
Early Cantrell
Crew
George Abbott
Earl Bellamy
Jack Goodrich
Stephen Goossón
F. Hugh Herbert
Werner R. Heymann
Thelma Hoover
George Kelley
Joseph Kish
Charles Lawton Jr.
Jean Louis
Vera Mikol
William Mull
Charles Nelson
James Paisley
Edwin Phillips
Van Nest Polglase
Sol C. Siegel
M. W. Stoloff
Edwin L. Wetzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to pre-production news items in Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety, Columbia spent two years negotiating for the screen rights to the F. Hugh Herbert play. The studio initially conceived the play as a vehicle for Rita Hayworth and assigned Al Hill to direct. In addition to writing the original play, Herbert adapted it to the screen. George Abbott produced both the stage and screen versions. Hollywood Reporter news items and production charts credit Herbert as producer along with Abbott and Sol Siegel. According to Columbia publicity material, Herbert based the character of "Corliss Archer" on his teenage daughter. A New York Times article notes that David O. Selznick, who loaned Shirley Temple to Columbia for the production, initially demanded approval of the screenplay and daily rushes because he was concerned that the subject matter was too "sexy" for former child star Temple. According to a 1948 New York Times news item, Herbert sued Columbia for interfering with the sale of the rights to a screen sequel to this picture. The outcome of that suit is unknown, but in 1949, Temple reprised the character of Corliss Archer in the United Artists Picture A Kiss for Corliss (see below).
The Corliss Archer radio program, which was broadcast on the CBS network from 1943 to 1952, was also based on Herbert's play. Priscilla Lyon originated the role on radio and was later replaced by Janet Waldo. In 1952, the program moved to ABC, then was revived for a year by CBS in 1954. In 1951, CBS broadcast a televised version of Meet Corliss Archer, starring Lugene Sanders and directed by Alan Dinehart. In 1954, the ZIV television network launched a thirty-three episode series entitled Meet Corliss Archer, starring Ann Baker, and in 1956, the Alcoa Hour broadcast a televised version of Kiss and Tell, starring Robin Morgan as Corliss.
