In just two years, and with more than a dozen films behind him, Cary Grant was a hit and commanded star status and leads in most of his films. While many of his movies were very good, a few weren't much better than run-of-the mill. "Kiss and Make-Up" is one of those. The title of this movie is a play on words – make-up then being used to refer to women's makeup and cosmetics. Grant is a doctor in this film – a plastic surgeon living in Paris who has built his particular calling into a beauty empire. He will do the usual face-lifting and other surgeries, but much of his professional guidance is in diet, exercise, the use of special beauty products and all sorts of pampering practices for the body. It's a real body-worship plot in his beauty salon.
But after he "creates" the perfect woman and she leaves her husband for him, he finds the tables turned. Grant plays Dr. Maurice Lamar who gets a dose of his own medicine. The perfect beauty is Genevieve Tobin as Eve Caron. The husband who liked his wife the way she was before and winds up divorced from here is Marcel Caron, played by Edward Everett Horton. Another principal character is Lamar's secretary-manager, Anne, played by Helen Mack.
Lamar eventually comes to his senses and is saved from the hedonistic lifestyle of body-worship. The movie has a car chase and Cary Grant sings. He could carry a tune, but nothing like the noted singing stars. He also plays the piano – a talent he used some in later films and frequently in his personal life. Marcel and Anne have the only good song in the film – they both love their "Corn Beef and Cabbage."
With all of the attention to physical beauty and the number of beauties in the salon, this film can soon begin to wear on one. The plot is thin and shallow. It's probably only of interest to die-hard Cary Grant fans.
But after he "creates" the perfect woman and she leaves her husband for him, he finds the tables turned. Grant plays Dr. Maurice Lamar who gets a dose of his own medicine. The perfect beauty is Genevieve Tobin as Eve Caron. The husband who liked his wife the way she was before and winds up divorced from here is Marcel Caron, played by Edward Everett Horton. Another principal character is Lamar's secretary-manager, Anne, played by Helen Mack.
Lamar eventually comes to his senses and is saved from the hedonistic lifestyle of body-worship. The movie has a car chase and Cary Grant sings. He could carry a tune, but nothing like the noted singing stars. He also plays the piano – a talent he used some in later films and frequently in his personal life. Marcel and Anne have the only good song in the film – they both love their "Corn Beef and Cabbage."
With all of the attention to physical beauty and the number of beauties in the salon, this film can soon begin to wear on one. The plot is thin and shallow. It's probably only of interest to die-hard Cary Grant fans.