A Kiss and Hell Story

Having watched “Some Like It Hot” over the Christmas holiday, I was reminded of the controversy between Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis. Image wise, Monroe did very well from this film, but Tony Curtis’ publicist put a different spin on things. He reported that Curtis had said kissing Monroe in “Some Like It Hot” was like “kissing Hitler”.

This comment fuelled an ongoing battle between the two Hollywood stars. Years later, Tony Curtis denied that he had said anything of the sort and declared that it was all down to his publicist. During the 20th Century, publicists like Harry Reichenbach realised just how easy it was to stir up the media to their advantage.

The first ever screened kiss came in 1896 in a film called “The Widow Jones”. Considering the time, the movie didn’t have any publicity team, but critics did review the film and back then described it as absolutely disgusting. So it didn’t matter whether it was the first ever screened kiss or a kiss between a famous actor and the most beautiful women in the world, kissing has been used by publicists all through history to cause controversy.