Kiss Today Goodbye

Purportedly a huge Times Square hit in 1976, KISS TODAY GOODBYE emerges four decades later as a quaint reminder of what gay romantic porn was like in what seems like prehistoric times judging by this DVD reissue.

Oddest element is the heavy inclusion of mainstream porn names, with one half of both the Findlays and the Amero Bros. directing, and stars George Payne and Michael Gaunt familiar XXX Gotham players.

The MOS film with poor post-synced dialog (often matched to reaction shots in voice-over to avoid the need to match any lip movements) seems quite remote despite the familiar Manhattan locations and '70s garb. A nostalgic, nay campy atmosphere is intentionally developed with the use of credits in those old "pages of a book" turned fashion familiar especially from Women's pictures of the '40s, plus bombastic soundtrack of sentimental music. Overall effect presages a movie like the Julianne Moore indie hit FAR FROM HEAVEN.

Popularity clearly stemmed from a simple story the audience could identify with: studly construction worker Payne bumping into Bill Pierce on the street, an executive from his same corporation, a very straight/square looking guy, and their instant love affair from opposite sides of the tracks. This type of material worked wonders in corny old movies or even in class-conscious or interracial problem pictures, but here it is adapted to a gay sensibility.

There's no screenplay credit, and the dialog tends to go overboard in establishing comic relief as to stereotypically gay patter (which would not sound too out of place spoken by an Eve Arden or Ann Sothern in the '40s). Chief offender is Payne's roommate played by Michael Gaunt, an overbearing type in their Odd Couple relationship.

Gaunt's antics, especially at Payne's surprise birthday party turned orgy in which the roomie has Pierce show up as his chief "present", generate much of the action, with the romance's ups and downs leading to a wistful, highly sentimental ending.

It's all about the sex, which is more romantically presented than the usual slam/bang homosexual film of this era. There's a genuine feeling developed for these characters, and Findlay's camera is in your face (literally) for blow jobs and money shots, while quite tasteful (enough to make the film more palatable to mixed and hetero audiences) regarding photography of anal sex, nearly always presented from soft-core angles.

Chief drawback is use of other voices (perhaps even Findlay horning in though it doesn't sound like him) to dub the three leads, quite jarring in the case of Gaunt and Payne who we've seen act in countless movies. The rather crude nature of the filming, with jarring editing and often poor technique must not have fazed 1976 audiences but seems extremely amateurish seen at such a distance in time now.

The presence of Pierce's wife in the movie (we see her topless lying in bed with hubby, but her character is not developed) is interesting and I would have liked to see more of her and her life, without necessarily departing from the (misnomer) All-Male pigeonhole these movies and the theaters that showed them used for marketing back in the day.