You are here:

Kiss and Make-Up

Name: Kiss and Make-Up
Director: Harlan Thompson
Released: 1934
Duration: 78 min

Representation Score

2.0/10

Limited

1934

Approved

Director

Harlan Thompson

Runtime

78 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Kiss and Make-Up is a classic product of its era, functioning as a traditional romantic comedy. It explores the tension between artificiality and naturalness through the lens of a plastic surgeon, yet it remains firmly rooted in the social hierarchies of the 1930s. The film lacks intentionality regarding diverse representation. While it touches on the vanity of high society, it does so through a narrow, Western European lens that prioritizes individual romantic fulfillment over broader social critique. Ultimately, the narrative reinforces conventional social structures rather than challenging them. The characters operate within established gender and social frameworks, offering little in the way of diverse or non-traditional perspectives.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Kiss and Make-Up have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film focuses on traditional heterosexual relationships and marriage. There are no characters with non-binary or transgender identities, nor any critique of the assumption that everyone is straight.

How does Kiss and Make-Up portray gender?

Fair

Dr. Maurice Lamar plays a significant role in the story through his professional expertise. However, the film relies on the cliché of the unadorned woman, positioning the secretary as a moral anchor.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Kiss and Make-Up?

Minimal

The setting is centered around European locations such as Paris. The cast appears to follow the homogeneous casting standards of the 1930s without any evidence of ethnic diversity.

How does Kiss and Make-Up represent religion and culture?

Limited

The film critiques the superficiality of high-society beauty standards and materialism. However, it reinforces traditional social stability by returning to a conventional romantic ideal.

Does Kiss and Make-Up include disability representation?

Minimal

The story focuses on aesthetic perfection through plastic surgery. There is no evidence of the portrayal of physical or cognitive disabilities.

Present on Screen

Offers a mild critique of capitalist-driven vanity and the superficiality of high-society beauty standards.
Presents complex gendered power dynamics through the lens of professional expertise and aesthetic control.

Limited or Absent

Lacks racial and ethnic diversity, adhering to the homogeneous casting standards of the 1930s.
Relies on the 'unadorned woman' cliché, which limits the depth of female character roles.
Follows a strictly heterosexual trajectory without exploring non-binary or transgender identities.

Official Synopsis

Dr. Maurice Lamar is a noted plastic surgeon who makes his rich clients beautiful, and also makes them. He makes Eve Caron, the wife of Marcel Caron, so satisfied with his skilled hands that she leaves Marcel and marries Maurice. They go on a Mediterranean honeymoon, where he soon finds the effects of his own beauty regulations are more than he can handle. He bids adieu to his new bride, and wings it back to Paris with the intention of giving up his practice and becoming a scientific researcher... after winning back the love of his simple, unadorned secretary, Anne.

How are these scores produced? →