Love and Kisses (1965 movie)

Love and Kisses (1965) is a U.S. comedy film starring Ricky Nelson as a young man called Buzzy Pringle who tries to grow up and emancipate himself from his middle-class parents by getting married. Based on a stage play by Anita Rowe Block, the film, which is mainly a vehicle for Nelson, also features Nelson's then spouse Kristin Harmon as Buzzy's wife Rosemary. The movie was directed by Ricky Nelson's father, Ozzie Nelson.

On the day he graduates from high school, Buzzy Pringle secretly marries his girlfriend Rosemary, whom he met at school and who still has to do another year because she has flunked French. Buzzy's family are horrified on hearing the news of their wedding, especially as Buzzy, unable to care for Rosemary, suggests that for the time being he and his wife live in his old room in the Pringles' suburban home. At first Buzzy's parents suspect that Rosemary must be pregnant, but it soon turns out that neither of them has had sex before. It falls on Buzzy's father (Jack Kelly) to have a man-to-man talk with his son on the latter's wedding night and tell him all there is to know about the birds and the bees.

The newlyweds' first marital crisis arises after only a few weeks when Rosemary, while her husband is away doing a summer job at the company his father works for, attempts to be a housewife but in fact lacks the necessary skills. The situation escalates when Buzzy finds out that it is his father rather than the company who is paying him. His confidence is temporarily shattered, but Buzzy quickly recovers and eventually is able to make some important decisions. He gets a real job and rents a small apartment and in the end is reunited with Rosemary.

The cast also includes Buzzy's mother (Madelyn Himes), his older sister Elizabeth (Sheilah Wells) and her fiancé Freddy (Jerry Van Dyke), and the Pringles' resolute housekeeper (Pert Kelton). As Buzzy is also the singer in a school band, Nelson is given ample opportunity to perform his songs (such as the title song "Love and Kisses"). Entertainment for the whole family, Love and Kisses may well be regarded as an early example of a family film.