Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Christopher Morley (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The natural history of a woman.

Plot:

Ginger Rogers, a hard-working white-collar girl from a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania low, middle-class family...

Plot Keywords:

Socialite | Department Store | Marriage | Divorce | Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Ginger Rogers	...	Kitty Foyle
Dennis Morgan	...	Wynnewood 'Wyn' Strafford VI
James Craig	...	Dr. Mark Eisen
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Giono (as Edward Ciannelli)
Ernest Cossart	...	Pop
Gladys Cooper	...	Mrs. Strafford
Odette Myrtil	...	Delphine Detaille
Mary Treen	...	Pat
K.T. Stevens	...	Molly (as Katharine Stevens)
Walter Kingsford	...	Mr. Kennett
Cecil Cunningham	...	Grandmother
Nella Walker	...	Aunt Jessica
Edward Fielding	...	Uncle Edgar
Kay Linaker	...	Wyn's Wife
Richard Nichols	...	Wyn's Boy

Also Known As:

Kitty Foyle (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:A | USA:Approved (PCA #6639)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

After Ginger Rogers' Oscar win for this film, she returned to RKO and was greeted by staffers and actors in top hats and tails.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Tom Foyle's waste basket catches fire Kitty pours whiskey on it to put it out, yet the fire doesn't flare up.

Quotes:

Mr. Kennett, Wyn's Uncle: But Miss Foyle, thou art not being quite reasonable about this.
Kitty Foyle: Says thou.
Mr. Kennett, Wyn's Uncle: Miss Foyle, thy temper!
Kitty Foyle: Mr. Kennet, thy foot!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Bad Luck Blackie (1949)

Soundtrack:

I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)

Very Good "Woman's Movie"

The movie opens with a young woman, Kitty Foyle, assisting her doctor-sweetheart in delivering a child in a ramshackle tenement. They are a very compassionate pair. Afterwards he proposes marriage, she accepts and agrees meet him at midnight to be immediately married by an all-night Justice of the Peace. But while packing back at her hotel room, in pops an old flame, a wealthy married man who Kitty still desperately loves. He announces he has left his family and is leaving that night at midnight for South America. He still loves her, and wants her to join him. Oh, Kitty, what to do?

The remainder of the film is a series of flashbacks prompted by Kitty's image of herself in the mirror (i.e., her conscience) as it attempts to direct Kitty to the proper decision. Starting with her teenage years growing up working-class Irish in 1920s Philadelphia we learn how poor Kitty met and fell in love with a rich Mainline aristocat, and got herself in such a predicament.

Ms. Rogers won best actress for her role as Kitty, but the rest of the cast is no less deserving. A real movie treat.