Kitty (1945)

An 18th century London wench gets involved with the nobility.

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Rosamond Marshall (novel), Karl Tunberg

Stars:

Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, Patric Knowles

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paulette Goddard	...	Kitty
Ray Milland	...	Sir Hugh Marcy
Patric Knowles	...	Brett Harwood Earl of Carstairs
Reginald Owen	...	Duke of Malmunster
Cecil Kellaway	...	Thomas Gainsborough
Constance Collier	...	Lady Susan Dowitt
Dennis Hoey	...	Jonathan Selby
Sara Allgood	...	Old Meg
Eric Blore	...	Dobson
Gordon Richards	...	Sir Joshua Reynolds
Michael Dyne	...	Prince of Wales
Edgar Norton	...	Earl of Campton
Patricia Cameron	...	Elaine Carlisle
Percival Vivian	...	Dr. Holt
Mary Gordon	...	Nanny

Storyline

London, 1783: Kitty, a saucy wench of the slums, meets the painter Gainsborough by stealing his shoes. He paints her as an "anonymous lady" who excites the interest of his noble friends, notably penniless Sir Hugh Marcy, who schemes to pass Kitty off as a genuine lady (a formidable task) and marry her off for financial gain. But Kitty has her own ideas about the uses of matrimony. Lots of decolletage.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | one word title | marriage for money | impersonation | british high society | 

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Taglines:

She made a career out of love.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

La duchesse des bas-fonds

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place in Omaha Sunday 21 December 1958 on KETV (Channel 7), followed by Asheville 8 April 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13), by Seattle 19 June 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), by Chicago Saturday 27 June 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2), by Milwaukee 4 October 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), and by Detroit, where it was shown in 2 parts Monday-Tuesday 23-24 November 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2). It was released on DVD 4 August 2015 as part of the Universal Vault Series and has since enjoyed an airing or two on Turner Classic Movies.

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Quotes

Dobson: You mean you're going to entertain him by yourself?
Kitty: I ain't going to entertain him. I'm going to marry him.

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Connections

Referenced in The Snoop Sisters: The Female Instinct (1972)

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Soundtracks

TAMBOURIN
(uncredited)
Music by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Danced by uncredited actress (character Signorina Baccelli)

User Reviews

Give us a DVD! A great, fun, bawdy, yet sophisticated, gem.

Paulette Goddard deserves to have this movie seen and enjoyed, and so do we. She was a charming actress, and this film gave her a chance to show it. Ray Milland is also a very charming cad. It's been too long since I've seen it, on TV when I was much younger, but I remember how much I liked it. For years I think I had it confused with FOREVER AMBER, but I was able to get ahold of that film on VHS a couple of years ago, and was greatly disappointed--I thought it sure wasn't as good as I remembered. It wasn't until I happened upon KITTY while looking at films done by Paulette, whom I also loved in REAP THE WILD WIND, that I realized I was disappointed by AMBER because it was not KITTY. Well, so it goes.

Come on, whoever owns the Paramount vault, dig into it. And look at other Mitchell Leisen films too, like HOLD BACK THE DAWN, TO EACH HIS OWN, and LADY IN THE DARK (which I don't think I've seen but would love to). He is one of the great UNDISCOVERED directors.

Give us DVDs--PLEEEEZE.

leisen