Kitty (1945)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Rosamond Marshall (novel) and
Karl Tunberg (writer)

Release Date:

25 January 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

She made a career out of love.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

British High Society | Painting | Marriage For Money | Art | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Paulette Goddard	...	Kitty
Ray Milland	...	Sir Hugh Marcy
Patric Knowles	...	Brett, 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
Edward Norton	...	Earl of Campton
Patricia Cameron	...	Elaine Carlisle
Percival Vivian	...	Dr. Holt
Mary Gordon	...	Nancy

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #10786) | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

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.

Quotes:

Dobson: Here, take this tea up to her ladyship.
Kitty: How'll I find 'er?
Dobson: Drunk as usual.

Soundtrack:

TAMBOURIN

The kind of costume drama that should have been in color...

Mitchell Leisen was at the top of his form as a director in the mid-'40s and KITTY is a high point in his career, as it is for Paulette Goddard. This is the tale of a sharp-tongued guttersnipe (Goddard) who rises to become a Duchess in society thanks to the manipulations of the scheming Ray Milland and Constance Collier. It's a variation of the Pygmalion tale, a 'My Fair Lady' without music, sumptuously photographed in glorious B&W photography, although it's one of those costume films that would have looked even more ravishing in technicolor.

As for any further comment on the film, here's what I wrote in a recent article on the career of PAULETTE GODDARD:

"When Paramount failed to make a successful bid for 'Forever Amber', they decided to make their own costume drama about a poor wench from 18th century London who rises from guttersnipe to society woman. Paulette gives undoubtedly one of her best performances in a lavish period film that should have been in color. The N.Y. Times noted: 'Paulette Goddard has worked up blazing temperament to go with her ravishing beauty in the title role. If she is less fetching as a late 18th century duchess, it is because the script runs thin on humor and drama. In any case, she gives the work the correct touch of wry romanticism.'"