Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Patricia Rozema

Writers (WGA):

Ann Peacock (written by)
Valerie Tripp (Kit Kittredge stories)

Release Date:

2 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Mystery

Plot:

Set in Cincinnati at the height of the Great Depression, Kit Kittredge, a resourceful young girl, helps her mother run a boardinghouse after her father loses his job.

Plot Keywords:

Great Depression | Cincinnati Ohio | Father | Unemployment | Bookmobile

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Abigail Breslin	...	Margaret Mildred 'Kit' Kittredge
Julia Ormond	...	Margaret Kittredge
Chris O'Donnell	...	Jack Kittredge
Jane Krakowski	...	Miss May Dooley
Wallace Shawn	...	Mr. Gibson
Max Thieriot	...	Will Shepherd
Willow Smith	...	Countee Garby
Glenne Headly	...	Louise Howard
Zach Mills	...	Stirling Howard IV
Kenneth Welsh	...	Uncle Hendrick
Madison Davenport	...	Ruthie Smithens
Joan Cusack	...	Miss Lucinda Bond
Dylan Smith	...	Freidreich (as Dylan Scott Smith)
Stanley Tucci	...	Jefferson Jasper Berk
Douglas Nyback	...	William 'Billy' Peabody

Also Known As:

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:G (certificate #44219) | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:G | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Picturehouse Entertainment

Trivia:

Shot in 27 days.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Kit's dad is seen leaving for Chicago in a Flxible Clipper bus, which was not produced until 1937, three years after the movie's 1934 setting.

Quotes:

Kit Kittredge: [very serious] Do you swear allegiance to the Treehuse Club?
Florence Stone: [solemn] I do.
Kit Kittredge: And if the Ninth Street Club asks you to join their club?
Florence Stone: I will laugh in their faces.
Frances Stone: [whispering] Florence! You're *supposed* to say, 'I will decline'!
Florence Stone: Oh.
[very seriously]
Florence Stone: I will decline... and laugh.

Movie Connections:

References It Happened One Night (1934)

Soundtrack:

My Shawl

This movie was beyond my expectations

As a writer of women's history, including World War II, this is one of the few films I've seen which really informs. The settings and clothing were accurate. The mix of people was also true to life. But what surprised me the most was that Kit's family came face to face with the personal dilemmas of the Depression. She was not just a child "voyeur", "do-gooder", or "little careerist" removed from the economic and social pressures which is what I had expected. There were a number of very authentic scenes and interchanges. There were also some very interesting characters such as the mobile librarian.

I spoke to a mother as she came out of the theater with her 5 year old (who liked it). She commented that the movie will give youth of today a view of hardship that most don't understand in our now affluent nation. As a child of Depression-era parents that's the truth: both of my parents' families lost wealth due to small town bank failures. My uncle, instead of going to college, had to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCCs).

With that said, however, as a movie I thought the acting uneven. Some of the dialogue seemed a little canned and some words were too contemporary (e.g., Kit: "I was focused on"). But some of that could also just be my first over-reactive impression. I'd have to see it again, to let it all sink in, for as a total historical package it was a lot to absorb, because you have to assess it at several different levels.

But, whether or not you think this is a good or bad movie, in movie terms, this is an important movie for children to see. It is generally fact-based, has depth, and is as authentic a movie as a wholesome, "uplifting" one for 10-year-olds can be. The American Girl phenomenon is true manna from heaven for those of us interested in giving women a place in history.