User reviews

"Kitty Foyle" is a lush, expertly done example of the "women's films" that were popular in the 1940's and are so rare today. The rather simplistic plot focuses on Kitty's choice of sharing her life with either a married scion of a mainline family or an impoverished doctor, both of whom love her. Pure soap opera, but lovingly done, especially those luminous closeups. The device of having Kitty talk to her own conscience is rather hokey, but does provide for an interesting touch. The spark in the production is the admirably natural but spirited performance of Ginger Rogers in the title role. She perfectly fits the role of a working girl surviving on her wits and gumption, and really shines when telling off her rich, patronizing in-laws. See it for her, and for a somewhat dated but still intriguing view of the travails of independent women during the first half of the 20th century.

Ginger Rogers gives a good performance as "Kitty Foyle", making it worth seeing even though the film is otherwise a mostly average production. The story is worthwhile, but much of it is rather ordinary material, and it is somewhat slow. The rest of the cast is good enough, but most of the time does not come close to Rogers's level. There is nothing wrong with any of it, but not much of it really stands out.

Kitty, the main character, must make a number of choices during the course of the story, and is forced to weigh her options and her priorities. Rogers is believable and generally effective in portraying Kitty's thoughts and personality. The others in her life are mostly likable, yet most of the time they do not come to life in the way that Kitty does. Fortunately, Ginger is able to carry the load.

Many of us would have loved to see more Astaire-Rogers musicals, but you can see why Ginger wanted a chance to perform more dramatic roles, to show what she could do. This movie as a whole is generally pleasant and always watchable, but nothing special, and a number of her musicals were certainly better films. Nevertheless, it did give her a chance to do something different, and she did it well.

Enjoyed this film starring Ginger Rogers, (Katherine "Kitty" Foyle) playing the role of a young girl who works for a magazine in Philadelphia and was hired by a man during the great depression. This man was Wyn Strafford, (Dennis Morgan) who is very good looking and started to fall in love with her. Kitty loses her job and finds other work selling cosmetics and perfumes and this couple do not see each other for over a year until Kitty meets up with Wyn Strafford who comes from a very wealthy family and they get married. Things quickly change in their lives and because Kitty was a girl who came from a rather poor Irish family this created a problem for the stiff shirts of Philadelphia. There are many flashbacks in this story and there is a great deal to this film which will hold your interest right to the very end. Excellent film and a wonderful old film to enjoy with old songs from the past.

A wonderful story of a young woman caught between two worlds, what she wants and what she needs. This has got to be one of the best stories of all time. Ginger Rogers gives an outstanding performance of a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks that stands up to society and makes her way on her own.

It is incredibly forward thinking for the time period and yet it deals with struggles that seem to be timeless.

I give it as many stars as can be given.

Ariana Eirlys

A love story, mostly drama, some comedy, set in the backdrop of Philadelphia main line society in the 1920s/1930s. Rogers is great as the working girl heroine- Kitty Foyle, but so is Morgan as the wealthy socialite, Wynn Stafford. Rogers won the Oscar for her role. I don't know why Morgan doesn't get more recognition for his role; he was always underrated. James Craig is perfect as the other man in the triangle- the earnest, struggling young doctor. A warm, romantic movie- the kind which is rarely made today.

Ginger Rogers was looking for a script that would allow her to showcase her dramatic talents, a departure from the comedic and dancing roles her career had been limited to by RKO and others. The novel "Kitty Foyle" was too scandalous for her tastes, but her mother convinced her to wait for the studio's treatment, which would have to conform to MPPC guidelines. Besides, Dalton Trumbo was working on the adaptation.

When she read the script, she was pleased to accept the role. The film became RKO's biggest earner of 1940 and she won the Best Actress Oscar over some other notable performances, perhaps because her dramatic abilities were so underestimated.

The film, as a whole, is certainly not a classic. Its story is not so unique, being little more than the struggle of a woman to decide between two men, one of whom lives a privileged life that cannot accommodate her lower station. The ending of the film is anticlimactic. Still, Miss Rogers' role is the centerpiece of the film and she handles it with confidence and nuance.

Her two leading men, Dennis Morgan and James Craig, are solid in their performances, though their roles are not as demanding.

And not just because my name is kit. The chemistry between Ginger Rogers and Dennis Morgan is unlike any other screen romance I've ever seen. Total smolder city. Rogers mixes idealism and cynicism has stunningly as it can be done. Morgan nicely tightropes between strength and fecklessness. The supporting cast, in entirety, is magnificent. Just a tremendous movie. In fact, I just got inspiration -- following the recording of this review -- I will change my IMDB handle to kittyfoyle.

A vastly underrated actress outside the realm of song & dance, Ginger Rogers finally scored w/a best actress Oscar for her performance here. Rogers plays a working class perfume hawker torn between the blue blooded beau from back home in Philly & a struggling doctor she meets in New York. A good role in a flawed film, I chuck this one to the director since the script is on point from Dalton Trumbo (Spartacus/The Brave One) but the strength of Rogers turn is let down on an over reliance on flashbacks.

This story, adapted from Christopher Morley's novel, about a working girl stuck on two different suitors--one with old-generation money and the other no less than a doctor--comes dangerously close to mawkish soap opera. Fortunately, director Sam Wood has a firm grip on the narrative, keeping it from lapsing into suds and guiding Ginger Rogers to a Best Actress Oscar. Wood's attempts to show the various roles women have played throughout the years are weakly-handled, and the shapeless script by Dalton Trumbo (with assistance from Donald Ogden Stewart) seems intent on making the same points over and over again. Still, there several funny, cynical sequences and some sharp dialogue. Rogers hits a few clanging notes, but her energy and enthusiasm are unmistakable. ** from ****

While I am quite fond of Ginger Rogers - both her performances and her personality - "Kitty Foyle" is not an Oscar-worthy film. Yes, she does a great job, but not superior to Hepburn ("The Philadelphia Story"), Davis ("The Letter"), Fontaine ("Rebecca") or Scott ("Our Town") - all nominated actresses in the same category.

The book upon which this film is based was somewhat controversial at the time - abortion, extramarital affairs, etc. - all verboten by the Production Code of the 40s/50s. Yes, they "cleaned up" the story for the screenplay, but it is still somewhat risque for 1940. Most likely, the subject matter contributed to Rogers winning the Oscar. (Of course, "The Philadelphia Story" is a bit suggestive as well - and certainly more sophisticated.)

Distracting to me are the unnecessary "prologue," and Rogers portraying (briefly) a twelve year-old! The scenes with her two female roommates are a welcome comedic interlude. Unlikely is the prospect of Foyle secretly giving her ex-boyfriend's engagement ring to his young son, and expecting the child's mother to never see it.

This is worth viewing, of course, but the Oscar went to the wrong person.

Ginger Rogers, as the titular character, gives a very moving performance, for which she won an Academy Award, as a woman torn between two men. The two male leads, Dennis Morgan and James Craig, are also excellent. The message of the movie seems to be that one should forsake passionate romantic love and settle for stability. Of course there are extenuating circumstances in Kitty's situation, notably her class status and the Depression, but the message doesn't seem to be very idealistic. I guess in those more religious times unmarried women cohabiting with men was frowned upon quite severely. I heard this movie was based on a book. I wonder, what does Wyn do in South America without Kitty? Does he still pursue his divorce? Great film, 9/10.

"Kitty Foyle" is a curious film. On the one hand, it wanted to point out the wrongs in the society of the time. The book, in which the movie is based, made an impact in the 30s. Its author, Christopher Morley, discusses things that perhaps the director of the film, Sam Wood, wanted to tackle, but the result is that it doesn't offer any solution to the problem it presents. In a way, "Kitty Foyle" is one of the typical melodramas of the era that called for a more experienced leading lady.

Ginger Rogers, in my humble opinion, was an excellent actress in lighter fare and musicals. She left her mark as the partner of one of the most successful dancers in Hollywood, Fred Astaire. In undertaking the title role of this picture, Ms. Rogers was attempting something that she probably didn't have the range for, even though, she is effective as the lead.

Time, alas, hasn't been kind to this movie. Some of the taboos of the times have been conquered and resolved. More than sixty years later, this movie serves more as a curiosity piece than a great picture. In fact, that year, in the Oscar race, Ms. Rogers won against some of Hollywood's best actresses, which doesn't say much about the award, itself. Sometimes the Hollywood Establishment has a way for rewarding some people for the wrong kind of film, but in recognition of excellent contribution to the American cinema.

"Kitty Foyle" is basically a soap opera about a strong woman who makes the mistake of falling in love with a society man, which has served as the plot for other, better done movies. The prologue, while trying to be politically correct and explain how Kitty has achieved a certain status, doesn't add anything to the movie. Ms. Rogers is shown trying to pass for twelve, as she watches the Philadelphia aristocracy enter the Assembly ball, is not credible, she looks like Ginger Rogers!

Ginger Rogers was a talented actress; she makes a great appearance in the film. Dennis Morgan was an excellent actor who had the ability to make his leading ladies excel when playing with him. His Wyn Strafford is a rich boy in love with someone from the other side of the tracks. James Craig makes a good appearance as the doctor who falls for the woman who probably will never love him.

The movie will probably resonate a lot of women that love the genre. It's easy to see why this film has pleased, thanks to the personality of Ms. Rogers, who dominates the movie.

Classic old Hollywood formula. A beautiful lady torn between two men who are heads over heels in love with her. Will she go for the guy she's adored for years or a new acquaintance who happens to be a doctor with no strings attached?

Rogers plays the title role in "Kitty Foyle" which kicks off with her packing her bags to run away with one of the two men. Will it be her hometown sweetheart (who is married) or the committed, yet struggling, but available doctor? Before we discover Kitty's decision, the movie takes us on a romantic trip down memory lane - with all of Kitty's high and lows in between - exploring how she met and fell in love with the two men.

Even though the plot is slightly predictable, and you know what's going to happen in the end, it doesn't really matter. The movie is a definitive '40s romance which was incredibly popular in its day and is, generally, worth investing your time. Romantic escapism at its finest.

You can't take away the fact that Rogers steals the movie as a forthright, no-nonsense New York career woman. The on-screen romances Rogers has with her leading men (Morgan and Craig) are so convincing; you feel like you're in the wine bar eavesdropping on their conversation or a passer-by in streets of New York enthralled by the madly-in-love couple(s). Having won the Oscar for this movie, I don't think Rogers' performance is on a par with two of her fellow nominees that year: Katharine Hepburn for "The Philadelphia Story" and Joan Fontaine for "Rebecca". In my book, Hepburn and Fontaine's performances have stood the test of time and, if I had to choose, Hepburn seals the deal for me.

Foyle remains an incredibly likable character throughout despite stringing out the decision she's got to make. You warm to her even more towards the end where, years later, she meets her hometown sweetheart's wife and son and entrusts the boy to secretly return the family heirloom his father gave her.

If you're looking for a movie that beautifully yet subtly captures the starry-eyed romances of yesteryear, "Kitty Foyle" will be right up your street.

This must have been the year for the City of Brotherly Love. James Stewart wins his Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story and Ginger Rogers who he was going out with at some point, wins Best Actress for Kitty Foyle, a film also set in Philadelphia. Too bad neither the Athletics or the Phillies won the World Series that year, but neither of them came close.

Although Stage Door more than amply demonstrated Ginger Rogers's abilities at serious drama, this particular film cemented her as dramatic actress. Most of Ginger's films up to this point had been musicals, mostly with Fred Astaire. After Kitty Foyle she rarely did any musicals.

The story is told in flashback after Ginger engages in some dialog with her alter ego in the mirror. That one in the mirror is usually the one person you cannot fool. So the ego narrates the ups and downs of the life of Kitty Foyle.

Ginger's a working class Irish lass whose got two men going for her big time, young earnest doctor James Craig, and mainline millionaire heir Dennis Morgan. Morgan's family name is Stratton and no doubt the Strattons socialized with the Lords of The Philadelphia Story. But they're definitely not as fun a group.

Ginger's alter ego narration and her scene upon being told she suffered a miscarriage probably are what won her the Academy Award. She's very effective in those scenes and in her scene where her father, Ernest Cossart dies.

Kitty Foyle is good soap opera material, I'm surprised it's characters weren't used in one. It still holds up well after over 60 years.

As well as that other Philadelphia Story.

While I still prefer a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film like TOP HOT, this film is probably Ms. Rogers' best film because she is clearly THE star and the film gives her a good chance to show her acting ability. In fact, for this film she earned the Best Actress Oscar, though I really think that perhaps both Bette Davis' performance in THE LETTER and Katherine Hepburn's in PHILADELPHIA STORY were both a bit better. Perhaps she won that year because KITTY FOYLE is a very sentimental film or perhaps the other two actresses lost because they'd both already received that award. Or, perhaps Hepburn and Davis drew votes from each other. The bottom line, though, is Rogers is very good and compared to her other films, this one really stands out--even after all these years. My preferring the other performances in no way diminishes the fine job she did here. At the time, her winning was considered a big upset, though you can't deny all three performances were superb. And you really cannot be upset about her being chosen--she was deserving.

The film is a romance, though instead of being taught in the traditional linear fashion, it starts near the end and then is told in a long series of flashbacks. This really works well--especially because what you THINK Kitty is about to do at the beginning of the film isn't exactly what you might think. Additionally, these flashbacks are written and directed very deftly and so many little touches help to give this movie a heart. Especially touching were the ballroom dancing sequence with Dennis Morgan as well as the weepy section that soon follows. The bottom line is that this is a complex, well written and acted film that might require you keep a box of Kleenex nearby--just in case. See this movie!

Sometimes an actor established in a particular type of movie is rewarded with an Oscar for changing his or her pace, say, by tackling an entirely new genre or even looking different. Among the most famous examples are David Niven's ageing fraud/pervert in SEPARATE TABLES (1958) and John Wayne's initial appearance as Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn in the original version of TRUE GRIT (1969), but no less discussed (that is, for not being entirely deserving of the accolade!) is Ginger Rogers' dramatic turn here as a "white-collar" girl.

The film received a total of five nominations, the others being in the following categories: Best Picture, Direction, Screenplay (in the name of Dalton Trumbo, despite Donald Ogden Stewart's credit for "Additional Dialogue" – ironically, the award went to the latter regardless...for his sterling work on THE PHILADELPHIA STORY!) and Sound Recording. Having mentioned Stewart's double duty that year, as I lay watching this, I could not help noticing that several participants had more than one title in the Oscar race: director Wood also helmed OUR TOWN, Rogers herself appeared in PRIMROSE PATH, Eduardo Ciannelli (memorable here as the staunchly Republican owner of a speakeasy, which then has to go legit when Prohibition is repealed by the Democrats!) was featured in FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, while Gladys Cooper and Florence Bates were both among the supporting cast of REBECCA (the eventual Best Picture winner)!

Anyway, it appears that the film-makers did not want to take any chances and, so as to not to allow the leading lady to be upstaged by her male counterparts (yes, this is the typical 'girl torn between two lovers' narrative), they chose two relatively new faces – namely Dennis Morgan (who at one point spoofs Ronald Colman i.e. Rogers' co-star in her previous movie, LUCKY PARTNERS {1940}!) and James Craig – to whom the epithet "nondescript" would seem to apply quite nicely! That is not to say that the film is without interest and, truth be told, it is not even as histrionic as I had been anticipating: indeed, it displays an admirable light touch every so often – especially during the 'women's emancipation' prologue and the fact that tale is told in flashback, with Rogers's mirrored reflection counselling her true self (surely the movie's most striking and imaginative touch). The actress is also seen at 15 years of age (for the record, she would again adopt this not-very- convincing childish countenance through much of Billy Wilder's THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR {1942}), while her would-be fiery Irish heritage is exemplified by repeated utterances of the expletive-substitute "Judas Priest"!

Following the break-up of her celebrated musical teaming with Fred Astaire, Rogers' solo (albeit only intermittently dramatic) career kept on flourishing for the next few years – encompassing such classics as Garson Kanin's BACHELOR MOTHER (1939) and TOM, DICK AND HARRY (1941), William A. Wellman's ROXIE HART (1942), Mitchell Leisen's LADY IN THE DARK and William Dieterle's I'LL BE SEEING YOU (both 1944) – before it went on an inevitable decline.

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.

An interesting and entertaining if flawed film which gives a good indication of Hollywood attitudes towards women at the time. Adapted and to some extent sanitised by Dalton Trumbo from a racy, hit novel of the day, it purports to tell the story of a "white collar girl" and the life choices she makes over marrying for love or money. There's an amusing little scene-setting history lesson prologue where we see a young and pretty, turn-of-the-century woman use her feminine wiles to trap her beau into marriage and a montage showing that if women want equal rights, such as the vote, they should expect a change in male attitudes towards them. So far, so deferential and then we're introduced to Ginger Rogers present-day title character, an attractive, sassy working girl who right away has to make a decision whether to run away to South America with the filthy-rich love of her life or make the more pragmatic choice to stay on in her native Philadelphia with a more loving, less selfish but more mundane young doctor.

The film then flashes back in time to flesh out the characters of the three principals and so inform her final decision at the end as we learn that one of the main themes of the film is class snobbery. Rogers' Kitty can have a luxurious life of ease with her dream man if only she will kow-tow to a little social refining otherwise her fiancé Wynn, played by Dennis Morgan will actually lose his inheritance. Her backstop is an earnest but dull budding doctor, James Craig, who can't promise her riches and comfort but instead a more modest existence where both will have to continue working. Matters are complicated further after she impulsively marries and then divorces the dreamboat only to find she's pregnant with his baby but which sadly dies in childbirth. She then years later suffers a revelatory chance encounter with her ex's new wife who has given him the son to continue the family name but from whom he now wants to run away and abscond with Kitty.

Director Sam Wood deftly handles the flashback-infused narrative, mixes in a little comedy and gets a fine performance from the Oscar-winning Rogers as the conflicted Kitty, especially when she gets her big rebellious scene in front of her new husband's fusty, censorious family. Personally though I think Kitty could do better than both of her suitors here and shouldn't have to feel that she has to settle down with either of them.

If you can get past the patronising sexual-politics of the day, no doubt strictly administered in deference to the prevailing Production Code, this is an amiable, old-fashioned melodrama which nevertheless mistakenly thinks it's being all modern and controversial with its focus on a poor shopgirl who is lucky to be pursued by two men, marries and divorces the rich one, has and then loses her baby and still gets the chance to escape her shop assistant life of drudgery and hard graft in the final scenes. Of course the film would fall apart in ridicule if the gender of the leads were changed but that film was never going to be made in 1940's Hollywood.

A big hit on first release and with the added lustre of Academy recognition, it probably thinks it's a "woman's picture" with serious messages to put across on a woman's role in a man's world and how the poor interact with the rich, but unfortunately it's let down by its too blatant anachronistic, clunky and cliched paternalist viewpoint.

Ginger Rogers won her only Oscar for this overblown soap opera. Go figure. The morality ladled out in this tripe was outdated even when it was released, and Ginger's dialogue with Dennis Morgan seems forced and artificial. And Ginger's character goes from self-absorbed to "noble" so quickly, it begs more questions than she answers. For truly classic "women's films" of this era, see Stella Dallas, Mildred Pierce, Now Voyager, or The Women and leave this museum-piece of a film alone.