Director: Sam Wood
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Actress - Ginger Rogers
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - RKO Radio
Best Director - Sam Wood
Best Screenplay - Dalton Trumbo
Best Sound Recording - John O. Aalberg
Plot: The modern woman has a dilemma on her hands - her old beau who is married and of a higher social class or her down-to-earth doctor buddy who is anything if not persistent.
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Top Billed Actors: Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, James Craig
Won 1 Oscar:
Best Actress - Ginger Rogers
Nominated for 4 more:
Outstanding Production - RKO Radio
Best Director - Sam Wood
Best Screenplay - Dalton Trumbo
Best Sound Recording - John O. Aalberg
Plot: The modern woman has a dilemma on her hands - her old beau who is married and of a higher social class or her down-to-earth doctor buddy who is anything if not persistent.
The second of two Best Picture nominees directed by Sam Wood, Kitty Foyle (1940) is also the film that garnered Wood his Best Director nod as well. The only win on the night came in the form of one Ginger Rogers via her one and only Oscar nomination. For the second film in a row in this Project, the plot concerns a complicated love scenario that involves the Philadelphia Main Line social class. Incidentally, Katharine Hepburn, who starred in that first film (The Philadelphia Story (1940)) was offered the role that ultimately went to Rogers. Rogers plays a literal white-collar woman; that white collar became famous as the dress she wore with the lighter collar and cuffs became known as the "Kitty Foyle dress" and was very popular in 1940s fashion. I've praised the costume design for a few films in this 13th Academy Awards batch but I don't think any of them have a whole Wikipedia page dedicated to a dress.
Kitty Foyle is the last film I'll be watching for the 1940 class. With that, I've seen every Best Actress nominee and this is a year in which that category was absolutely stacked. I'm happy for Rogers winning as she has been a favorite of mine, especially her layered performance in Stage Door (1937), but her competition was too steep for me to give a definitive "best" of 1940. I adore Joan Fontaine in Rebecca (1940) as well as Hepburn. Bette Davis in The Letter (1940) might have gotten my vote by let's get back to Rogers. This is a rare film in which I didn't recognize any actor but one and that leaves a lot of room for her to shine. Whether she's fiery, melodramatic, realistic, or romantic, every decision she makes is suitable and lovable. Even during the Depression, the character doesn't stoop to shallow gold-digging. Her explanations and justifications for her actions is intriguing and Rogers makes these scenes lively and comprehensive. It's almost a detriment to the film in how good she is compared to the two men that are featured alongside her. I'll remember Rogers' performance but I won't even remember the names of Dennis Morgan or James Craig. I'll also remember the adorable sequence that starts off the film. Since the story is subtitled "the natural history of women," the movie begins with a silent film style opening that shows how women were treated in 1900 and how equal rights have changed that. The overall message seems a little off when men will shove a woman out of the way for a seat on the trolley, but the style of that sequence has energy and is a wonderful first impression of the film.
Rogers almost didn't take the role because the original story was rather racy for the time. However, that darn Code watered down the details to allow it to be adapted to the screen. On the one hand, I'm glad it got Rogers to sign on but on the other hand, it's silly when Kitty has to get married and divorced in order to arrive at an obvious plot point (ok, she gets pregnant). Another major plot point is altered and it's not difficult to decipher what is in the novel. I also didn't care for some of the writing. I hardly ever comment on how dated the dialogue is but there's a few lines here that had me scratching my head or cringing. One cringe line includes Rogers exclaiming that she is "free, white, and 21" and another is that she says with relief that her and Morgan's character are the same race (as a jokey aside). I know this is 1940 but you know what, I'm watching this in 2022 and these lines just feel yucky. I also didn't care for the melodrama to comedy ratio. Reviews of this film comment on how funny it is, but that isn't the impression I got. Sure, Rogers says some funny things, usually in light of her romantic situation or how little money she has, but the amount melodrama she has to feed the film is a bit too much. It's a good thing she does it well.
Overall, Ginger Rogers' star shines brightest in her only Oscar-winning role. She'll make you laugh, cry, and whatever else in between. The episodic nature of the story and some outdated dialogue holds back the film in my eyes, but it's Rogers' eyes that really matter.
My Score: 7/10
Kitty Foyle is the last film I'll be watching for the 1940 class. With that, I've seen every Best Actress nominee and this is a year in which that category was absolutely stacked. I'm happy for Rogers winning as she has been a favorite of mine, especially her layered performance in Stage Door (1937), but her competition was too steep for me to give a definitive "best" of 1940. I adore Joan Fontaine in Rebecca (1940) as well as Hepburn. Bette Davis in The Letter (1940) might have gotten my vote by let's get back to Rogers. This is a rare film in which I didn't recognize any actor but one and that leaves a lot of room for her to shine. Whether she's fiery, melodramatic, realistic, or romantic, every decision she makes is suitable and lovable. Even during the Depression, the character doesn't stoop to shallow gold-digging. Her explanations and justifications for her actions is intriguing and Rogers makes these scenes lively and comprehensive. It's almost a detriment to the film in how good she is compared to the two men that are featured alongside her. I'll remember Rogers' performance but I won't even remember the names of Dennis Morgan or James Craig. I'll also remember the adorable sequence that starts off the film. Since the story is subtitled "the natural history of women," the movie begins with a silent film style opening that shows how women were treated in 1900 and how equal rights have changed that. The overall message seems a little off when men will shove a woman out of the way for a seat on the trolley, but the style of that sequence has energy and is a wonderful first impression of the film.
Rogers almost didn't take the role because the original story was rather racy for the time. However, that darn Code watered down the details to allow it to be adapted to the screen. On the one hand, I'm glad it got Rogers to sign on but on the other hand, it's silly when Kitty has to get married and divorced in order to arrive at an obvious plot point (ok, she gets pregnant). Another major plot point is altered and it's not difficult to decipher what is in the novel. I also didn't care for some of the writing. I hardly ever comment on how dated the dialogue is but there's a few lines here that had me scratching my head or cringing. One cringe line includes Rogers exclaiming that she is "free, white, and 21" and another is that she says with relief that her and Morgan's character are the same race (as a jokey aside). I know this is 1940 but you know what, I'm watching this in 2022 and these lines just feel yucky. I also didn't care for the melodrama to comedy ratio. Reviews of this film comment on how funny it is, but that isn't the impression I got. Sure, Rogers says some funny things, usually in light of her romantic situation or how little money she has, but the amount melodrama she has to feed the film is a bit too much. It's a good thing she does it well.
Overall, Ginger Rogers' star shines brightest in her only Oscar-winning role. She'll make you laugh, cry, and whatever else in between. The episodic nature of the story and some outdated dialogue holds back the film in my eyes, but it's Rogers' eyes that really matter.
My Score: 7/10