The title character of this film is described as a "white collar girl", but in 1940 it would appear that this expression referred to a shop assistant rather than a clerical or secretarial worker as it would today. (The expression probably derives from the lacy white collar which served as a sort of unofficial shop girl's uniform; a dress in this style became known as a "Kitty Foyle dress"). As the film opens Kitty has to make a choice between the two men who are in love with her, Mark Eisen, an idealistic young doctor, and Wynnewood ("Wyn") Strafford VI, the scion of a wealthy Philadelphia banking family who are so grand that for at least six generations they have been adding Roman numerals after their names as though they were royalty.
At first it seems obvious whom she will choose. Mark is single, and therefore in a position to offer her honourable marriage, whereas Wyn is an unhappily married man whose wife will not give him a divorce and who can offer her no more than a clandestine elopement to South America. And in the moral climate of the forties no Hollywood heroine ever ended up as the mistress of a wealthy sugar-daddy, did she? (One or two Hollywood actresses might have done in real life, but that's another story).
The film then flashes back to Kitty's youth- in fact most of the story is told in one long flashback- and we learn that matters are not quite as straightforward as we thought. We learn how Kitty first met Mark and Wyn and discover that, far from being a sleazy sexual predator enticing young girls into immoral relationships, Wyn was actually the first great love of Kitty's life. In fact, he is her ex-husband. Their marriage broke down largely because of the opposition of his family to his marrying a woman from a different social class, but despite their divorce, and his subsequent remarriage to the daughter of another rich family, Wyn and Kitty have remained in love with one another. When the flashback ends, we learn which of the men she chooses.
In its structure, "Kitty Foyle" is a typical "woman's picture". Such films were popular in the thirties and forties and were so called because they were aimed at a predominantly female audience and because they generally featured a strong female character in the leading role, with the male characters being defined in terms of their relationship to her. "Woman's pictures" could often be intensely melodramatic, "Mildred Pierce", for which Joan Crawford won the Academy Award for "Best Actress", being a good example. Although there are a couple of tragic moments, overall "Kitty Foyle" is much lighter; in fact, at times it resembles a romantic comedy in tone, if not in structure. (Cinematic rom-coms normally place as much emphasis on the main male character as on the woman).
I have generally thought of Ginger Rogers as being either Fred Astaire's dancing partner or the star of inconsequential comedies like "Tom, Dick and Harry" or "The Major and the Minor". "Kitty Foyle", for which Ginger won her own "Best Actress" award, would suggest that she was an actress of rather more substance than her present-day reputation might suggest. Yet, although there is nothing particularly wrong with Rogers' acting, I think that she was very fortunate to take "Best Actress" ahead of Joan Fontaine in "Rebecca", Katharine Hepburn in "The Philadelphia Story" and Bette Davis in "The Letter", three better performances in three better films in what was a very strong year in cinematic history. Rogers is perfectly competent here, but she lacks the extra spark which those other three actresses possessed (or, for that matter, which Crawford was to show in "Mildred Pierce").
The film itself was also nominated for "Best Picture" and "Best Adapted Screenplay", although it doesn't really belong in the same class as the three films mentioned above, or as "The Great Dictator" and "The Grapes of Wrath" (which eventually won "Best Picture"). As a romantic comedy it is a reasonably good one, a cut above something like "Tom, Dick and Harry" which also deals with a girl who must decide between different suitors. (In that case three rather than two). When it strays into more serious territory, however, and tries to deal with weighty topics such as class differences in American society, the treatment is rather superficial. 7/10
At first it seems obvious whom she will choose. Mark is single, and therefore in a position to offer her honourable marriage, whereas Wyn is an unhappily married man whose wife will not give him a divorce and who can offer her no more than a clandestine elopement to South America. And in the moral climate of the forties no Hollywood heroine ever ended up as the mistress of a wealthy sugar-daddy, did she? (One or two Hollywood actresses might have done in real life, but that's another story).
The film then flashes back to Kitty's youth- in fact most of the story is told in one long flashback- and we learn that matters are not quite as straightforward as we thought. We learn how Kitty first met Mark and Wyn and discover that, far from being a sleazy sexual predator enticing young girls into immoral relationships, Wyn was actually the first great love of Kitty's life. In fact, he is her ex-husband. Their marriage broke down largely because of the opposition of his family to his marrying a woman from a different social class, but despite their divorce, and his subsequent remarriage to the daughter of another rich family, Wyn and Kitty have remained in love with one another. When the flashback ends, we learn which of the men she chooses.
In its structure, "Kitty Foyle" is a typical "woman's picture". Such films were popular in the thirties and forties and were so called because they were aimed at a predominantly female audience and because they generally featured a strong female character in the leading role, with the male characters being defined in terms of their relationship to her. "Woman's pictures" could often be intensely melodramatic, "Mildred Pierce", for which Joan Crawford won the Academy Award for "Best Actress", being a good example. Although there are a couple of tragic moments, overall "Kitty Foyle" is much lighter; in fact, at times it resembles a romantic comedy in tone, if not in structure. (Cinematic rom-coms normally place as much emphasis on the main male character as on the woman).
I have generally thought of Ginger Rogers as being either Fred Astaire's dancing partner or the star of inconsequential comedies like "Tom, Dick and Harry" or "The Major and the Minor". "Kitty Foyle", for which Ginger won her own "Best Actress" award, would suggest that she was an actress of rather more substance than her present-day reputation might suggest. Yet, although there is nothing particularly wrong with Rogers' acting, I think that she was very fortunate to take "Best Actress" ahead of Joan Fontaine in "Rebecca", Katharine Hepburn in "The Philadelphia Story" and Bette Davis in "The Letter", three better performances in three better films in what was a very strong year in cinematic history. Rogers is perfectly competent here, but she lacks the extra spark which those other three actresses possessed (or, for that matter, which Crawford was to show in "Mildred Pierce").
The film itself was also nominated for "Best Picture" and "Best Adapted Screenplay", although it doesn't really belong in the same class as the three films mentioned above, or as "The Great Dictator" and "The Grapes of Wrath" (which eventually won "Best Picture"). As a romantic comedy it is a reasonably good one, a cut above something like "Tom, Dick and Harry" which also deals with a girl who must decide between different suitors. (In that case three rather than two). When it strays into more serious territory, however, and tries to deal with weighty topics such as class differences in American society, the treatment is rather superficial. 7/10