In 1939, Christopher Morley published his bestselling novel, Kitty Foyle. This novel caused heated debates amongst the critics of the time for his sexual sensationalism on the page, specifically the depiction of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion. With the popularity of the novel, though, a film adaptation was inevitable. Also inevitable was the Hays Code, a self-endorsed standard of morality adopted by the film studios to avoid boycotts by the God-fearing Christians of the time that had threatened the studios whom they saw as profiting off the depictions of immorality. The Hays Code would have never allowed Kitty Foyle to be released as a film without some serious alterations to the plot.
So prolific screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was tasked with making it happen. In his script, the protagonist Kitty Foyle does not get pregnant out of wedlock but has a brief marriage that is shortly afterwards dissolved. During that time, she gets pregnant but loses the baby in childbirth. The emotional effect is mostly unchanged but now it falls within the stiff regulations of the Hays Code. It does, however, make this part of the film a bit messy and rushed. It was a necessary alteration to get it on screen, though, and for that, it is forgiven.
The story is told primarily in flashback. Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers) is a saleswoman in a New York City boutique owned by Dalphine Detaille (Odette Myrtil). As the story opens, Kitty is facing a difficult decision: marry her fiancé, a poor but loyal doctor named Mark Eisen (James Craig), or run away to South America with a rich man she has been in love with for many years, the married Wyn Strafford VI (Dennis Morgan), who is willing to leave his wife and young son for her. While she is on the verge of choosing Wyn, she stares into a snow globe given to her by her late father and wrestles with the choice. From here, the film flashes back to her youth and how she ended up at this specific crossroads.
As a teenager in Philadelphia, she first meets Wyn Strafford VI, an acquaintance of her father’s. Wyn is the scion of a wealthy family and has dreams of running his own magazine rather than joining his family’s banking empire. He offers her a job as a secretary, which she takes. The two fall in love, but he cannot bring himself to propose to her because his family doesn’t approve of him marrying so far below his station. When the newspaper fails, and her father succumbs to his failing health, she has nowhere to turn to, so she relocates to New York City and goes to work for Dalphine Detaille as one of her saleswomen. There, in large part due to a mishap at work, she meets Mark Eisen, a doctor who uses the opportunity to get a date with her. He falls in love with her, but she is still torn by her feelings for Wyn.
When Wyn reenters the picture, determined to marry her despite his family, she agrees, but only if the two live anywhere except Philadelphia, where their different social standings would prevent a happy marriage. He agrees. But after they are married, she discovers that his inheritance is conditional on him staying in Philadelphia and with the family banking business. Despite his insistence that he doesn’t need the money, she realizes it will not work and leaves, having the marriage annulled. But a new problem arises when she discovers that she is pregnant with Wyn’s child.
When Kitty Foyle was released, it was praised for its portrayal of women’s issues in the world in the years between the two world wars. It was a changing world, and the women in it were having to navigate the ever-shifting norms while finding jobs and pursuing families, too. Kitty Foyle was a relatable figure to the women of 1940, and Ginger Rogers was a big part of the reason why. She would be rewarded for this performance with the only Academy Award of her career. This is not some love-longing fickle female torn between two men but a fully formed character who is caught in the crosshairs of two men, both of whom love her but one is better for her than the other. The problem is that she is deeply in love with the other one.
There is a great deal of social commentary on display in this picture, summed up nicely in the scene late in the film when Kitty is introduced to Wyn’s family for the first time as his wife. She receives a cold reception, primarily because he wasn’t supposed to marry her until after they had had an opportunity to send her to finishing school and make her a “proper woman.” This family represents the haves who are accustomed to having their way in life, and with the stipulations on Wyn’s trust fund, they can. How difficult it had to be for her to give up what she had and go back to New York City again after being married to him for such a short time. But she knew she could never be happy in that situation, and Wyn knew that, too. He misled her when he proposed to her. Later, when he is perfectly willing to divorce his wife and abandon his son to get back with her, we get an even better picture of his true character, and it is maddening that we have to see Kitty struggling with a decision that seems to us to be perfectly obvious.
The plot of this film feels like something straight out of a soap opera. Indeed, it was later adapted into one starring Kathleen Murray in the title role. What saves it from being too melodramatic is the excellent use of humor. This comes heavily into play during the scenes between Kitty and Mark. She meets him at her work when she accidentally triggers the security alarm, causing a great deal of chaos. A coworker tells her to pretend to faint so that she doesn’t lose her job over the gaff, which she does. Mark is the attending doctor who quickly realizes she is faking it and puts her on the spot, extracting a date from her in the process. Then, for their date, he has no intention of taking her out, but stays in her apartment playing solitaire with her for hours despite the best efforts of her roommates to get them out of the apartment. He is using this tactic to root out any potential gold diggers among the dating pool and it works, though we in the audience cannot quite understand why she would accept a follow-up date after this painfully drab evening.
The timing of this story and the way Ginger Rogers portrayed it compelled Academy Voters to put it up for Best Picture at the following year’s Academy Awards. Dalton Trumbo, still a few years away from his blacklisting in Hollywood by the HUAC, was also honored for his truly inspired script. Ultimately, though, Ginger Rogers was the only one who took home a statue that evening. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca ruled the day at the Oscars despite it being even more of a soap opera than Kitty Foyle.
Amazingly, Kitty Foyle isn’t as dated as it rightfully should be. The problems of 1930s women in the workforce and in romance haven’t really changed much in the last ninety years. It’s a landmine that women have to navigate to find purpose and satisfaction in their professional and personal lives. Kitty Foyle came out at the right time to capitalize on what a lot of women were feeling at the time and are still feeling now. It makes this film feel modern in its message and sensibilities even after all these years. It’s delightfully funny at times and poignant, too. This is a wonderful drama that still speaks volumes to an audience many years after it initially hit theaters.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Production: David Hempstead
Best Director: Sam Wood
Best Actress: Ginger Rogers (won)
Best Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo
Best Sound Recording: John O. Aalberg
____________________________________________________
Release Date: December 27, 1940
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Dennis Morgan, and James Craig
Directed by: Sam Wood
Comments
Post a Comment