Kitty ou la duchesse des bas-fonds

This Pygmalion/Grifters hybrid set in 18th Century England does Paramount proud with its sumptuously designed and photographed story of romance greed and deceit. It is the romance (one sided as that might be for most of the film) however that predominates with the opulent costumes, set design and the charm of its stars Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland as bawdy and immoral partners in crime that gives Kitty a ribald charm.

Sir (sic)Hugh Marcy (Milland), a penniless Henry Higgins with character of even less worth browbeats Cockney Kitty into being a lady which later will get him out of debtors prison and allowing herself to be wife and widow to two wealthy husbands in under a year. All the while she loves the execrable Marcy who remains condescending, yearning for a life of pimpdom ("If I had twelve like you I'd be rich").

Goddard leads the cast with a convincing transition in both nuance and voice even if at first the Eliza Dolittle takes a little getting use to. Milland is an excellent cad with his selfish disdain also beautifully inflected and postured.

There's a half dozen supporting performances worth noting with special mention to Reginald Owen and Cecil Kellaway as the artist Thomas Gainsborugh who aides and abets the scam artists. Who would have thought.

Everyone does their job well on Kitty and it shows in the sum of its parts that are all all excellently honed by this excellently assembled team.

This film was a wonderful tribute to Paulette Goddard's looks and abilities. At the top of her career, she proves that she is one of Hollywood's most glamorous enduring stars. In this film she plays a guttersnipe that is chosen by Gainsborough (played wonderfully by Cecil Kellaway) to have her portrait painted in typical Gainsborough fashion. As she poses for him two handsome dandies stop by for a visit, only to be bewitched by her beauty, thinking she is of noble birth, much to Kellaway's amusement. Upon learning the truth, Ray Milland, trains Kitty to head for bigger prey, hoping to make himself rich, as he is living way over his means. Of course, she falls in love with him. Along the way to fame, Kitty becomes a Duchess and goes her own way to success, even though she still loves Milland. In the end, love wins out. A wonderful performance is also given by Constance Collier as Milland's drunken lady friend in conspiracy. The scene when she is introduced to the waif Goddard and is reposing, drunk in her bed, is hysterical. 5 stars to this one. Goddard never looked lovelier. In fact,I have an original color poster from the film. A vintage collection I am quite proud of.

Paulette Goddard deserves to have this movie seen and enjoyed, and so do we. She was a charming actress, and this film gave her a chance to show it. Ray Milland is also a very charming cad. It's been too long since I've seen it, on TV when I was much younger, but I remember how much I liked it. For years I think I had it confused with FOREVER AMBER, but I was able to get ahold of that film on VHS a couple of years ago, and was greatly disappointed--I thought it sure wasn't as good as I remembered. It wasn't until I happened upon KITTY while looking at films done by Paulette, whom I also loved in REAP THE WILD WIND, that I realized I was disappointed by AMBER because it was not KITTY. Well, so it goes.

Come on, whoever owns the Paramount vault, dig into it. And look at other Mitchell Leisen films too, like HOLD BACK THE DAWN, TO EACH HIS OWN, and LADY IN THE DARK (which I don't think I've seen but would love to). He is one of the great UNDISCOVERED directors.

Give us DVDs--PLEEEEZE.

leisen

I remembered this one from TV a hundred years ago. Paulette Goddard has the title role, and she is quite beautiful and completely convincing. Real-er than Eliza Doolittle, she slips in and out'a Houndsditch slang, but she is never comic or plays it broad. She is a lady long before she marries into royalty.

Her persistent love of Hugh (played at his caddish-sexy best by Ray Milland) is the engine that drives the story. Plenty of good supporting roles, including Sara Algood, Cecil Kallaway (playing Gainsborough),Eric Blore, and that divinely handsome eternal man-who-loses-the-girl, Patric Knowles.

I loved it - and though I am not a great Ray Milland fan, I find he can be very convincing as a lover. His only better example of it is "Golden Earrings" with Miss Marlene Dietrich. And as for Miss Goddard, we never saw enough of her to type-cast her - feisty, spirited, yes, but a little unexpected in the depth of her performance, and a very lovely lady to boot.

This is what movies used to be - good characters (somebody to root for), an intelligent story, and Glamour. I recommend this picture highly!

Paulette Goddard reached one of her cinema high points in portraying the title role in Kitty. The film is part Pygmalion, part Forever Amber, and part Oliver Twist and all entertainment.

She's a diamond in the rough, a rare beauty who was bonded out of fondling home to Sara Allgood who runs a Fagin like enterprise for girls. But Paulette has found a way to make a more honest living, she's posing for Sir Thomas Gainsborough. She's discovered doing just that by a couple of Georgian blades, Ray Milland and Patric Knowles.

Milland finds her later and discovers her origins, but the painting she posed for has come to the attention of Lord Reginald Owen who would like to get to know the lady. Milland sees opportunity here and together with his aunt Constance Collier starts tutoring Paulette like Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle on the finer points of genteel manners and speech.

He tutors her well and Paulette's beauty does the rest. It's a pity that Kitty was not done in color, perhaps had it been made even the following year Paramount might have invested in it.

What they did invest in and I'm sure this was at the insistence of director Mitchell Leisen was in Art&Set design. Leisen who did this before he became a director caught all the mood and ambiance of the late 18th Century Great Britain. The Art&Set Design earned Kitty its only recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts&Science with an Oscar nomination in that category.

Leisen also did well by his players. I did so love the bickering about art with Cecil Kellaway as Gainsborough and Gordon Richards as Sir Joshua Reynolds. Also take note of Dennis Hoey as the first of two husbands Goddard acquires going up the social ladder.

Believe me, Scarlett O'Hara had nothing on Kitty.