Kitty Foyle

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.

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

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.

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.