Anjo do Diabo

The title says it all! A whip is not always a lash... the whip in the title of this cult movie favorite refers to the many ways and means sociopathic sex kitten Jody (Ann-Margaret) dominates and lashes out at everyone in her path. At one point she yanks and tugs the phone cord while the candidate for Senator (John Forsythe) is on the horn to his wife trying to act like nothing's the matter! Cmon, that length of wire is definitely a whip -in Jody's hands! Then later Jody flings a cocktail into the scratchmarks she's inflicted on Forsythe. She's whipping him back and forth, he just wants her to leave without any guilt or scandal- and she uses this over him at any given moment, not sparing herself, as her own guilt and confusion whips her from self-loathing to frenzied party animal in stacatto snaps - I find this movie full of innuendo, black humor, Hitchcockian situations, it's a guilty pleasure! The music is often reminiscent of Pete Rugolo's THRILLER TV soundtrack, and indeed, the director Douglas Heyes directed many of THRILLER's best episodes, including "The Cheaters" I give this two twisted thumbs up. Don't miss it!

Director Douglas Heyes oversaw 9 of the better Twilight Zone episodes, including the classic Eye of the Beholder, and one of the 2 or 3 best Boris Karloff Presents Thriller episodes (The Purple Room). Bringing this context to Kitten With A Whip, you realize you are in the hands of a master storyteller, and also, exactly what you are in for: a not-quite-fantasy but nonetheless feverishly nightmarish Twilight Zone episode.

As with the best TZ episodes, you are asked what you would do if something on the scale between patently impossible to utterly insane happened to you. The setup is simple. A mentally unbalanced teenager sneaks into your house while you are away, threatens you with accusations of rape and the destruction of your political ambition (which appear about to reach fruition) to gain control once you return home, and effectively takes over your life. It is like a typical TZ scenario, a Twilight Zone-style turning a character's 'normal' life on its head, and letting the angst and desperate quest for an out flow from there.

I see no big theme here, other than the noir theme of crazy fate putting its finger on you. That seems to be the entire point here. Separated from Serling's big theme plots that showed man against himself in the form of prejudice and fear, Heyes may seem a bit lost. But his directorial hand is sure as ever, and the story is as engrossingly told as that of any TZ episode. I suspect Heyes enjoyed taking TV's Bachelor Father and subverting the precepts of his bourgeois existence in the rudest, most thoroughly shaming way possible. Maybe, after all is said and done, it is through subversion that Heyes gets his chance to challenge the bourgeois status quo, as he did routinely while working with Serling. For many- and yes, possibly even the director- Kitten works as a jet black comedy.

This film doesn't have a great reputation, though among its undeniable assets it boasts a fine performance from a man often unfairly given the Bob Cummings light comic actor brush-off by Hollywood. John Forsythe would appear In Cold Blood a couple of years later, another film light years away from the scrubbed sitcom milieu.

8 stars. Give it a spin.

Ann-Margret gets her first dramatic role, that of a delinquent sociopath named Jody who's all out for KICKS! The part stuck her with a 'bad girl' rep for a number of years, but the good news is A-M seems to relish this change of pace and gives an exceptionally strong performance. Unfortunately, the general handling of "Kitten With a Whip" is far too broad and quasi-colorful, and the film fails as a message picture, though its stale J-D clichés and overwrought dialogue ("You're so nothing painted blue!", "Where the hell is T-town?!") turns it into a dizzying dark comedy. John Forsythe plays a weakling politician who gets mixed up with the girl and her creepy post-teenage buddies, and the plot-developments become increasingly far-fetched. Still, the black-and-white cinematography is excellent, Ann-Margret is electric, and the pacing seldom flags. *** from ****

Most juvenile delinquency films of the 1950s and early 60s were about the damage kids could inflict on themselves or their classmates. By 1964 America was perhaps subconsciously anticipating the fallout from being involved in Vietnam, and started to exhibit concern about youth's impact on the older generation. Kitten With A Whip may or not not have been Universal's answer to Paramount's Lady In A Cage, but both films convey the same message: the inmates are capable of taking over the asylum. By the end of the decade films like Wild In the Streets and Gas-s-s-s-s-s were taking this theme to its logical extreme.

Kitten With A Whip takes us on a surprisingly seedy tour of the youth underworld, and even though it's another conservative morality play with a happy ending, it serves as a valuable reminder of the social changes underway in the mid 60s. It's also incredibly entertaining.

Delinquent sexpot Ann-Margret (as Jody Dvorak) knifes her matron and sets fire to her juvenile hall. Then, she heads for the bed of senatorial hopeful John Forsythe (as David Stratton), to cool her heels and take a cat nap. Learning Mr. Forsythe's wife is out of town, Ann-Margret uses blackmail to get herself some new clothes. Forsythe wants the over-developed seventeen-year-old to leave his San Diego home without publicity, but she wants to party. Soon, charismatic college friend Peter Brown (as Ron) arrives with muscle-man James Ward (as Buck Vogel) and gullible girlfriend Diane Sayer (as Midge). The four thrill-seeking youngsters proceed to drink Forsythe's liquor, and make his life miserable…

The title "Kitten with a Whip" is misleading. Ann-Margret's "whip" is only figurative. She is a very attractive woman, but doesn't look as provocative as the merchandising implies. She relies on sexiness to overplay the film's lurid titular character. Performing his part a bit better, Forsythe's laid-back style helps balance Ann-Margret's excess. This was already a fun film, but it gets even better when Mr. Brown and his delinquent friends arrive on the screen. Spouting "Everything is Love" and philosophizing about life, Brown plays a pseudo-cult leader who serves as a mid-1960s signpost for either Charles Manson or the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...

If you punch him, will he feel pain?

If you cut him, will he bleed?

****** Kitten with a Whip (11/4/64) Douglas Heyes ~ John Forsythe, Ann-Margret, Peter Brown, Skip Ward