Kitty Foyle (1940): Ginger Proves She Can

They started out "flying down to rio" and ended up telling the story of the famous dancing Castles with nine movie hits by 1939. They were Fred and Ginger. Yep, Astaire and Rogers, and they were the most famous movie dance team in film history. In 1939, after six years of hoofing, waltzing and generally making movie magic, they shot their last film together (until Ginger took over for an ailing Judy Garland opposite Fred in 1949's The Barkley's of Broadway). They made major money for not so major studio RKO, but each wanted to branch out in his or her own career path. Rogers had been making strides in a solo starring career for a few years by the time they parted company, in fact she had been a supporting player and minor lead for years. More recently she had made a splash in Stage Door (1937), Having Wonderful Time (1938) and Bachelor Mother (1939). Next she wanted to break out in dramatic roles.

Kitty Foyle was a bestselling novel by Christopher Morley about a career working girl from humble beginnings in Philadelphia, who gets involved with two men, a rich playboy with an upper crust pedigree Wynward "Wyn" Strafford VI (Dennis Morgan) and a poor but idealistic doctor Mark Eisen (James Craig). Wyn is her first and true love, but their differences in social standing create problems. Despite protests from her blustering but loving Irish father, Kitty falls head over heels for the loaded pretty boy and takes a job as his personal secretary at the struggling magazine he owns (his money is not his own but a trust fund from the Main Line family he refuses to break from). When the rag folds and she realizes Wyn will never buck up against his family, she takes a job in New York. There she meets Mark, who woos her much differently than Wyn had, choosing to play cards in the tiny apartment she shares with two other girls. When the Philadelphia freewheeler, whom she'd never gotten out of her system, shows up in New York, Kitty throws over her solid steady and marries Wyn. When the couple returns, with wedding bands in tow, to Philadelphia, Kitty's fears about the social gap between them proves legitimate and they split as quickly as they had joined. More turmoil, more heartache for the heroine and by the end of the picture she has a big decision to make.

The film is a grand showcase for Rogers, who traded her honey blond hair for a brunette coif to push the drama a little farther away from the comedy. Although a well produced film, if not for Ginger and the RKO build it would have been a standard soaper in its day. Instead it was the studio's biggest financial success of the year (#10 of top grossing films for 1940) and nominated for an Oscar as Best Picture of the year. Also nominated was none other than former Astaire dancing partner, Ginger Rogers for Best Actress. Her competition was fierce, going up against Bette Davis in The Letter, Joan Fontaine in Rebecca, Martha Scott in Our Town and her old RKO rival Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story. When the winner was announced in 1941 it was the lovely Miss Rogers. She had broken away from her lightweight image and won the highest honor the industry could bestow.

Classic Movies Digest Premiere Post

With the thousands of classic movies to chose from for discussion for this, the debut of Classic Movies Digest, I wanted to shed a little light on one that is lesser known than say Gone with the Wind or any number of Bette Davis' movies. I'm talking about The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941).

Although I had heard of this movie, I had never had the opportunity to see it until recently. From the basic information I had, it sounded like an entertaining way to pass 107 minutes. What I found instead was a solid gem of movie making magic! So many elements were perfectly in sinc to come together as a well oiled machine. Made at RKO, The Devil and Daniel Webster wasn't a blockbuster film with huge superstars or big name value. The principal players and most of the supporting cast were veteran movie actors. Even Anne Shirley, as the young farmers wife, had made her claim to fame as Anne of Green Gables nearly a decade before.

Originally released as All That Money Can Buy, Stephen Vincent Benet's story centers on young New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, who sells his soul to the Devil, ala Faust, in return for seven years of prosperity. When things take a dark turn, he beseeches the formidable attorney and statesman Daniel Webster to act on his behalf in an effort to reclaim his damned spirit.

From beginning to end the film is sumptuously striking, an enchanted visualization with expert cinematography (Joseph August) special effects (Vernon L. Walker) and lighting. Too many masterful uses of these cinematic tools to list here, but a few that stand out are worthy of note. The silhouetted shadow of the Devil cast eerily behind Daniel Webster as he writes his speech. Mr. Snatch's (the Devil) first appearance to Jabez Stone back lit as he comes forth from a hazy, smoky backdrop. The use of smoke and a firelight background is also used when we first meet seductress Belle (played by French actress Simone Simon) kneeling by the kitchen hearth.

One of the most effective scenes to relay the message of the organized chaos about to befall farmer Stone is at the harvest dance when rapid camera shots pan at lightning speed between Jabez, standing in the center of the crowd of frantic dancers, Belle laughing and dancing around the mesmerized young farmer and the wicked Mr. Snatch, playing his fiddle with reckless abandon. All this devilish intrigue is set to an Oscar winning musical score by Bernard Herrmann, which perfectly accentuates the mood of the film scene for scene.

Not to go unmentioned is the fine performances given by the entire cast. James Craig's Jabez Stone raised him from the ranks of B-movie player and helped garner him a contract with the prestigious MGM. A solid actor during the war years, Craig takes Jabez from down on his luck farmer to wealthy yet corrupt landowner to dark lost soul with all the gusto of a performer ready to break out of his shell. French actress Simone Simon is mysteriously seductive as the agent from Hades sent to tempt a very willing farmer Stone. As Daniel Webster, Edward Arnold makes the role his own (although he replaced an ailing Thomas Mitchell). Finally, Walter Huston is outstanding as the impish Mr. Scratch, the Devil incarnate. Nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, Huston's Scratch is mischievously menacing, amiable and gleeful in his sinister task, as opposed to monstrously evil.

For anyone who has yet to see this superb fantasy, I highly recommend that you take the opportunity. You're in for a real treat.