I'm not entirely sure what to make of this film. It managed to keep my attention the whole time (which is no small feat these days) but it was odd, yet another love story.
After the bizarre introduction of women moving up in society, finally getting their rights (aka: the right to vote), we are introduced to Kitty Foyle (Ginger Rogers, quite good) who is a shop girl and has a great doctor boyfriend, Mark (James Craig) and then her ex, Wyn (Dennis Morgan) shows up and wants to whisk her away though he refuses to divorce his wife, jerkface. So, she's left with a choice and then through a series of flashbacks, we find about her true history with Wyn, whom she meets through her father. She's working class, he has a trust fund but is also an idealist and wants to break away form living under the family's thumb, but he somehow can't manage it.
They do get married but in order for Wyn to get his money, he has to remain in Philadelphia and Kitty can't bear the class differences between them and won't go to finishing school so she leaves and they promptly get divorced, he gets engaged to someone else and she discovers that she's pregnant, all in record time. She doesn't tell him about the baby and he dies at birth (which is lame and no explanation as to why is given) but she soldiers on. Along the way, she meets kind but poor doctor, Mark who adores her but she dumps him abruptly to go back to Wyn, though fortunately, they somehow meet up again in the end and luckily (thanks to the ever present Hays code), she choices Mark in the end, which is absolutely the correct choice.
So, yes, the introduction was odd and didn't relate to Kitty's story whatsoever and yes, it is weird that nothing is mentioned about her mother or how she reconnects with Mark (because the last time we see him before the beginning is that she lets him know that she's still in love with Wyn) but Rogers is a revelation (though Hepburn, Davis and Fontaine gave equally great performances), while I'm glad she picked Mark, I just felt that this was another film with a woman falling in love above their station and while it could have been different, it was typical and the couple refused to work together as a team, which constantly frustrates me to no end. Still, I'm glad I watched this film as it is always great seeing a strong female character at its center. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Kitty has meet-cutes with both Wyn and Mark. She is introduced to Wyn through her father, in nothing more than her petticoat and she is faking being passed out when Mr. Mark arrives on scene.
-Kitty's boss is very understanding about the pregnancy and she's the one who ends up telling Kitty the truth.
-Other than the Hayes code, being in effect, we don't fully know why she ends up picking Mark, other than Wyn will continue to drag her along, until she looks up one day, with a life full of regret.
-Kitty's roommates didn't get enough screen time as they added some necessary comic relief to the melodramatic romance.
-Also, as for the last actress nominated for Best Actress in 1940, Martha Scott in Our Town, is a film that I haven't seen of as yet.
-The subtitles spell actor Ronald Colman's name incorrectly, they added an 'e'.
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