Kitty

[knitwit45]

Did anyone else see this? I would love to hear someone else's opinion of the movie, I found it hard to accept the ending. Paulette Goddard was lovely, and it was great to see Cecil Kelloway in a featured role. Constance Collier was a hoot! Ray Milland was loathsome and a 30 second turnaround just didn't make sense to me.

[JackFavell]

I missed almost the whole thing, and I was mad, cause it was shaping up into a really cool movie... but I had to laugh at Sara Allgood... what a difference from the mom in How Green Was My Valley....

she cracked me up when she beat the heck out of Paulette for sleeping late, then cried saying how she didn't have the heart to hurt the girl....

[knitwit45]

That staircase was incredible. Poor ol' Reginald Owen didn't have a chance. And why in the world, when his heir was so important, would he be on the other side of the castle? I kept expecting him to say " God Bless Us, Everyone!" I've seen his version of Scrooge too many times, I suppose.

Has anyone read the book the film was based on? I thought the ending made Kitty look foolish. That 'love conquers all' bit must have been a lot more prevalent than I realized.

Did you hear Robert O say the necklace Ms.Goddard was wearing in the final scenes was her own? Our Vecchiolarry could probably tell us all about her 'jools'....

And my love, Sara Allgood....what a stretch for me! I've only ever seen her in sympathetic roles, I couldn't believe my eyes when I realized who was under all the dirt and gin...

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Nancy,

I didn't realize that you had already started a thread here. I wonder if the administrator(s) can cancel mine out, as I hate to have redundant threads going like they do on TCM & IMDb...

I didn't recognize that diamond necklace in the last scene. But, "Kitty" was made in 1945 and I didn't arrive in LA until October, 1946; nor meet Paulette until about '47 or '48. I met her in London at the premier of a British movie she'd made and was swiftly wrapped up in an enormous ermine coat she had on. I have loved her ever since!!!
She did have a diamond necklace, with some larger stones, that was reputedly made up of old engagement rings. It was an odd piece with mismatched size diamonds, so it could be true.
Paulette loved rubies best and had a huge parure of them from Van Clef & Arpels.
She travelled with a fishing tackle box full of jewels in the 50's and once polished them all on a Trans-Atlantic flight; and allowed other passengers to try them on....
She gave me a ruby & gold ring for my 18th birthday, which I still have.

I too yhink she should have stayed with Patric Knowles at the end.
Actually, Paulette and Ray Milland remained friends til the end of their lives; but then most people always stayed pals with her - she was universally loved....
Although I have heard that Marlene Dietrich didn't always admire her; and that could be because Paulette married Erich Maria Remarque, one of Marlene's old boyfriends....

Larry

[charliechaplinfan]

I absolutely love Paulette, I've watched precious few of her movies. I got her biography for Christmas written by Joe Morella, I can't wait to start that.

Larry, do you think she got any of her famous jewels from Charlie? In his autobiography he makes a big deal of buying a watch for Oona, it doesn't sound like he made a habit out of giving the ladies in his life jewels, I wonder if he relented for Paulette?

[knitwit45]

Gee, Larry, I don't think you can have too many threads about Paulette Goddard!
She sounds like such a marvelous lady. I still think about your story of her getting down on the floor in her furs and playing cars with you.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Alison & Nancy,

Alison:
I'm not too sure about anything regarding Charlie Chaplin, as I did not know him and not much was ever discussed about him. My grandmother would have known him, but I did not always know everybody she did.
I do know that he gave Pola Negri a very large circular diamond pendant with a large pearl in the middle in Berlin in the early 1920's before she came to America.
She has often been photographed with this piece and, I think used it it some of her movies.

Paulette & Chaplin were together for about a decade, so he must have given her some things, as she was known for her extensive jewelry collection, even in the thirties.


Nancy:
Yes, that was a party my grandmother gave in 1949, after we had returned from our yearly jaunt to Europe, so I was 7. Many people were invited and I had set up camp in her foyer (marble floor - great for playing with my cars & trucks)...
My grandmother always received in her reception room to the left and so she didn't know I was there...
I'll always remember her entrance - Paulette arrived in silver lame and rubies and a large white fox fur.... She made a bee-line for me and got right down on the floor and we played cars & trucks for about 15 minutes, until our laughter and racket brought forth "La Madama" (our chauffer's & my valet's nick-name for Nell)....
That was the end of playtime; but I've never forgotten it.
I understand that she often played with Chaplin's two sons also.
She was a fun date.

Larry

[JackFavell]

Larry,

Not to digress from the thread, but I am newish here, and I don't know a lot of your stories.... who exactly was your grandmama? Would I know her? Or is that confidential? I am just so curious.

[mrsl]

.
Well, I'm kicking myself you know where for missing KITTY. I love both Paulette and Ray Milland. Ray plays a wonderful boor. I was so intent on not missing The Uninvited, I failed to see what was on before and after. I was trying to get what theme they're using this year. I liked it the last time they used this one, linking the actor from one movie to the next. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch it on a recast later.

Larry:

In case you missed it because of my post, knitwit has asked who your grandmother was. I didn't want to answer her feeling it is your relative and your right, plus, you can make it amusing, and I can't.

.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi JF,

To answer your question:
Go to "Nell - Eleanor Doheny" in the "People in Films" thread and most everything is there....

Larry

[Ollie]

I did get a good copy of this, if anyone needs one. I would have glossed right over it except for a very wise tip, so I lucked into this one.

[JackFavell]

Thanks Larry!

[charliechaplinfan]

Charlie Chaplin jnr wrote a book about his father, it was a glowing tribute to Paulette.

Thanks for sharing your stories about Paulette, Larry.

[charliechaplinfan]

Thank you Nancy for this one, I really enjoyed it, Paulette was marvellous, especially with the cockney accent. Of course it had a touch of the Pygmalion/My Fair Lady about it but it was more tongue in cheek, a little predictable and the ending was wrong. She ended up with the man she loved but he hadn't redemmed himself, for me that was a small fault in what was a thoroughly delightful film.