Kitten with a Whip (1964)

"Why, David, I thought I'd never find you in ladies' underwear.", 16 August 2007

Jody (Ann-Margaret) is a teen on the run. She finds an empty house and decides to use it as a place to spend the night. After she's asleep, the house's owner, Senatorial candidate David Patton (John Forsythe), returns home and makes his way to his bed. The next morning, Patton finds Jody in his house and, after hearing her sob story, agrees to help the girl out by buying her some clothes and a bus ticket. But when Patton comes home that night, he finds Jody has returned with a whole different attitude. If Patton doesn't do as she demands, she'll yell "Rape!" How would it look if it were known that the future Senator spent the night in a house with a seventeen year-old runaway while his wife was out of town? Patton is caught between rock and a hard place.

I actually watched Kitten with a Whip a week or more ago and I've been trying to write something about it ever since. I've found it a difficult movie for me to get a grip on. Admittedly, it's got its fair share of problems (actually it's got a whole bunch of problems) but it's so bizarre, so surreal, and, ultimately, so oddly compelling that I can't help but give it a good rating. It's not even the movie I was expecting. Kitten with a Whip isn't nearly as lurid as either the title, plot description, or tagline ("She's all out for kicks... and every inch of her spells excitement!") seem to suggest. Remember, this is 1964 and made by Universal – a relatively conservative time and a very conservative company. Yet the more I watched, the more I found myself being entertained in that trashy sort of way. The bluesy, smoky soundtrack was appealing. The overwrought melodrama grew on me. The ridiculous hipster dialogue started sounding less annoying. The plot's absence of logic began to matter less and less. And most surprising, I discovered that I actually began to care about the characters played by Ann-Margaret and John Forsythe. In the end, regardless of all its shortcomings, Kitten with a Whip is one entertaining experience.

I actually have Mystery Science Theater 3000 to thank for bringing this movie to my attention. And though I enjoyed the movie, I found that the MST3K commentary actually took away from the experience. I would like to see the movie without the comedy. So, while I rate Kitten with a Whip a 7/10, I'll give the Episode #615 a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale.

7/10