Time Capsules, Curiosities and Neo-Noir – Ann-Margret before carnal knowledge.

Kitten With A Whip (1964, Douglas Heyes) ***

“ Maybe it’s a mistake to feel sorry for kids like that … maybe it’s a mistake not to…”

Capitalizing on the upward trajectory of Ann-Margret’s career and the heat from being paired with Elvis in Warner’s Viva Las Vegas that spring, Universal released Kitten With A Whip in November of 1964. Giving A-M top billing for the first time, albeit surrounded by a crop of television stars. A-M stretches her acting chops to play juvenile femme fatal Jody Dvorak; whose personality vacillates between pathetic waif victim of society to sexual temptress and extortionist blackmailer. We don’t see this Ann-Margret again until Carnal Knowledge in 1971.

Kitten With A Whip opens with the same panic of a girl running away from something, we don’t know what, shades of Kiss Me Deadly. This time it’s Jody Dvorak running away from a reform school where she has stabbed a matron and escaped.  She winds up at the house of Dave Stratton played by John Forsythe, fresh from wrapping production on 157 episodes of Bachelor Father. In the main Forsythe plays the part as if he was still playing Uncle Bentley – Eisenhower Republican, sensitive to social issues (especially the plight of misunderstood juveniles), early 1960’s suburbanite (with traditional values; who uses a straight razor in 1964 anyway?) – who is estranged from his wife and contemplating running for the United States Senate.

Strattan lives in a mid-century California Ranch-style house with early American décor. His home is replete with the classic stereo-as-furniture, playing music left over from Harry Mancini’s soundtrack from Touch of Evil. Good Samaritan Dave believes a little hospitality and empathy and understanding talk can mollify any situation.

That is until Judy’s posse shows-up. A trio of well-clad delinquent’s led by Peter Brown (long a stalwart of television westerns of the day) as Ron the sadomasochist member well connected and educated member of the trio. Skip Ward stars as the volatile bad-guy and Diane Sayer as the drugged out girl in tow (she even wears a beauty mark). Diane Sayer, who once played the only bad date Wally Cleaver ever had. And for added measure we have Richard Anderson (who replaced Ray Collins as the copy playing Lt. Steve Drum in Perry Mason) as Dave’s best friend.

Be it an early 1960’s expression of film noir or an exploitation film (with the necessarily quotient of violence) Kitten With A Whip delivers as a first class B-Movie movie punch. Poorly reviewed in its day, Kitten With A Whip plays well as a guilty pleasure and look at the sociology of the 1960’s before psychedelia. After all the film is based on an original Fawcett paperback from 1959, we couldn’t expect any less.