615 - KITTEN WITH A WHIP
(November 1964; NR; 83m)

Ad: "Every Man, Who Sees Her, Digs Her...
but She Digs Kicks of a Very Special Kind!"

Plot: A runaway female delinquent and her friends cause trouble for a politician.

Prod: Harry Keller (Send Me No Flowers; That Funny Feeling)
Dir/Scr: Douglas Heyes (Beau Geste; Powder Keg)
Sto: Wade Miller a.k.a. H. William Miller and Robert Wade
Cin: Joseph Biroc (309-The Amazing Colossal Man;
K13-SST: Death Flight; won Oscar/The Towering Inferno)
Ed: Russell F. Schoengarth (Female on the Beach; Beau Geste)
SFX: Charles Spurgeon (Marathon Man; The Night Walker)
Cos: Burton Miller (Earthquake; Oscar nom/Airport '77)
M/U: Frank McCoy (MacArthur; Funny Girl)
M/U: Dorothy Parkinson
ADir: Alexander Golitzen (L02-This Island Earth; 801-Revenge of the Creature; 802-Leech Woman; 803-Mole People; 804-Deadly Mantis; 805-The Thing That Couldn't Die; won Oscar/Phantom of the Opera)
ADir: Malcolm Brown (won Oscar/Somebody Up There Likes Me)
Set: John P. Austin (Oscar nom/Gambit)
Set: Oliver Emert (804; Female on the Beach)
Set: John McCarthy
(102S-Radar Men from the Moon; 614-San Francisco International)
Score: Joseph Gershenson*

Jody Dvorak / Ann-Margret*
Sen. David Stratton / John Forsythe (Madame X; TV's Dynasty)
Ron / Peter Brown (Ride the Wild Surf; TV's Laredo; Lawman)
Vera / Patricia Barry (Send Me No Flowers; Dear Heart)
Grant / Richard Anderson (TV's Six Million Dollar Man)
Buck Vogel / James Ward (Night of the Iguana; Kiss Me, Stupid)
Midge / Diane Sayer (The Strangler)
Mavis Varden / Ann Doran (510-Painted Hills; Meet John Doe)
Philip Varden / Patrick Whyte (803; The Hideous Sun Demon)
Virginia Stratton / Audrey Dalton (Mr. Sardonicus)
Sergeant Enders / Leo Gordon
(McLintock; scr/406-Attack of the Giant Leeches)
stripper / Patricia Tiara
matron Clara Eckert / Nora Marlowe (An Affair to Remember)
Martha / Frances Robinson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Peggy / Maxine Stuart (Private Benjamin; Days of Wine and Roses)
saleslady / Mildred Von Hollen (TV's Adventures of Rin Tin Tin)
newcaster / Jerry Dunphy (Night of the Lepus; The Love Machine)
Salty Sam / Doodles Weaver (Topper; Tammy and the Doctor)
chauffeur / Hal Hopper (Lorna; Beau Geste)
and Gary Lockwood (411-Magic Sword; 2001: A Space Odyssey)

Classic line: "Why, David, I thought I'd never find you in Lady's Underwear."

Trivia: JOSEPH GERSHENSON was head of the music department at Universal Studios, so you'll see his name on many credits as composer or arranger. Besides 615-KITTEN WITH A WHIP, he did the scores for: L02-THIS ISLAND EARTH; 801-REVENGE OF THE CREATURE; 803-THE MOLE PEOPLE; 804-THE DEADLY MANTIS; and 805-THE THING THAT COULDN'T DIE. Gershenson also produced a few films, including 802-THE LEECH WOMAN.

Born Ann Margaret Olsson in Sweden in 1941, ANN-MARGRET's film career was first hampered by her beauty. After attending Northwestern University, she toured her singing act which came to the attention of George Burns and Jack Benny. This lead to her first role, that of the daughter unaware of her humble beginnings in 1961's Pocketful of Miracles, starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford.

She was wasted in a boring 1962 remake of State Fair (co-star Pat Boone). After she made the 1963 musical Bye Bye Birdie, she made KITTEN WITH A WHIP. Then there was fun with Elvis Presley on the set of 1964's Viva Las Vegas. Ann-Margret later married actor Roger Smith, who became her manager and who obtained better roles for her. She received rave notices for her performance in 1971's Carnal Knowledge (her first Oscar nomination; starred Jack Nicholson).

Ann-Margret's career was delayed in 1972 by a serious fall during the performance of her nightclub act. These films followed: 1975's Tommy (another nomination; she played the title character's mother, rolling in chocolate); 1978-Magic (with Anthony Hopkins); 1979-The Villain (with Kirk Douglas); 1983-Who Will Love My Children? (TV-movie); 1984-A Streetcar Named Desire (TV-movie); 1986-The Two Mrs. Glenvilles (TV mini-series with Claudette Colbert); 1992-Newsies; 1993-Grumpy Old Men; and 1995-Grumpier Old Men. Ann-Margret's show is still a staple at Las Vegas. Oh, yeah...she played the character "Ann Margrock" on a 1963 TV episode of The Flintstones. Twitch! Twitch!

Last Updated: 6/26/1999