History Film / KittenWithAWhip

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Jody has this attitude in her rare lucid moments, and genuinely seems distressed when Stratton confronts her over whey she would hurt him when all he'd done to that point was try to help her. Unfortunately her mood swings so radically it's hard to tell whether she's being genuine.

* AmbiguousDisorder: The most the movie says about Jody is that she's "troubled" but her wild mood swings and erratic, often violent behavior suggest something far more severe.

''Kitten with a Whip'' is a 1964 exploitation crime drama film directed by Douglas Heyes, starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe.

* AffablyEvil: Ron might be a StrawNihilist who enables his friends' crimes, but he also comes across as a genuinely nice guy. He respectfully refers to Stratton as "buddy" or "sir" in a way that seems genuine, he never threatens Stratton but does make it clear that he expects Stratton to help them out, and he tries his hardest to keep PsychoPartyMember Buck under control (though he fails hard at that in the end, at least he tries) even letting Buck punch him in the face at one point in order to spare Stratton from the same
* AmbiguousDisorder: The most the movie says about Jody and her "friends" is that they're "troubled" but Jody's behavior especially suggests a ''lot'' more wrong with her than just having a chip on her shoulder. Buck's anger at least might just be the result of a lack of self-control rather than any real anger disorder, but Jody seems to legitimately not have the ability to control her actions and is likely seriously mentally ill. In particular her wild mood swings and erratic behavior suggest bipolar disorder at the least.

** There are about a half dozen different places where the movie would have ended immediately if only Stratton would grow a spine. Against Ron and Buck, at least, it's justifiable, since they're younger and stronger than he is,there's two of them, and Buck is clearly a dangerous psychopath [[spoiler:as proved when he does nearly beat Stratton to death at the end]].

* IdiotBall: Who would the authorities believe if Jody accused Stratton of raping her: the respected local politician or the wanted violent fugitive with a record of mental instability and nearly compulsive lying? And wouldn't "Local Politician Apprehends Dangerous Fugitive" be a great headline to propel him into the Senate? Ultimately Stratton is far too much of a wimp to risk it.

* AmbiguousDisorder: The most the movie says is that Jody and her friends are "troubled", but their behavior - especially Jody's - suggests a ''lot'' more wrong with them than just having a chip on their shoulder. Jody herself suffers extreme mood swings and erratic behavior, and likely has bipolar disorder at the least. Her "friend" Buck likely suffers from some sort of anger disorder, given his propensity for [[HairTriggerTemper completely losing his shit at the drop of a hat]].

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: While it's certainly possible that someone could die from a straight razor cut to the triceps if it wasn't treated, the speed with which Ronnearly bleeds out when there are no relevant arteries hit is quite unrealistic.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Jody suffers from mood swings and erratic behavior, and likely has bipolar disorder. Her "friend" Buck clearly suffers from some sort of anger disorder, given his propensity for [[HairTriggerTemper completely losing his shit at the drop of a hat]]. The movie just calls them "troubled".

* IdiotBall: Who would the authorities believe if Jody accused Stratton of raping her, the respected local politician or the wanted violent fugitive with a record of mental instability and nearly compulsive lying? And wouldn't "Local Politician Apprehends Dangerous Fugitive" be a great headline to propel him into the Senate? Ultimately Stratton is far too much of a wimp to risk it.

* HonorBeforeReason: By the end of the movie, the insane Jody has thoroughly screwed over not just Stratton, but her friends as well, but Stratton is finally in a position to easily be free of the lot of them... all he has to do is abandon Jody to be murdered by her psychotic "friend" Buck, who is now out for revenge against her himself. Stratton can't do it and refuses to tell Buck and Ron where she is, and when they find her anyway he fights Buck and nearly dies as a result.

* {{Blackmail}}: Jody tells Stratton that if he calls the police on her, she'll accuse him of rape -- or, at the very least, claim to be his mistress, threatening both his home life and his career. "I'll be a celebrity! And SO WILL YOU!" As said in IdiotBall below, it probably wouldn't have worked, but Stratton goes for it anyway.

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: {{ZigZagged|Trope}} all over the place. The movie constantly goes back and forth on whether Jody is nothing but a viper or not. Every time she seems like she's not so bad, then she'll [[KickTheDog do something horrible]] to show that she is bad after all, only to then have her find a moment of lucidity and PetTheDog again. Ends on a Hell of a subversion, though, as she not only risks her life to get Stratton to a hospital after Buck kicks his ass, but even uses her dying breath to clear him of any wrongdoing.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Ron rapidly nearly bleeds to death from a straight razor cut in his upper triceps.

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Jody tells Stratton that if he calls the police on her, she'll accuse him of rape -- or, at the very least, claim to be his mistress, threatening both his home life and his career. "I'll be a celebrity! And SO WILL YOU!"
** IdiotBall: Who would the authorities believe if she'd tried that, the respected local politician or the wanted violent fugitive with a record for mental instability? And wouldn't "Local Politician Apprehends Dangerous Fugitive" be a great headline to propel him into the Senate?
* CarChase: The climax of the film, ending with [[RocksFallEverybodyDies "Rocks Fall, *Almost* Everybody Dies."]]
* {{Delinquents}}: Jody and her "friends."

** The movie ends in a half-dozen places if Stratton grows a spine. Against Ron and Buck, at least, it's justifiable, since they're younger and stronger (and more numerous) than he [[note]]And eventually Buck does beat Stratton nearly to death, validating his fears[[/note]].

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Zig-zagged, but ultimately averted.

* HonorBeforeReason: Stratton refusing to tell Ron and Buck where Jody was hiding, putting himself (deeper) in harm's way, despite what Jody had done to all three of them.

'''Ron:''' Sorry, buddy, not working! ''[[[DrowningMySorrows takes a slug from a bottle]]]''
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Jody (with a triple-helping of "manic").
* MoodSwinger: Jody, sometimes mid-sentence.

* PsychoticLover: Jody isn't his lover, but she certainly has the same impact on the plot. Mike and the Bots lampshade it with a ''Film/FatalAttraction'' reference or two.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Jody first tries to save Stratton from Ron and Buck, after the latter beats him within an inch of his life, and exonerates him after the fatal wreck by covering up his involvement in the wreck. She dies from injuries sustained in the crash before Stratton regains consciousness in the hospital.

--> '''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Crow]]''': Is Johnny Hodges in the house?

--> '''Mike''': Carl Stalling's in his house!

* WouldHitAGirl: Psychopathic Buck is willing to hit ''everybody'', but his willingness to assault Jody pushes him well past the MoralEventHorizon.

''Kitten with a Whip'' is a 1964 crime drama/exploitation film directed by Douglas Heyes, starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe.

''Kitten with a Whip'' is a 1964 exploitation film starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe.

Forsythe plays David Stratton, a candidate running for the U.S. Senate who finds that Jody, an escaped juvenile delinquent (Ann-Margret) broke into his house while he was away. A combination of crocodile tears followed by extortion ends up with him trying to keep Jody both in his house and away from the press, the police and his family. Things get worse when Jody's gang of friends shows up, and before he knows it he's held hostage taking a wounded man to Tijuana for off-the-record medical treatment. Where do Jody's sympathies really lie? And how is David going to keep all of this from ruining his campaign?

'''''Kitten with a Whip''''' is a 1965 exploitation film starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe.