Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (also advertised as Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery) is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Rozema and written by Ann Peacock, based on the Kit Kittredge stories by Valerie Tripp. The film focuses on the American Girl character Kit Kittredge, portrayed by Abigail Breslin, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio during the Great Depression.
It is the first and only in the American Girl film series to have a theatrical release; the first three were television films. As with the TV films, Julia Roberts served as one of the executive producers.
Plot[]
In June 1934, Kit Kittredge is a ten-year-old girl living in Cincinnati, Ohio who is determined to become a reporter. She writes articles on the typewriter in her attic bedroom while drama unfolds on the floors beneath her. The mortgage on her house is about to be foreclosed because her father lost his car dealership and couldn't keep up with the payments. He has gone to Chicago, Illinois to search for work, and to make some income her mother takes in an odd assortment of boarders, including magician Mr. Berk, dance instructor Miss Dooley, and mobile library driver Miss Bond.
Locally there have been reports of muggings and robberies supposedly committed by hobos. Kit investigates and meets young Will and Countee, who live in a hobo jungle near the Ohio River and Erie Lackawanna Railway. Kit writes a story about the camp and tries to sell it to Mr. Gibson, the mean editor of the Cincinnati newspaper, but he has no interest in the subject. At the same time, Kit adopts a dog, her mother buys chickens, and Kit sells their eggs.
When a locked box containing her mother's treasures is stolen, a footprint with a star matching the one on Will's boot is discovered, making him the prime suspect. The sheriff goes to find Will and Countee, however, they have left the hobo jungle. Kit, Stirling and Ruthie then set out to investigate on the incidents and clear Will's name. It then turns out that Mr. Berk, along with two accomplices, were actually the ones behind the robberies, framing Will and the rest of the homeless for the crime. Kit then becomes a local hero. Afterwards, Kit finds out that Countee has been pretending to be a boy. On Thanksgiving, the homeless bring food to Kit's mother and Kit's father returns home, saying he wants to find a job where he can stay close to his family. Mr. Gibson arrives to show Kit that her article is in print in Cincinnati's major daily newspaper.
Cast[]
- Abigail Breslin as Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge
- Chris O'Donnell as Jack Kittredge
- Julia Ormond as Margaret Kittredge
- Joan Cusack as Miss Lucinda Bond
- Stanley Tucci as Mr. Jefferson Jasper Rene Berk
- Max Thieriot as Will Shepherd
- Jane Krakowski as Miss May Dooley
- Madison Davenport as Ruthie Smithens
- Zach Mills as Stirling Howard IV
- Austin MacDonald as Roger
- Willow Smith as Constance "Countee"
- Wallace Shawn as Mr. Gibson
- Glenne Headly as Mrs. Howard
- Colin Mochrie as Mr. Pennington
- Kenneth Welsh as Uncle Hendrick
- Brieanne Jansen as Frances Stone
- Erin Hilgartner as Florence Stone
- Martin Roach as Hobo Doctor
- Elisabeth Perez as Classmate #1
- Jordan Rackley as Classmate #2
- Dylan Scott Smith as Frederich