Summary
Within the gilded cage of the Kimberly estate, a curious inversion of power reigns supreme. Grant Kimberly, the Wall Street titan, is nominally the patriarch, yet the true sovereign is his daughter, Catherine (Virginia Pearson), a formidable spirit whose unyielding will has earned her the epithet 'Impossible Catherine.' Obsessed with asserting the inherent superiority of the feminine over the masculine, she sculpts her life as a living testament to this conviction. Her reign of intellectual and domestic dominance remains unchallenged until the arrival of John Henry Jackson (William B. Davidson), a Yale-educated provocateur who, armed with a Machiavellian reading of 'The Taming of the Shrew,' resolves to become her modern-day Petruchio. His audacious campaign begins with a terrifying aerial ballet, where, amidst a series of perilous tailspins, he offers a stark ultimatum: matrimony or a perilous plunge. Coerced into a union, Catherine promptly absconds, only to be tracked down and forcibly relocated to Jackson’s remote Canadian ranch. Here, he attempts to domesticate her by relegating her to the kitchen, a stark contrast to her previous life of intellectual pursuits. Yet, her indomitable spirit remains unbroken by these calculated subjugations. The true, and perhaps most problematic, catalyst for her transformation arrives not through force or cunning, but through an act of chivalric sacrifice: Jackson sustains a grievous wound while defending her. This singular act of vulnerability and protection, a trope as ancient as storytelling itself, finally melts Catherine’s icy resolve, cementing Jackson’s image as her unexpected hero and reshaping her worldview.
Synopsis
The head of the Kimberly household rules it with an iron fist. Unfortunately the head of the Kimberly household isn't Grant (J.H. Gilmore), the father and wealthy Wall Street magnate -- it's his spoiled, headstrong daughter Catherine (Virginia Pearson). She is so willful that she has earned the name "Impossible Catherine," and her whole focus in life is to prove women's superiority over the masculine gender. Catherine is pretty successful in this endeavor until she runs into Yalie John Henry Jackson (William B. Davidson). He's read The Taming of the Shrew and believes he can out-Petruchio her Catherine. First he takes the feisty lass up in a plane and after a few tail spins, suggests she either marry him or jump. She marries him, of course, but then runs away. He finds her and takes her to his Canadian ranch, where he sets her firmly in the kitchen. But none of this tames her spirit until one day he is wounded while trying to protect her -- and this is the one thing that's always guaranteed to get the girl. It works on the wayward Catherine who decides that Jackson is her hero.
Review Excerpt
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As the flickering images of early cinema unfurl, we are often presented with societal snapshots, reflections of an era grappling with its own evolving norms. Few films capture this tension with such audacious clarity as "Impossible Catherine" (1919), a cinematic artifact that, despite its age, remains a provocative discussion piece. Frank S. Beresford's screenplay, brought to life by a spirited cast, plunges us into the opulent yet tumultuous world of the Kimberly household, where traditional g..."
