Gilda

Rating:
Summary: "Maybe That Stands for Something"
Review: Rita Hayworth went down in Hollywood history as the Love Goddess. Her title role in *Gilda* (Columbia Pictures, 1946) leaves no doubt why. Yet here she is much more than a sex symbol. For one thing, Rita was a seriously talented actress. For another, she was one of the best dancers in films. To this day her performance in *Gilda* remains unrivaled as a combo of skill, sensuality, sensitivity, and sheer drop-dead pulchritude. Columbia's catchy ad-phrase for the film was, "There never was a woman like Gilda." You'd better believe it. Glenn Ford perfectly fills out the character of Johnny Farrel, the young gambler who hates to love femme fatale Gilda. In return, Gilda loves to hate Johnny. George MacReady offers an outstanding performance as murderous Ballin Mundson, the man Gilda fears.

If you like movies that challenge the viewer to figure out hidden meanings, then *Gilda* is for you. "Maybe that stands for something," Rita-as-Gilda says near the beginning; "Maybe that means something," she says near the end. Halfway through she says, "Any psychiatrist would say that means something." The question of interpretation hangs over the entire film, loaded as it is with symbolism and double-entendres.

On the other hand, you can ignore the subtext and enjoy *Gilda* as a noirish romantic mystery-thriller. It's a beautiful flick to look at in black and white, and it's never boring, even all the decades since it was made. Some reviewers say the plot is difficult to follow. I don't agree; the story is both logical and economical. But that may be because I understand *Gilda* to be a dramatized introduction to the psychological concepts of C.G. Jung. Never mind. If you like your movies to be just movies, *Gilda* tastefully blends ingredients from *Casablanca*, *The Maltese Falcon*, *Notorious* and *The Big Sleep*, then stirs in its own original sauce. In my opinion, it's an improvement upon those classics, as fine as they are by themselves.

I wouldn't call *Gilda* a true film noir, for the reason that at the end the male and female leads are triumphant instead of tormented. Great films of the 1940s that had real "noir" (black) denouements are *Criss Cross*, *Detour*, *Double Indemnity*, *Scarlet Street*, *The Killers* and *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. Still, on their way to a happy ending Johnny and Gilda pass through a landscape that is darker and more suggestive of spiritual abandonment than most '40s film noirs dared explore. At the same time, because of the intense chemistry between the leads, *Gilda* sizzles hotter than any film of that period I can think of.

Love the music too. Five stars. They just don't make 'em like this any more.

Rating:
Summary: Noir Classic!
Review: Rita Hayworth's immortal film that haunted her throughout life and career, once quoted about the men in her life as, "They went to bed with Gilda, and woke up with me...".

Infamous and seductive in its most popular days, Gilda is a film that represents some of the best and memorable scenes from the film noir genre. The beauty of this film is in the silent moments. It is in the contrast of the shadows and light in every scene from the moment when Glen Ford enters the film from a darken alley to Rita Hayworth tossing her hair over her shoulder. What is impeccable about the film is the chemistry of the cast, and style of the film itself. Several particular scenes that stand out:

---Gilda's sultry performance of "Put the Blame on Mame".

---Gilda and Johnny dancing for the first time at the club.

---Gilda's curse of damning the woman who wronged Johnny.

---Gilda's declaration of hate for Johnny, " I hate you so much, I'd destroy myself just to take you down with me..."

Rating:
Summary: She makes you want her
Review: Some of this reminds me of Casablanca (1942) with the "philosopher of the washroom" (Steve Geray) sporting a Peter Lorrie accent and Glenn Ford playing tough like Humphrey Bogart running a night spot in a foreign land, this time Argentina. Rita Hayworth is Gilda, of course, and the forties Marilyn Monroe. I'm sure MM studied this film. The way Monroe does her shoulders and flashes her arm pits as she sings and removes her long-sleeved black gloves in Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953) is virtually copied from Hayworth's performance here. You could check it out.

Ford is your confident, two-fisted bad boy that women love, circa 1945, kind of like an old-fashioned John Travolta from Pulp Fiction (1994). But notice how benign those bad boys used to be. The worst thing he does is cheat at dice. And while he's fast and street wise about most things, he's like a little boy with women. That used to pass for charm. Maybe it still does.

The plot is a little too precious in places and Charles Vidor's attention to detail hit and miss, mostly hit; yet there's a nice mysterious forties Hollywood atmosphere created (even though it's supposed to be Buenos Aires). There's a night life, night time feel to the movie with passwords at the door and evening gowns and dark cars caught in street lamps that helps to recall the forties.

You can see the influence of Gilda in movies coming many years after, Chinatown (1974) and L.A. Confidential (1997) come to mind, the former in the night scenes and the latter because Kim Basinger really looks and behaves more like Rita Hayworth than the Veronica Lake look-alike she portrayed.

Memorable is George Macready as the casino owner, he of the pinched face and the long, curved scar on his right cheek, giving him the sinister, devil-may-care air of a man who has fought and won many duels. I recall he always played villains and made us believe.

I liked the resolution which showed that Gilda was more a tease than anything else and kind of sweet even though she said, "If I had been a ranch, they'd have named me the Bar-Nothing." Quaint and curious is the old Hollywood code which forbade showing her belly button even in a mid-drift and skirt. ...

Hayworth has a sultry and low feminine voice like Laurel Becall (that's the way we liked 'em then!) which is nicely displayed as she sings "Put the Blame on Mame, Boys."

Rating:
Summary: "Gilda, are you decent?"
Review: The always stunning Rita Hayworth stars as Gilda, the ultimate femme fatale in this film noir classic. She's a woman who uses her womanly charms in a manly way: to manipulate and gain power, creating drama for everyone, including herself. She's her own worst enemy, and all because... well, you'll have to watch and find out. I won't be so kind as to spoil the ending for you (see some of the other reviews for that), but I will agree with others in saying it's an unsatisfying cop-out. It doesn't matter, though. The first hour&40 make this DEFINITELY worth watching.

To the previous reviewer who called this film misogynistic: say what? Gilda's more manly than any of the actual males in this movie, who may or may not be gay. Besides, how can one female's actions stand for females as a whole? Since there are no other women protagonists in this diegesis to compare Gilda with, that reading rests on a faulty basis.

Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous Rita Sizzles....
Review: The hottest film noir from the 40's,"Gilda" is what Rita Hayworth was all about---sex, glamour and vulnerability. She does to the b&w 40's screen what Marilyn did to the 50's Technicolor one. She sets it on fire. Married to a sinister Buenos Aries casino owner old enough to be her father, she's a wild kept toy. But when the man hires a bodyguard (Glenn Ford) to keep an eye on his wandering wife, all hell breaks loose. It seems they've "known" each other before. Both have shady pasts. Gilda gets wilder to test the limits of this bodyguard and pushes him to the brink. She performs a Latin-esque song/dance number "Amado Mio" that spells out her feelings. Later, a mock strip-tease to "Put the Blame on Mame" that drives Ford to the boiling point puts Hayworth on the map as a femme fatale to be reckoned with. "Gilda" is a classic and should not be missed by 40's film lovers. The DVD is beautifully presented and a keeper. Hayworth and Ford are dynamite together.

Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing 100 times!
Review: They don't make them like this anymore! An exciting film noir with the beautiful Rita Hayworth and the handsome Glenn Ford. They were the most popular movie couple of the 1940s/1950s and seeing GILDA you're caught in this love triangle of a women torn by love/hate and two men falling into her trap. Rita does the unforgettable "Put the Blame on Mame." A MUST SEE for fans of these two classic mega-stars!

Rating:
Summary: An all-time classic with all-time gorgeous Rita
Review: This all-time classic is loaded with fierce passion and sheer beauty. About passion, after seeing it you'll give some thought to one of the key phrases uttered in it: "Hate is a very exciting emotion... haven't you noticed?". Powerful jealousy, obsession, flirtation and double crossing are the order of the day, and some domestic violence between Gilda and Jhonny doesn't go unnoticed (famous slapping). I had seen Gilda a few times before on TV, but seeing it again thanks to this DVD gave me some new surprises. Among those, a scene that made me think of Sharon Stone's most polemic one in Basic Instinct! Gilda is in her room getting ready for her party at the casino, and right after she stands up from the sofa and turns around with her beautiful gown... well, sorry, you have to see the movie. Besides the photography being so incredibly beautiful, Rita is... well, Rita of course. Only her beauty can describe her beauty. I had the opinion that the most gorgeous close-ups of Rita Hayworth appeared in the movie "Salome" (a technicolor one). After watching Gilda again I succumbed to Rita's B&W close-ups. You may put the blame on Mame ;-), I think very few claims of beauty and seduction on the big screen can match Rita Hayworth in Gilda. Extremely recommended.

Rating:
Summary: "There never was a woman like Gilda!"
Review: This artificial melodrama is only redeemed by the absorbing performances of its lead actors. Set in the Argentine, along a backdrop of gambling casinos, illicit trade and international intrigue, it portrays an American gambler (Glenn Ford) who is enlisted to become the right-hand-man of a powerful casino owner. He is struck by the fact that his new boss's wife, Gilda, is an old flame of his, a sensuous, enigmatic and manupulative "femme fatale", played by the sex bomb of the 1940s, Rita Hayworth. The story develops along a pattern of a love triangle sustained by reciprocal hate, love and domination as the trio dramatically pit their wits against each other. The dialogue sparkles once managed by these actors and in this style. Hayworth is captivating as Gilda, perhaps her most accomplished performance. Ford is also good as the gambler promoted by the boss to casino top-dog, though the honours also have to go to George Macready as the the husband and boss, the ice-cold, self-possessed, aristocratic type. The character actors, particularly Joseph Calleia and Stevan Geray, provide excellent support. The digitally remastered version of the film restores the crisp quality of the black-and-white phtography.

Rating:
Summary: The most magnificently vicious love triangle in film history
Review: This film is rightly celebrated as Rita Hayworth's greatest film. Certainly, it contains her most famous visual moment, and what is probably one of the most famous images in the history of film. People recognize this shot, even if they have never seen GILDA. George Maccready is escorting his right hand man Glenn Ford up the staircase of his mansion, telling him about his new bride. As they reach the top of the stairs, he calls out to his wife, "Gilda, are you decent?" The camera jumps into the dressing room, to a tight close up of a woman with her hair thrown forward so she can brush it out. Gilda dips her head, throws back her hair, reveals her beautiful face, and almost mockingly replies, "Who, me?" The way she responds, we instantly know that we are dealing with a thoroughly bad woman.

Make no mistake about it: this film is about people doing inconceivably nasty things to one another. Gilda isn't so much a loose woman as she is a woman intent on revenge. She has married Maccready because she learned that his right hand man was in fact her former lover. In fact, the man she still loved, but who had treated her badly. So, she marries him to enact her revenge on her ex. And that is just the beginning of the nastiness that people inflict on one another in this film.

There are so many stunning moments in the film. There is, of course, her rendition of "Put the Blame on Mame." There is an unbelievable strip scene which is not merely one of the sexiest scenes in the history of film but one of the least revealing, for, in the end, her "strip" consists of removing a single glove.

The narrative of the film breaks down a bit near the end of the film, keeping the movie just short of complete perfection. But that really isn't all that bad, since this film is mainly a study in the dynamics between three people. And thanks to Hayworth, Ford, and Maccready, that love triangle is, at every point, a thing of extreme fascination. Special mention should also be made of the excellent supporting role played by the Joseph Calleia, as the police detective.

The great irony of the film is that while it was Hayworth's greatest triumph, it was also the last truly great film in her career. Although she was excellent in A LADY FROM SHANGHAI just a couple of years after this one, virtually all her best roles came before GILDA. But even if she made no other films than this one, GILDA alone was enough to guarantee that she would always be remembered as one of the most beautiful and sensual actresses in the movies.

Rating:
Summary: Pure pleasure.
Review: This film never quite makes famous "top" lists, probably because of its cop-out ending. But ignore the ending and savor the rest. The film is brimming with sexual tension, both on the surface and in the subtext. Rita Hayworth is ravishingly beautiful and downright hot,a fascinationg femme fatale whose sexuality teases and torments men. Glen Ford plays Johnny Farrell, a gambler who is misogynistic, sexually ambiguous, and caught in a love-hate relationship with Hayworth's Gilda. As a rich casino owner, George McCready has both Ford and Hayworth under his command, and with both of them there is some ambiguity as to how much of his control is financial and how much is sexual.

The scipt offers some great,psychologically cutting lines and every character is a joy to watch. And when all is said and done, Hayworth's "Put the Blame on Mame" strip-tease is one of the high points in American popular culture. I can only guess at what the response to it must have been like in the tame 1940s.