Gilda

Rating:
Summary: This film is so much more than Rita Hayworth. Enough said.
Review: Johnny is a small time, but talented, hustler who finds himself at the wrong end of a gun on the dark back streets of Buenos Aires. He is rescued by a mysterious and controlling stranger, Ballin Mundson, who ends up being the owner of a club/casino that operates under the radar of the law. Johnny and Ballin form a close partnership with Johnny being the "man who runs the joint" and Ballin the Master. When Ballin takes a short leave and comes back married to the gorgeous Gilda, a threesome develops that puts a strain on the partnership. There is a burning mutual dislike between Johnny and Gilda. When Gilda feigns ignorance over not remembering his name, she coyly replies, "Johnny. So hard to remember . . . and so easy to forget." Of course there's much more to their acquaintance than they are willing to acknowledge, and a fusion of sexual heat, jealousy, fear and hatred keep the tension tightly wound which fuels the film. And of course there is Rita Hayworth up front and center. All the accolades that have been showered on her sexy "striptease" interpretation of "Put the Blame on Mame" are true! And still this film has much more to offer; an economical but effective story line; a tight witty script loaded with innuendo; and superb acting all around, especially the overlooked icy performance of George Macready as Ballin Mundson.

Rating:
Summary: PUT THE BLAME ON RITA!
Review: Like so many other film noir classics of the golden age, the plot of "Gilda" really makes no sense. She's in love with a penniless bum, Johnny (Glen Ford)who just happens to fall into a tub of butter after a big time casino thug (Joel McCready)who also happens to be Gilda's new husband, elevates Johnny to the level of fellow racketeer. There's also some business involving some Nazi's but this is extremely sketchy at best. What is really quite bizarre is the way Johnny and Gilda seem to absolutely hate one another until five minutes before the film is over. One thing about the film remains electric, Rita Hayworth! Her striptease and song "Put The Blame on Mame" is one of a handful of the cinema's guilty pleasures.
I'm not certain whether Columbia Home Video is deliberately trying to tick off their consumer base with this release or not. Although most of the film exhibits a fairly good transfer, there are moments when the film element is down right grainy. Scratches inherent in the original camera negative are quite prominent in spots. No aliaising or shimmering of fine details, thank heaven! The audio is nicely restored. Columbia gives us a featurette as a suppliment but here too I get the sense from Columbia that they really just wanted to tick me off. The featurette starts out good, has a ton of clips to show Hayworth's rise as a major screen goddess and then, right in the middle of her career, quite suddenly just ends with a blacked out screen. No summation of Rita, the actress, the women or the legend. Nothing! Hey, Columbia, if you're going to do a documentary - do the whole thing! BOTTOM LINE: Movie - yes. Extras - NO!!!

Rating:
Summary: PUT THE BLAME ON RITA!
Review: Like so many other film noir classics of the golden age, the plot of "Gilda" really makes no sense. She's in love with a penniless bum, Johnny (Glen Ford)who just happens to fall into a tub of butter after a big time casino thug (Joel McCready)who also happens to be Gilda's new husband, elevates Johnny to the level of fellow racketeer. There's also some business involving some Nazi's but this is extremely sketchy at best. What is really quite bizarre is the way Johnny and Gilda seem to absolutely hate one another until five minutes before the film is over. One thing about the film remains electric, Rita Hayworth! Her striptease and song "Put The Blame on Mame" is one of a handful of the cinema's guilty pleasures.
I'm not certain whether Columbia Home Video is deliberately trying to tick off their consumer base with this release or not. Although most of the film exhibits a fairly good transfer, there are moments when the film element is down right grainy. Scratches inherent in the original camera negative are quite prominent in spots. No aliaising or shimmering of fine details, thank heaven! The audio is nicely restored. Columbia gives us a featurette as a suppliment but here too I get the sense from Columbia that they really just wanted to tick me off. The featurette starts out good, has a ton of clips to show Hayworth's rise as a major screen goddess and then, right in the middle of her career, quite suddenly just ends with a blacked out screen. No summation of Rita, the actress, the women or the legend. Nothing! Hey, Columbia, if you're going to do a documentary - do the whole thing! BOTTOM LINE: Movie - yes. Extras - NO!!!

Rating:
Summary: captivating beauty and brazenness !
Review: Moody, playful and captivating throughout, Gilda shines especially bright when Rita Hayworth is onscreen. Her confidence, beauty and brazenness literally took my breath away in scenes. This movie deserves five stars for her introduction scene alone. I highly recommend this film to fans of film noir and shockingly bold beauties.

Rating:
Summary: Dazzling, perverse, wonderful
Review: Much has been made of the obvious pleasures in "Gilda" -- the stunning, idol-making performance of Rita Hayworth; the famous striptease-that-really-is-a-tease; the overripe dialogue (somebody could make a good drinking game based on how many times somebody says "Johnny" to Glenn Ford); the perversely sexual subtexts involving Gilda and Johnny, Gilda and Ballin, and certainly, Ballin and Johnny (!) But the other pleasures of this movie shouldn't be overlooked. For one thing, it's one of the best LOOKING movies ever to come out of the 1940's: stunning sets, gorgeous costumes, and most of all, eye-popping black-and-white photography, making effective use of noir conventions (everyone is forever stepping into or out of shadows) and creating Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth as pinnacles of physical beauty; neither one ever looked this good again, although Rita came close in "You Were Never Lovelier".
Maybe my favorite overlooked treat in "Gilda" is the enigmatic character of Uncle Pio, who has some of the best lines in the movie as he wittily comments on the foibles of the characters,
acting as a sort of Shakespearean Fool. Screenwriting this good is certainly part of what makes "Gilda" so special and brings its fans back to watch again and again.

One final comment: if Rita Hayworth really does her own singing during the quiet version of "Mame" in the nightclub at 5 a.m., as I've read and heard, the lady was not only gorgeous and a terrific dancer, she had quite a voice, too!

Rating:
Summary: Rita Hayworth at her best!!!
Review: Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford star in GILDA it is definitely a must see for fans of either! Rita & Glenn light up the screen together! Rita sizzles in "Put the Blame On Mame" and is simply BREATHTAKING and BEAUTIFUL throughout the whole movie!!!

Rating:
Summary: Hayworth's Second Best Film?
Review: Rita Hayworth has to be the most under appreciated actor of all time! She made two amazing films that truly showed what she could do with a few lines of dialogue and facial expressions that could a room ablaze. "Gilda" and its equal "The Lady From Shanghai" show off her talent in top form! In this Noir Hayworth is Gilda a smart, sexy and devlish woman who marries for money but seduces for kicks. The plot is a love triangle at its best due to the fact that the main characters Haywoth, Ford and Mundson all want lust and money! When the unlucky Farrell played to perfection by Glenn Ford is saved in a sedy alley by a sinister and scarred Mundson (Macready as the devil himself) Farrell soon learns that Mudson owns the hottest night club in town and the hottest woman - Gilda! But thing are not as they seem and when the film goes into Noit overdrive the viewer is rewarded with master shots of kissing, over the shoulder slaps and just plain shoot outs! Gilda is the ultimate film about greed and how it controls not you bu the people around you. The films dialouge is so slick that you might want to bring some of the slang into your everyday venacular! If "The Lady From Shanghai" turned Hayworth into the ultimate ice queen then Gilda paints her as the utlimate piece of ice sculpture! Beautiful, clear but not clear enough that the you can see clearly through it but as with ice and as with the film's heroin Gilda and its chracters have the ultimate meltdown and just our luck its for our own pleasure to watch it happen!

Rating:
Summary: Great Film Noir with Rita Hayworth at her best!
Review: Rita hayworth is at her best in this 1940's film noir about a woman who meets her old flame and pretends not to pay attention to him. Hired by her husband to be her "bodyguard", Glenn Ford watches on as Rita Hayworth pretends to be interested in countless other men. A winner, with great performances by the whole cast.

Rating:
Summary: Rita in her trademark role
Review: Rita Hayworth stars with Glenn Ford in the film noir masterpiece GILDA, which is widely considered to be the finest film in Ms Hayworth's career.

Gilda (Hayworth) is a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage with corrupt illegal casino owner Ballin Mundson (George MacReady) when she comes face-to-face with her past; Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) her previous lover whom she left and married Ballin on the rebound.

Gilda and Johnny re-ignite the passions when Ballin "kills" himself. Little do they know that Ballin has suspected Gilda of infidelity and has left the picture so he may observe - and kill her - if she shows any indiscretion.

Featuring Hayworth's galvanising renditions of "Put The Blame On Mame" and "Amado Mio" (although her vocals were dubbed here by Anita Ellis) , this is the ultimate vehicle for the legendary sex-goddess.

The film has been fully restored by the American Film Archive for its glittering DVD debut, which also includes the trailer as well as a Rita Hayworth tribute from the Columbia Studios documentary "The Lady with the Lamp"

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.