Rating: 
Summary: Rich Tones and a Sad Tale
Review: In the film, "The Barefoot Contessa," Humphrey Bogart indeed is a cynic from the very start. He niether likes his role of being a paid screenwriter on the payroll of a very moody boss and his talkative associate (Edmond O'Brien), nor does he enjoy exploiting himself. Ava Gardner as Maria is a very grounded dancer in Madrid, who cannot make up her mind between wanting stardom or wanting the simple life in her hometown. She is torn from the very start and feels she never quite belongs to the Hollywood scene. Nevertheless, all the men, except Bogart and O'Brien, are after her beauty and want a piece of her fragile being, only to end up a fatal end to her short life. The story is rather complex and if you don't pay attention to each word, you may get lost with what exactly is happening. Each word the player says is meant completely, and the film is dependent on each charactors wordplay. The actor Edmond O'Brien, for instance, uses this method effectively and grabs every scene from the film that he's in. He was fantastic in it and probably was the most humble of the characters. He really deserved his Best Supporting Actor Academy award for 1954. Ava Gardner, sorry to say it, was merely a ploy throughout the film to pretty much show the masterful direction of Mankanviez (sp?). She was marvelous, though, and completely made the film the success as it stands today. People watch it because of her screen presence, not to examine Bogart's duantless growl or O'Brien's snappy chit-chat; it's Gardner's presence and appeal that really brought the film into status. Overall, if you get the DVD, the clarity is remarkable and you can really notice how well Gardner spoke, see every grimace of Bogart's usual snarl and hunched back, and see some wonderful panoramic views that only Technicolor could produce. This is worth the buy; for the story and script.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart as Oracle, Gardner as Screen Goddess
Review: Joseph Mankiewicz was a dialogue master as well as a brilliant director, as evidenced by hits such as "All About Eve" and "A Letter to Three Wives." He is on top of his game once more writing about a familiar area, the world of film, in "The Barefoot Contessa." This film is the number one showcase vehicle in the career of the astoundingly beautiful Ava Gardner, cast in this drama as Maria Vargas, a dancer from Madrid who is discovered by film director Bogart on behalf of his then producer boss, Warren Stevens, a humorless, ruthless financial giant modeled somewhat on the persona of Howard Hughes. From there she goes on to a brief and meteoric career as an international film star before meeting an untimely death at the peak of her beauty and screen renown. Mankiewicz pulls out all stops to display her beauty at every angle, showcasing that beautifully chiseled face accented by the elegant cheekbones. Bogart plays the role of a world-wise oracle, delivering pungent Mankiewicz one-liners, along with snappy first person narration. He serves as a surrogate father for the restless Gardner, who detests the superficilialities of the film world. A free spirit, she loathes stardom's confinements of living in a glass house, seen by all. Bogart serves as a convenient buffer from Stevens, who Gardner, as well as everyone else, detests with a passion. Eventually Gardner meets the handsome prince of her exotic dreams in Italian nobleman Rossano Brazzi, but the tragedy is that he is compelled to love her "with all my heart" and is unable to provide her with the kind of physical fulfillment she desires due to a war injury that has left him impotent. When she endeavors to fulfill his desire for an heir by having an affair with another man, he fails to see things her way and believes she has betrayed him when she had launched the affair to please him. Disaster results. Fans of Edmond O'Brien, who performed with great accomplishment in the film noir classic "D.O.A." as well as in many other films, were overjoyed to see this fine actor honored with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in playing nervous, palm-sweating public relations man Oscar Muldoon in "The Barefoot Contessa." O'Brien is at his best in reading Stevens, who had treated him as hired baggage, the riot act when he is offered a position by a South American playboy with designs on Gardner.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart as Oracle, Gardner as Screen Goddess
Review: Joseph Mankiewicz was a dialogue master as well as a brilliant director, as evidenced by hits such as "All About Eve" and "A Letter to Three Wives." He is on top of his game once more writing about a familiar area, the world of film, in "The Barefoot Contessa." This film is the number one showcase vehicle in the career of the astoundingly beautiful Ava Gardner, cast in this drama as Maria Vargas, a dancer from Madrid who is discovered by film director Bogart on behalf of his then producer boss, Warren Stevens, a humorless, ruthless financial giant modeled somewhat on the persona of Howard Hughes. From there she goes on to a brief and meteoric career as an international film star before meeting an untimely death at the peak of her beauty and screen renown. Mankiewicz pulls out all stops to display her beauty at every angle, showcasing that beautifully chiseled face accented by the elegant cheekbones. Bogart plays the role of a world-wise oracle, delivering pungent Mankiewicz one-liners, along with snappy first person narration. He serves as a surrogate father for the restless Gardner, who detests the superficilialities of the film world. A free spirit, she loathes stardom's confinements of living in a glass house, seen by all. Bogart serves as a convenient buffer from Stevens, who Gardner, as well as everyone else, detests with a passion. Eventually Gardner meets the handsome prince of her exotic dreams in Italian nobleman Rossano Brazzi, but the tragedy is that he is compelled to love her "with all my heart" and is unable to provide her with the kind of physical fulfillment she desires due to a war injury that has left him impotent. When she endeavors to fulfill his desire for an heir by having an affair with another man, he fails to see things her way and believes she has betrayed him when she had launched the affair to please him. Disaster results. Fans of Edmond O'Brien, who performed with great accomplishment in the film noir classic "D.O.A." as well as in many other films, were overjoyed to see this fine actor honored with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in playing nervous, palm-sweating public relations man Oscar Muldoon in "The Barefoot Contessa." O'Brien is at his best in reading Stevens, who had treated him as hired baggage, the riot act when he is offered a position by a South American playboy with designs on Gardner.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a mess-a, that contessa
Review: Now, here's a movie title I'd heard for years, and I thought I'd finally see it. Reading over the box, it's quite a cast: jaded Humphrey Bogart, sultry Ava Gardner, and one of my favorite romantic stars, Rosanno Brazzi. Plot sounds promising--movie man Bogart molds free soul spaniard Ava into a big movie star desired by many men, but needing to live life on her own terms. Not to omit either that it was written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, of "All About Eve" and "Letter to Three Wives" fame. Sure fire enjoyment, right? NOT. 1. Terrible dialogue! How come Americans playing "foreign" people in movies are always supposed to speak without using contractions? Ava sounds terribly stilted here, and many preposterous lines are uttered by the other cast members. 2. Bad casting! Bogart's a big name, and I guess that why they wanted him, but I'll be darned if I know why he accepted this role. He is not the romantic lead and his character is shown to be spineless early on when he acts like a toady for his tyrannical boss. If you've ever seen Gable in "The Hucksters", then you know how that star's character reponds much more admirably to his boss Sidney Greenstreet's attempts to cow him. Here, Bogart cannot command my respect from the get-go. 3. "Old War Wound" plot development rears its head again! Oh my gosh, This is by Mankiewicz, not Hemingway--what's this doing here? So, "The Barefoot Contessa" failed all the way round to live up to my expectations, except that it was nice to gaze upon always handsome RB. Rent at your own risk.
Rating: 
Summary: glorious love story
Review: THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA is a glorious, rich tapestry of backstage Hollywood. Starring a stellar cast headed by Humphrey Bogart and the divine Ava Gardner, it is a ravishing delight. Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner - SHOW BOAT, EARTHQUAKE) is a young dancer from Spain who is plucked from obscurity and taken to Hollywood to star in films. Her kind director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart - THE BIG SLEEP, KEY LARGO) sees big things in her future, but Maria remains aloof and mysterious, both on the screen and off. Maria's story is told in flashback from various viewpoints; a very effective tool in the telling of this rather predictable tale. Director/writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz weaves a colorful yet subtle portrait of a woman torn between two worlds. The film also stars Marius Goring (THE RED SHOES), Rossano Brazzi (SOUTH PACIFIC, LITTLE WOMEN), Elizabeth Sellars, Bessie Love, Edmond O'Brien and Warren Stevens. The DVD has a well-rendered fullscreen version of the film as well as the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
Rating:
Summary: glorious love story
Review: THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA is a glorious, rich tapestry of backstage Hollywood. Starring a stellar cast headed by Humphrey Bogart and the divine Ava Gardner, it is a ravishing delight. Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner - SHOW BOAT, EARTHQUAKE) is a young dancer from Spain who is plucked from obscurity and taken to Hollywood to star in films. Her kind director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart - THE BIG SLEEP, KEY LARGO) sees big things in her future, but Maria remains aloof and mysterious, both on the screen and off. Maria's story is told in flashback from various viewpoints; a very effective tool in the telling of this rather predictable tale. Director/writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz weaves a colorful yet subtle portrait of a woman torn between two worlds. The film also stars Marius Goring (THE RED SHOES), Rossano Brazzi (SOUTH PACIFIC, LITTLE WOMEN), Elizabeth Sellars, Bessie Love, Edmond O'Brien and Warren Stevens. The DVD has a well-rendered fullscreen version of the film as well as the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
Rating:
Summary: Pointy Bra Perversions
Review: The mid-50's saw some awesome color movies. TV was killing Hollywood and they were forced to go to the more expensive print to compete. The Barefoot Contessa shows us the French- Italian Riviera circa 1954 as a lost paradise. The film was a Ava Gardner star vehicle. Her fashions, the filmy gowns and gold laced pant-suit outfits, the glossy red lipstick and black hair was something to look at all right. It could have been overly gaudy, but Humphrey Bogart had a lot of clout at the end of his career, so though this is a failed film, they tried.
Barefoot also push's the life style of the rich and famous envelope for the folks back in Peoria. This is what it must be like to live like Ava and Humphrey. The homes, the clothes, the parties, and the nasty money boys, its all stereotyped, but your 1954 date isn't complaining and you might get to third base later.
Okay, I'm having a little fun with 1950's sexual mores and their pointy bra perversions. Ava Gardner is the ultimate pointy bra gal.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent screenplay. Great acting. Fine directing.
Review: This 1954 film was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who sure does know how to make movies. In one of the very first scenes, Ava Gardner is dancing in a nightclub in Spain. We know she's great even though the camera isn't on her for one minute. All we do is hear the music and watch the faces of the people watching her. By the time we do see her, she's already in her dressing room. She's absolutely gorgeous and lights up every scene she's in. We see her character's rise to movie stardom and share the unfulfilled life she leads. And then, just when we think she's finally found happiness, tragedy strikes. It's a modern day classic drama with a story that pulled me right in. Humphrey Bogart plays a movie director who befriends this "barefoot Contessa", nicknamed that because she was once so poor that she didn't have shoes. She prefers going barefoot and this theme is emphasized all the time, showing her barefoot whenever possible. Rossano Brazzi, who doesn't appear till late in the film, is cast as the true romance in her life. All of these actors do a good job, but I was particularly impressed with the performance of Edmund O'Brien, cast as a public relations man for a studio executive. It's a small part but I just kept thinking how good he was. Later I discovered that he won an Academy Award for this role. It's the screenplay that moves the action. It never lagged and I sat there with my eyes glued to the screen wondering what would happen next. Considering that this is basically just a love story, that's saying a lot. I totally enjoyed the viewing experience. It's too bad though, that there were no features included on the DVD. It would have been nice to have a little more background. "The Barefoot Contessa" gets a high recommendation from me just because I enjoyed it so much.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent screenplay. Great acting. Fine directing.
Review: This 1954 film was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who sure does know how to make movies. In one of the very first scenes, Ava Gardner is dancing in a nightclub in Spain. We know she's great even though the camera isn't on her for one minute. All we do is hear the music and watch the faces of the people watching her. By the time we do see her, she's already in her dressing room. She's absolutely gorgeous and lights up every scene she's in. We see her character's rise to movie stardom and share the unfulfilled life she leads. And then, just when we think she's finally found happiness, tragedy strikes. It's a modern day classic drama with a story that pulled me right in. Humphrey Bogart plays a movie director who befriends this "barefoot Contessa", nicknamed that because she was once so poor that she didn't have shoes. She prefers going barefoot and this theme is emphasized all the time, showing her barefoot whenever possible. Rossano Brazzi, who doesn't appear till late in the film, is cast as the true romance in her life. All of these actors do a good job, but I was particularly impressed with the performance of Edmund O'Brien, cast as a public relations man for a studio executive. It's a small part but I just kept thinking how good he was. Later I discovered that he won an Academy Award for this role. It's the screenplay that moves the action. It never lagged and I sat there with my eyes glued to the screen wondering what would happen next. Considering that this is basically just a love story, that's saying a lot. I totally enjoyed the viewing experience. It's too bad though, that there were no features included on the DVD. It would have been nice to have a little more background. "The Barefoot Contessa" gets a high recommendation from me just because I enjoyed it so much.
Rating:
Summary: a great romantic and dramatic film!
Review: This is a must see. Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner make a great romantic couple. This film is beautiful and dramatic, as well as romantic. It's in color, which is even more wonderful. Ava's costumes are gorgeous.
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