Customer Reviews

Gilda

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

I had never seen this film before, but I enjoy old film noir and had read good things about this film. It turned out out to be a great film, up there with the best. I'm not going to give away any plot here, but there are several twists, in true noir style.

Like many other old films, I wish it had been remastered and transfered better. It's a bit grainy, like many others, but it doesn't take away from how good the fim is.

The DVD has some bonus features --- a few other noir trailers, and a short documentary on Rita Hayworth's career at Columbia. She was the big sex symbol before Marilyn Monroe... and she IS sexy (and a talented actress and dancer, too).

Enjoy.

Columbia Pictures presents "GILDA" (1945) ~ (110 min/B&W) ~ Starring: Rota Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia & Steven Geray

Directed by Charles Vidor

When wealthy Ballin Mundson (George Macready) rescues down at his heels gambler Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) and invites him to the Buenos Aires casino he owns, both men get more than they wagered on. Farrell convinces Mundson to hire him as casino manager, but is shocked when Mundson introduces his new bride, and Farrell's old flame, Gilda (Rita Hayworth).Though Farrell is unwavering in his loyalty to his employer, and he and Gilda treat each other with contempt, Mundson realizes that the torch never died for either of the former lovers. Ordered to guard Gilda, Farrell tries to convince himself that he's protecting Mundson's interests, but Gilda sees through his self-deception. Meanwhile, Mundson reveals to Farrell that his primary business is control of an international tungsten cartel that he plans to use to further his fascist ends.

Great tight tense script, direction and cast makes an all-time classic noir, but it's George Macready who gives such an icy cold character performance, that when he's on the screen nobody else seems to be there, even though Hayworth and Ford are steaming up the cameras with their hot steaming scenes.

* Special footnote: ~ Rita Hayworth had to wear a corset while shooting "Put the Blame on Mame," as she gave birth to her first daughter, Rebecca, months before filming ~ In the scene where Gilda is brought back to Argentina by Tom, she slaps Johnny hard across both sides of his face. In reality, Rita Hayworth's smacks broke two of 'Glenn Ford''s teeth. He held his place until the take was finished ~ The photo of Johnny Farrell as a baby is a picture of 'Glenn Ford''s real-life son, Peter Ford.

BIOS:
1. Charles Vidor [Director]
Date of Birth: 27 July 1900, Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Date of Death: 4 June 1959, Vienna, Austria

2. Rita Hayworth [aka: Margarita Carmen Cansino]
Date of Birth: 17 October 1918 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 14 May 1987 - New York City, New York

3. Glenn Ford (aka: Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford)
Date of Birth: 1 May 1916 - Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada
Date of Death: 30 August 2006 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California

4. George Macready
Date of Birth: 29 August 1899 - Providence, Rhode Island
Date of Death: 2 July 1973 - Los Angeles, California

5. Joseph Calleia
Date of Birth: 4 August 1897 - St. Julians, Malta
Date of Death: 31 October 1975 - Valletta, Malta

6. Steven Geray
Date of Birth: 10 November 1904 - Ungvár, Austria-Hungary. [now Uzhgorod, Ukraine]
Date of Death: 26 December 1973 - Los Angeles, California

7. Joe Sawyer [aka: Joseph Sauers]
Date of Birth: 29 August 1906 - Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: 21 April 1982 - Ashland, Oregon

8. Gerald Mohr
Date of Birth: 11 June 1914 - New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death: 9 November 1968 - Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms Län, Sweden

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 110 min on DVD ~ Columbia Pictures ~ (November 7, 2000)

Columbia Pictures made 32 movies with Rita Hayworth thus she became known as the "The Columbia Lady". But after making a series of steamy romance films including "GILDA", she became known as "The Love Goddess".

Gilda was such an important Hollywood film that the UCLA Film and Television Archives with Sony Pictures digitally restored & remastered both picture & sound flawlessly. Gilda also is Archived in The Library of Congress.

This Standard (4:3 tv) Black/White film is perfectly presented in this collectable DVD. Hayworth is at her best and absolutely beautiful.

Summary; A steamy romance between Bosses wife ( Rita Hayworth) and South American casino manager (Glenn Ford). A love hate romantic triangle forms along with black mail, bribery, corruption, double crossing & murder. This fast pace romantic drama keeps us guessing and the surprise ending is a 1940's Hollywood gem.

Extra Features: featurette, Rita Hayworth - The Columbia Lady (some very enjoyable dance sequences with Fred Astaire), Vintage Advertising, Talent Files & Trailers.

Hayworth is "GILDA". This is a great movie to enjoy over & over. Get the popcorn ready and sit back and watch the "Love Goddess" at her steamy best. Enjoy.

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.

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 talent, 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.

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!!!

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.

Gilda is a timless classic aboutlove, betrayl, murder. Rita hayworth plays the title role Gilda a smart and sexy and devilsh femme fatal. who married for money not love, her life is all peachy until she goes to her new home to discover her husbands new right man comes into her life. Gilda realizes it's a man from her past it's her love who she wronged Johnny played by Glenn Ford. Johnny is a con man. a secret attraction builds between them. when gildas husband disappears they build on their heat and marries but johnny is hiding his love and wants to punish her. By the ending of the film they find there love for each other and a shocking secret is revealed that shakes them and might destroy there new love. this movie is sexy and fun and has one of the most beauitful women ever to grace the sliver screen Rita hayworth with that Red hair and swinging hips that tight black silk dress and long black gloves moving as she sings put the blame on mame. and delivers a dazzling performance as the enticing temptress Gilda, Hayworth is perfection In the story of Gilda ther will never be another like gilda..we should say the same about Rita Hayworth.

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.