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 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..."
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.
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."
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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.
