196. GILDA (1946)

Running Time: 110 minutes
Directed By: Charles Vidor
Written By: Jo Eisinger, E.A. Ellington
Main Cast: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray
Click here to view the trailer

THERE NEVER WAS A WOMAN LIKE GILDA

Taking a brief respite from my conquering of 60s cinema, I decided to take a look at Rita Hayworth's famous role in "Gilda", after seeing a snippet of the film in "The Shawshank Redemption". Suffice it to say that I was highly disappointed!

Johnny Farrell (Ford) is a gambler, but more importantly he's a cheating gambler who "makes his own luck", as he likes to say. One evening, after winning a mint in a game of cards, someone attempts to rob Johnny of his winnings. Luckily for Johnny, he is saved at the last minute by a cane wielding, older gentlemen, who later introduces himself as Ballin Mundson (Macready). Mundson tells Johnny of a casino in Buenos Aries (where the film is set), but warns him that cheaters aren't welcome. When Johnny goes to scope out the joint, he can't help but resort to his underhanded tactics and cheat the casino out of a few thousand pesos. When Johnny is caught, he is taken to see the owner of the casino, only to find that it's Mundson's joint. After a brief conversation, Johnny offers Ballin his services and is hired on to work there. A while later, Ballin and Johnny have become as thick as thieves, however when Ballin returns home with his new wife Gilda (Hayworth) in tow, the seeds of a souring relationship are planted. It also becomes apparent, a little while later, that Johnny and Gilda have had some sort of previous relationship.

Let me start with what I liked about the picture. While I didn't find Hayworth as intoxicating as I always thought she'd be, I did very much enjoy her little "striptease" near the end of the picture. In the scene, Gilda sings "Put the Blame on Mame", while donning a black dress, complete with black gloves. Halfway through her performance, Hayworth peels off the glove from her right hand sending the men in the club into a frenzy. It's almost as if Hayworth knew the effect that this scene would have on audiences and this is the moment in the film where I feel she really shined. In peeling off one, single glove, Hayworth might as well have completely disrobed because the desire in her eyes during the scene and her body language was enough to warrant the same reaction no matter what she took off. However, other than that scene, I found Hayworth a completely forgettable actress (judging on this performance alone) and a big disappointment. I also though the camerawork was quite excellent, as the film provides more than a handful of amazing shots and a real noir-ish feel, without really being a film noir.

SPOILER ALERT!

However, that's about all that I can conjure up for the positives column when it comes to "Gilda". The story was just so foolish that I just couldn't allow myself to get wound up in it. Guy A saves Guy B's life. Later, after Guy B cheats Guy A, Guy A decides to hire Guy B to work for him. Then Guy A gets married, but Guy B gets a little jealous...not of the woman, but actually jealous of Guy A. Then nothing happens for what seems like an eternity. Then Guy A is thought dead, so Guy B marries his wife. Then Guy B hates the woman, then he loves, then he hates her again, then they kiss and the credits roll. It's just so stupid! For the most part, the plot made absolutely no sense. The characters had absolutely no motivation to be doing what they were doing and really, they were just going through the motions to provide the world with a Hayworth vehicle and rake in the men who'd want to get a look at this dame. I didn't care about these characters, nor did I care how their situations ended. When it came down to it, all I wanted was for "Gilda" to go bye-bye.

RATING: 4.5/10 There's a little bit of good, but it's all weighed down by the bad. This film couldn't even make it to the average marker, so that's a fair rating, in my eyes.

MOVIES WATCHED: 357
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 644

November 30, 2011 11:32pm