Gilda (1946)

GREAT DELIVERY TIME!

Hey Amazon!
I've not had a chance to watch the movie yet...(I will tonight), I just wanted to give a big high five to Amazon for the outstanding shipping time. I got the DVD three days early! Yeah!
Thanks much for the terrific service. July 28, 2008

After more than sixty years Gilda is still scorching her way across Buenos Aires....

In discussions about classic cinema "Gilda" is a movie that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition). "Gilda" has a darker plot and the characters are not as noble, but story, cast, costumes, and music combine to create screen magic. Think of "Gilda" as a riveting Anti-Casablanca.

Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) is an American drifter who has somehow landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He needs cash to survive and takes his chances using loaded dice to gamble with sailors. Quitting while he is ahead, Johnny leaves the dice game with a big bankroll and is accosted in the port by a gunman. To his surprise, the holdup is thwarted by a passerby, Ballin Mundson (George Macready). One thing leads to another and eventually Johnny becomes Mundson's devoted right hand man and the manager of his very lucrative casino business. After taking an extended overseas business trip, Mundson returns to Buenos Aires with a bride - Gilda (Rita Hayworth). Mundson introduces Johnny and Gilda, hoping these two important people in his life will like each other. He doesn't realize that Gilda and Johnny have known each other in the past, and both have been trying to escape their painful shared history together. Sparks fly between them as Gilda does everything in her power to torment Johnny, and Johnny is equally determined to make Gilda feel cheap and insignificant. After sixty years, the tension between Hayworth and Ford is still palpable.

Rita Hayworth was at the height of her beauty and touted as the sexiest woman alive when "Gilda" was made in 1946. Even today she still scorches the screen as she tosses her hair and performs a clothed strip tease to the torchy song, "Put the Blame on Mame."

This print of "Gilda" has been restored by UCLA with funding from Sony Pictures. The black and white video has been cleaned up beautifully. There are still some white spots that flash from time to time but overall this version looks very good. The sound track is clear with no dead spots or unexpected drops in volume.

Rita Hayworth was a beautiful dancer, but she did not do her own singing. In "Gilda" she is lip syncing to the voice of Anita Ellis. The notable songs, "Put the Blame on Mame" and "Amado Mio" are available on both the Gilda soundtrack album or Anita Ellis Out in Front.

The DVD includes a display of vintage advertising for "Gilda" as well as theatrical trailers. A section called "talent files" offers printed biography and filmography information about director, Charles Vidor, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and George Macready. The most prominent bonus is a featurette about the career of Rita Hayworth at Colombia Studios. Interesting to see how Rita looked before the studio changed her hairline with electrolysis, and turned her into a redhead. For those who may not be familiar with her background, Rita was the daughter and granddaughter of professional dancers who had been trained since early childhood to become a talented dancer.


This is a classic film noir where everything works. Highly recommended.
July 6, 2008

Bisexual Film Noir

In film noir, usually the spider-woman (the gorgeous Rita Hayworth) traps the man with her seductive powers, often getting him to kill for her before she herself is killed/punished for her crimes of transgressing in a man's world. This film doesn't quite follow the formula. The movie stars two male protagonists who are clearly more interested in each other than in Gilda, even though Rita Hayworth is by far one of the most beautiful women ever to be filmed.

Recently restored for DVD release, the film looks sharp and the graininess is gone from the original. Except for the inconsistent use of shadows, the dark/light style is quite honed. The sound quality is high but the amplitude is low, so you will have to turn your speakers up to hear the film clearly.

I admit that I laughed through much of the film as the heterosexual, homosexual, AND bisexual playfulness of the dialogue is simply a joy to listen to, mostly due to Hayworth's goddess-ness. The film ends on a boring, unbelievable moment, but it's typical Hollywood of the time: Good starts, great middles, dumb endings. July 5, 2008

Beautiful Rita

Gilda has to be the best Rita Hayworth movie. She is so beautiful. If you are a fan buy the DVD. You'll love Put the Blame on Mame and that gorgeous costume for Amado Mio. June 30, 2008

Rita Hayworth When She Scorched the Silver Screen

Hot as hot gets, is how sexy young Rita Hayworth's performance ranks as "Gilda." Without actually stripping, Hayworth does a mock strip tease routine to "Put the Blame of Mame," that is one of the greatest filmed recordings of a young actress being deliberately sexy.

The story is about mobsters and a nightclub, men owning women, losing them to true love, and the ultimate power of a very sensual, gorgeous young woman surpassing that of gun totting thugs.

Glenn Ford gives a great performance as Hayworth's co-star. If your collection of classic song and dance routines is to be complete, "Gilda," is a must own that is on DVD with many special features. March 29, 2008

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