Stars: Rita Hayworth and I'm sure other people...just kidding, also Glenn Ford, George Macready, and Joseph Calleia
Director: Charles Vidor
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars
(Spoilers Ahead...though you haven't seen it, get on it son!) The film follows Johnny Farrell (Ford) as he works his way up the ladder at a Buenos Aires casino, hired by the casino's owner Mundson (Macready) after a weird series of events that only really work in a movie. Soon Farrell is calling a lot of the shots and Mundson brings home a glamorous bride named Gilda (Hayworth), who clearly has a history with Farrell that goes back to a previous romantic relationship, though they are both intent on hating each other now. The film unfolds with a series of mishaps, largely driven by an increasingly reckless and insane Mudson and an intoxicating Gilda, until the film's rather happy conclusion.
The film itself is nothing you haven't seen before if you've encountered film noir, except that you might expect a different ending (the finale actually has Gilda and Johnny successfully killing Mundson and flying off into happily ever after, which is unusual for a film of this nature-usually one of them would have perished or at least ended up apart for some reason). The movie is largely reliant on its title character for most of its steam-without a strong performance from the actress playing Gilda, this movie doesn't work because we have to be not only entranced, but intoxicated and enthralled with her. Men act like fools when she's around, and are willing to throw their lives away for her. That's a lot to put on any character, particularly when they're expected to carry the movie, but Rita Hayworth in the role that has basically defined her screen career, delivers in that regard.
Rita Hayworth is probably the most beautiful woman ever to grace the movies (Ava Gardner would be the other, and maybe Scarlett Johansson for modern audiences), but you need more than beauty to make this part work-you need allure, and that's what Hayworth does here. She creates a character that can tell you that she hates you and is going to destroy you, and you believe her and yet you still crave time with her. Probably the best reaction of the film is Mundson, who is driven insane by her. She has that "It" quality that makes men desire her, principally because she's just enough fun without caring. It's a very difficult part to play because not a lot of it's in the script, and Gilda from the writer's room is far more of a mess than Hayworth plays her. She's someone that knows how to survive, but anything else on Maslow's Hierarchy she tosses away, knowing life will bring it to her on a silver platter if she needs it. There were times in the script when I saw through the part (I don't like the way she became a gushing bride in the final scene, as it doesn't jive with her character, but that's 100% the writer's fault), but for the most part she's a train-wreck that is too beautiful for the world to let crash. I love that concept, and particularly that we don't see her fall-we know that if Johnny double crosses her right after the final scene she'll be just fine.
So for the review I'm giving this 4-stars based on the script, but Hayworth is a 5-star for the ages sort of performance. That she didn't receive an Oscar nomination for it is a shame for AMPAS because it's hard to imagine any other woman that year doing what Hayworth was able to do. Please go see it and try not to rewind three times when she sings "Put the Blame on Mame." It's impossible.
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