All film noirs need deceit, betrayal, dialogue hard as diamonds--and dames even harder than that. But Gilda is the only one with the dame front and center, and for good reason. Rita Hayworth shimmers in the 1946 classic, which spins on a tortured plot involving the title character (Hayworth); her imperious husband (George Macready), a ruthless casino owner and head of an Argentine tungsten cartel (!); and Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford), Gilda's ex-lover and now her husband's go-fer. But no one watches Gilda for the plot, except to learn that all the characters have secrets--perhaps even ones they would kill for. Hayworth captures Gilda's vulnerability beneath her devil-may-care front ("If I'd been a ranch, they would have named me the Bar Nothing"). Not to be missed: Hayworth's slinky striptease to "Put the Blame on Mame." --Anne Hurley
Additional features The best thing about this DVD is the restoration done by the UCLA Film Archive, rendering the black-and-white cinematography sumptuous, especially in scenes in which Gilda wears sequins or satin (practically every scene). There's a short bio of Hayworth and her ascent at Columbia, as well as trailers for Gilda and some other Columbia films that have been released on DVD. --Anne Hurley
2.
GILDA is the film that gave the world the indelible image of Rita Hayworth in that tight gown, lovingly removing that long glove as she sings, "Put the Blame on Mame." That's enough to justify a viewing, but the film has more, including a bewitched, bothered, etc., performance by a never-better Glenn Ford. GILDA is an intricate noir in which Hayworth, as the titular femme fatale, is placed by her mobster club-owner husband in the care of Ford, a small-time hood who also happens to be her ex-lover.
3.
Gilda is the sexy wife of mysterious, crippled casino owner Ballin Mundson. She is also the former love of gambler Johnny Farrell, who becomes Mundson's right-hand man at a Buenos Aires casino, and, later, Gilda's bodyguard. Farrell resists her charms, but Ballin feels that their affair has resumed and leaves in a fit of rage. After Ballin is presumably killed in an airplane crash, Gilda and Johnny marry a short time later. But Ballin returns to discover what has happened and tries to kill both Gilda and Johnny Farrell.
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