188: Gilda

US   110m   Dir: Charles Vidor   Key Cast: Rita Hayworth

Original Screenplay

Some films are all about one actor. This was developed for Rita Hayworth who was largely known for her musical comedies at the time. 

Gilda (Hayworth) arrives with new husband Ballin Mundson (George Macready) at his illegal casino in Buenos Aries to find that he has hired her former lover Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford). Her hatred towards him leads her to cavort with men at all hours to anger him. When Ballin's business interests get messy Gilda and Johnny's passion flares up. 

Hayworth is great here. She's better than anyone around her in every way. Gilda is sort of a femme fatale, flirty and ruthless but there's a different take on the concept here as there is actually a deep vulnerability behind this facade which is explored relatively deeply. Hayworth is also extraordinarily beautiful and the scene where she is introduced is breathtaking. 

The plot is a bit of a mish-mash between two popular genres of the times, film noir and 'women's pictures', what we would probably describe as romance now. The crime element of the film, featuring a lot of mentions of tungsten, frankly doesn't really add a great deal. 

It's much better when it focuses on the complicated relationship between Gilda and Johnny. Throughout the film, there are strong passionate feelings between them but they fluctuate wildly between hate and love. In reality, both the leads are pretty awful people whose feelings for each other lead them to do terrible things. 

This is a classic 40s noir, or at least noir adjacent, where everything wraps up really nicely and there's a happy ending. Given the tone of the whole film, this doesn't feel appropriate at all. This is a frustrating aspect of films from the 40s where endings are so predictable and often go completely against the rest of the film. 

Certainly worth watching for Rita Hayworth but unnecessary plot details and lesser performances from other members of the cast let it down a little.