Joel H
I'll confess that I decided to watch Gilda because of its brief, yet memorable appearance in The Shawshank Redemption. And I'll agree with Red and the rest of the guys at Shawshank State Prison, Rita Hayworth is a knockout. She is iconic in her role as the eponymous femme fatale. In addition, Glenn Ford is no slouch when he's standing toe-to-toe with her. This film has an interesting story, but it seemed a little underdeveloped. I didn't quite understand the motivations of some of the characters, and while the second act drags, the finale feels abrupt. Nevertheless, Gilda definitely held my attention.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
04/09/24
Full Review
Paul G
Rita Hayworth is the very clear star of this film. Unfortunately the script is pretty poor and Glenn Ford's unpleasantness to her seems way too extreme. The film also seems longer than necessary. I like film noir's but this is not one of the better ones in my mind.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/15/24
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Alec B
Come for Rita Hayworth's infamous hair flip, stay for the psychopathic love triangle. You can easily ignore the out of place happy ending, as it happens rather abruptly, and focus instead on the witty and cynical rest of the movie.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
12/14/23
Full Review
X O
I've been watching these old noir films. They are very weird for how they TRY to treat women like shit. What for? It's so stupid. They just want to be loved. Chill. Strange, strange films.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
10/03/23
Full Review
Matthew B
There are many reasons to love Gilda – the lush photography and set designs, the beautiful costumes, the tense film noir acting, and the radiant loveliness of Rita Hayworth. I could not include the plot in the list, as it is a muddled and confused affair that had not even been finished at the time when production on Gilda started.
The story involves various elements that never really come together. There is a ménage à trois, which continues, even after the apparent death of one point in that triangle. Then there is a subplot involving selling tungsten to Germans, similar to the MacGuffin in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, where Nazis hiding out in South America were working on developing a nuclear bomb. At least Hitchcock's used the plot idea to drive the story along, whereas it is almost irrelevant in Gilda
Nonetheless, I would still include the writing as a reason to love Gilda. Whatever the shortcomings of the plot, the dialogue sizzles with sex. There was a limit to how far movies could push the boundaries in the 1940s, but Gilda sails as close to the wind as it can. The screenplay is laden with innuendoes, and seemingly innocent dialogue is accompanied by a smouldering look which suggests that the words mean something more risqué than they must have seemed on print when passed to the censors.
To some extent, Gilda is a showcase for Rita Hayworth, so perhaps the casting of weaker actors such as Ford and Macready is helpful in that they do not take anything away from her. She sings (or at least mimes), she dances, she delivers sexy dialogue, and she wears the finest clothes. Her presence was enough to guarantee big box office returns for Gilda.
The dark and twisted nature of the characters is reflected in the film's visuals. Often the characters are filmed in the dark, sometimes with the shadows totally enveloping them. A carnival at the casino takes the form of a masquerade, with dark masks covering the faces of the characters.
The film includes an on/off narration by Johnny that provides us with a little information, but not much light on the motivations of the three characters. He is unable to enlighten us, because none of them has any real understanding of themselves or each other. They are caught in the destructive cycle and lack objective distance.
Perhaps the ending is a little too pat, a problem common to many old movies. However it hardly matters. Despite its darker undercurrents, Gilda is not a depressing or gloomy film. It is one that provides us with a witty and ironic look at its potentially unlikeable characters. The film's intention is to amuse, entertain and titillate us, not to depress, or to stir up the emotions.
I wrote a longer appreciation of Gilda on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/gilda-1946/
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/24/23
Full Review
Red T
An All Time Classic. The acting is excellent in this. The supporting cast is really good especially the Restroom Attendant. The villain is good also. But, the movie belongs to Ford & Hayworth who have simmering tension and chemistry nonstop. Hayworth especially pops on the screen through the black and white thanks to her stunning dresses, presence, singing, and chemistry with Ford. The cinematography is excellent despite the camerawork being on the basic side. The shadows, casino setting, black and white ascetics all work wonderfully here and are filled with character and atmosphere. Again, what sends it over the top is Hayworth makes so many scenes pop and is hard to take your eyes off of. The music is amazing as well despite there being almost no traditional soundtrack for 90% of the runtime. Most of it is Hayworth singing and man its a shame she didn't do more musicals because she can sing and her numbers are arguably the most memorable scenes. The editing is excellent as well as this weaves effortlessly between Johnny & Gilda's stories without ever really feeling jump or unfocused. It always hands the baton off by having them interact together and than coming back rinse and repeat. And this leads to a very well paced movie that has some dry moments because of the lack of music at times but it's made up for with Hayworth on screen and everything else listed above. Hayworth's songs definitely help though. As excellent as Ford is, this wouldn't be as strong a film if Hayworth wasn't in this. This is her movie. Everyone should see this once.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
06/30/23
Full Review
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