Gilda (1946)

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

E.A. Ellington (story)
Marion Parsonnet (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 March 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

"I was true to one man once... and look what happened..."

Plot:

The sinister boss of a South American casino finds that his right-hand man Johnny and his sensuous new wife Gilda already know each other.

Plot Keywords:

Gambler | Casino | Argentina | Hate | One Word Title

Cast

Rita Hayworth	...	Gilda Mundson Farrell
Glenn Ford	...	Johnny Farrell / Narrator
George Macready	...	Ballin Mundson
Joseph Calleia	...	Det. Maurice Obregon
Steven Geray	...	Uncle Pio
Joe Sawyer	...	Casey
Gerald Mohr	...	Capt. Delgado
Mark Roberts	...	Gabe Evans (as Robert Scott)
Ludwig Donath	...	German Cartel Member
Donald Douglas	...	Thomas Langford (as Don Douglas)
Lionel Royce	...	German
Saul Martell	...	Little man (as S.Z. Martel)
George J. Lewis	...	Huerta
Rosa Rey	...	Maria

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #11425) | Finland:K-12 (1984) | Finland:K-16 (1947) (1959) | West Germany:12 (old rating: 16) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (video rating) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In the scene where Gilda is brought back to Argentina by Tom, she slaps Johnny hard across both sides of his face. In reality, Rita Hayworth's smacks broke two of 'Glenn Ford''s teeth. He held his place until the take was finished.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The sign says "LIBRETAS DE ENROLAMIETO". The correct spelling is "ENROLAMIENTO".

Quotes:

Ballin Mundson: You'd be surprised to hear a woman sing in my house.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "M*A*S*H: The Colonel's Horse (#5.11)" (1976)

Soundtrack:

Amado Mio

Steaming Up the Argentine

Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth made five films together, but when they are talked of as a screen team, it's only Gilda that people are really talking about. Their first film was before World War II, The Lady in Question where both are young Columbia contract players who were in the same film and no effort was made to bill them as a team. The Loves of Carmen which was made after Gilda was a disaster for Glenn Ford, though Rita was at her sexiest. Affair in Trinidad was a good effort to recapture the magic of Gilda after Rita's storm marriage to Aly Khan and the last film The Money Trap was a Glenn Ford film where Rita has a brief role as an old girl friend. She was the best thing in that film by far.

Do you remember in Cabaret how both the Liza Minnelli and Michael York characters find out they are sex partners to the same German bi-sexual man? That's essentially what happens in Gilda though with the Code firmly in place it's not something we talk about. George MacReady, a man of many interests rescues Glenn Ford from the docks of Buenos Aires after he's won some money from sailors in a crap game. They hit it off and Ford becomes his right hand man in running the casino MacReady operates.

Then MacReady brings home a wife and lo and behold it turns out to be an old girl friend of Ford's, Rita Hayworth. Add to that some Nazi refugees have some business with MacReady over some tungsten mines.

The real emphasis in this film is sex and personified by the best embodiment of sex ever on the silver screen. This film raked in a lot of dollars for Harry Cohn and Columbia Pictures. Hayworth, voice dubbed as usual, had a big number here in Put the Blame on Mame. It became a signature tune for her the rest of her life.

One thing did disappoint me about Gilda. For a story that took place in Buenos Aires who many say is the most beautiful city in the world, it would have been nice to see some location shots, even if it was just some newsreels to establish the time and place. The film might as well have been in Albuquerque.

But when you've got Rita to look at, it could be at the South Pole.