Plot
When wealthy Ballin Mundson (George Macready) rescues down at his heels gambler Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) and invites him to the Buenos Aires casino he owns, both men get more than they wagered on. Farrell convinces Mundson to hire him as casino manager, but is shocked when Mundson introduces his new bride, and Farrell's old flame, Gilda (Rita Hayworth).Though Farrell is unwavering in his loyalty to his employer, and he and Gilda treat each other with contempt, Mundson realizes that the torch never died for either of the former lovers. Ordered to guard Gilda, Farrell tries to convince himself that he's protecting Mundson's interests, but Gilda sees through his self-deception. Meanwhile, Mundson reveals to Farrell that his primary business is control of an international tungsten cartel that he plans to use to further his fascist ends. With the police closing in on the cartel, Mundson fakes his death, apparently leaving Gilda and Farrell free to marry. They do so: Gilda for love, but Farrell to punish her for being unfaithful to Mundson. When Mundson returns to kill them, it is he who dies, thereby freeing the lovers to apologize to each other and return to the U.S. Charles Vidor's Gilda is a voyeuristic film noir treat that engages the viewer in a complex web of sado-masochistic triangles. When, for example, Gilda performs her signature number, "Put the Blame on Mame," she is not simply enraging both Mundson and Farrell with her open sexuality, she is also crying out in pain for the love she is being denied. ~ Steve Press, RoviReview
There never was a noir woman like Rita Hayworth in the title role of Charles Vidor's stylish Gilda (1946), the film that sealed her reputation as the leading 1940s love goddess. As the hair-tossing female caught between Glenn Ford's Johnny and George Macready's Ballen, Hayworth's Gilda is as much put-upon victim as temptress, an interloper in the relationship between Ballen and Johnny. Their initial meeting and master-servant relationship, sprinkled with significant glances, imply that Johnny is as much Ballen's object of desire as is Gilda, plumbing the literally shadowy depths of film noir's sexual perversity as much as the Production Code allowed, and adding an extra twist to the tortured Johnny-Gilda union after Ballen's faked death. Still, it is Gilda who suffers most for exuding the sexuality that entices Johnny and Ballen, lending a knowing edge to her famed performance of "Put the Blame on Mame" clad in lustrous black satin, suggesting a full striptease by removing a glove. That sequence became a signature star moment for Hayworth, and established Gilda as a noteworthy work of erotically charged film noir, despite the Code-friendly, good-girl ending. ~ Lucia Bozzola, RoviCast
- Rita Hayworth - Gilda Mundson
- Glenn Ford - Johnny Farrell
- George Macready - Ballin Mundson
- Joseph Calleia - Obregon
- Steven Geray - Uncle Pio
Credit
Stephen Goosson - Art Director, Van Nest Polglase - Art Director, Jack Cole - Choreography, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Arthur S. Black, Jr. - First Assistant Director, Charles Vidor - Director, Charles Nelson - Editor, Hugo W. Friedhofer - Composer (Music Score), Doris Fisher - Composer (Music Score), Marlin Skiles - Musical Direction/Supervision, Morris W. Stoloff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Clay Campbell - Makeup, Rudolph Maté - Cinematographer, Virginia van Upp - Producer, Robert Priestley - Set Designer, Lambert Day - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe Eisinger - Screenwriter, Marion Parsonnet - Screenwriter, E.A. Ellington - Short Story Author
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