Just arrived in Argentina, small-time crooked gambler Johnny Farrell is saved from a gunman by sinister Ballin Mundson, who later makes Johnny his right-hand man. But their friendship based on mutual lack of scruples is strained when Mundson returns from a trip with a wife: the supremely desirable Gilda, whom Johnny once knew and learned to hate. The relationship of Johnny and Gilda, a battlefield of warring emotions, becomes even more bizarre after Mundson disappears. —IMDb
Director Charles Vidor came to prominence at the end of the silent film era. Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1900, he worked in motion pictures most of his life, including at least three decades in Hollywood.
Vidor was regarded as a solid craftsman who made the most of what he had to work with, good or bad. With “Cover Girl” (1944), he let Gene Kelly choreograph his own dances. In the Chopin biopic “A Song to Remember” (1945), he lead Cornel Wilde to an Oscar nomination. He’s perhaps most famous for directing “Gilda” (1946) and is credited with helping to make stars out of Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford.
Among his other film successes were “The Bridge” (1929), “The Loves of Carmen” (1948), “Love Me or Leave Me” (1955), “The Swan” (1956), “The Joker Is Wild” (1957) and “A Farewell to Arms” (1957). Vidor served as a Cannes Film Festival jurist in 1958.
In 1959, Vidor was in Vienna directing “A Magic Flame,” a film based on the life of Franz Liszt. Late one evening in… read more
3 1/2. The acting and chemistry between Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth is really good. She's super hot and he's not slouch either. It's really a film about sexual tension and I can't think of a more sexually repressed character than the one Ford plays and he does it well. The writing and direction is spotty in places but by the end, you're kinda happy with all the loose ends getting tied.
A near perfect movie (perfect except for the obviously tacked on scene or two at the end which function somewhat like the additional ending Dickens gave to Great Expectations). What a chronicle of the deep bond between eroticism and aggression!! The movie is so magical that one is embarrassed by being too analytical about it!
Absolutely delightful. Rita Hayworth smolders the screen with her pure classy sexiness. Darkly seductive tale with plenty of twists and turns that makes you so anxiously biting your lip, anxious to wonder if they will or if they won't. The echoes are felt in later film classics such as Vertigo and Mulholland Dr.
Update: Sight & Sound's "The DVDs of 2010": "24 critics and curators choose their releases — and rediscoveries — of the year." "For
While the New York Film Festival runs on through the weekend, a slew of other festivals around the world are suddenly kicking into gear
Charles Vidor, no relation to the more celebrated King, made Gilda, ensured himself a place in the film history books with a slick and thematically
Because Gilda is possibly my absolute favourite ‘Queer Classic’ from Hollywood’s Golden Age, it always surprises me how many people don’t see the very rich gay subtext at its heart. It’s always been… read review
Memorable but uneven film noir drama from director Charles Vidor. The convoluted plot meanders and the melodramatic ending is not too satisfying, but the psychologically rich characters and elegant… read review
