196. Gilda (1946)

Directed by Charles Vidor

Synopsis

This guy owns an illegal casino in Buenos Aires, he hires this American guy who's a bit dodgy, and marries Rita Hayworth who had a previous relation to said shady guy. Shady guy hates/loves her and is a complete bastard and ends up with her. Tungsten is the Mcguffin.

Review

Well the film isn't anything special but Rita Hayworth is worth it. Basically it is your run of the mill post-war noir, there's some escaped Nazis in the background, an "exotic" location some voice-over a dangerous dame and a sinister character. None of this is new, none of it is particularly smart.

Rita Hayworth as Gilda is sex on legs, however, and that is the sole reason for the deserved inclusion of this title on the list. She removes two gloves and a necklace during a dance for god's sakes, and she is till sexy while doing it, and there is not a fleck of stubble in her armpits. That's a classy lady for ya.

So there isn't much to say about the film, it is enjoyable enough, it entertains you throughout and it has a very sexy lead, other than that it is average.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

* A tribute to Gilda was paid in 1981 by the famous Argentine rock band Serú Girán in their album Peperina. Their song "Salir de la Melancolía" ("Out of Melancholy") starts with a Spanish-dubbed version of Rita Hayworth's famous line just before being slapped by Glenn Ford after performing her "glove-striptease"; the album's cover features an acknowledgment to "the unknown Mexican voice actress" who had actually spoken the line.

* A short portion of Gilda, just before Gilda makes her first appearance, is seen playing in a scene from the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. As this scene plays out, Morgan Freeman's character remarks "I love when she does that shit with her hair...".

* A poster for the film can be seen in David Lynch's Mulholland Dr.. Laura Harring's character, an amnesia victim, takes the name "Rita" after seeing it.

* In Vittorio De Sica's film, Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief), the poster in which Ricci is putting up for his first job at the "Florida" is an original promotional poster for Gilda.


Shock! Gilda Strips: