Gilda

Years later, I read an interview with Glenn Ford in which he said that everyone who worked on the film knew there was an obvious gay storyline, but that due to the film being made in the 1940's, they had to be very subtle in their interpretations of gay lovers on-screen. It's still obviously clear that George Macready is Glenn Ford's rich and not-so-charming sugar daddy. Both leading men wear so much product in their hair and are so well dressed and manicured, you just KNOW they can't be straight!

It doesn't take a genious to figure out that the two leading men are more than just good buddies. When Mundson first presents his new wife Gilda to his male lover Johnny, he says "Quite a surprise to hear a woman's voice in my house, isn't it Johnny?" Well, you can tell by the look on Johnny's (Glenn Ford) face just how surprised he is!

Gilda is the perfect trophy-wife for any gay man in the 1940's who's running a gambling casino and who needs the perfect "beard" to keep up a straight appearance. Gilda is just so fabulous that any gay man would love her... except of course for Glenn Ford, whose insanely jealous of his boyfriend's new diva; for reasons that are never made quite clear in the film. (Probably due to heavy post-production censoring, of which much was done by the notorious Hayes Office that censored all films of this era.)

In fact, Gilda is so fabulous, that not only does Mundson marry her, but when he "dies" in the film, Gilda is then married by Mundson's lover Johnny! (Of course neither marriage is ever consummated - a fact made quite clear in the film.)

Gilda is so diva-esque, she's almost a drag queen! The gowns, the shoes, the hair! FAB-u-lous! The ad-line for the film stated: "There never was a woman like Gilda". Of course there never was a woman like Gilda. Gilda wasn't supposed to be like any real woman, she was a fabulous cartoon. While there may never have been a woman like Gilda, we had the closest thing: Rita Hayworth.

Of her own real-life problems with men, Rita was quoted as saying "All the men I knew went to bed with Gilda and woke up with ME." Who could live up to the reputation of Gilda, the character of whom "there never was a woman like"? Poor Rita!

Watch this film with a "queer eye" and you won't see any "straight guy" in the storyline. Snaps for good gay cinema of the forties!

P.S. If they ever decide to remake this film, I would recommend that they cast TV's "Will & Grace" lead stars Deborah Messing as Rita Hayworth and Eric McCormick as Glenn Ford. They would be PERFECT cast in these immortal roles! (Deborah Messing is SO Rita Hayworth, and she plays off McCormick just as Rita played off Glenn Ford. The casting would be ingenious!


"Maybe That Stands for Something"   October 9, 2003
Rita Hayworth went down in Hollywood history as the Love Goddess. Her title role in *Gilda* (Columbia Pictures, 1946) leaves no doubt why. Yet here she is much more than a sex symbol. For one thing, Rita was a seriously talented actress. For another, she was one of the best dancers in films. To this day her performance in *Gilda* remains unrivaled as a combo of skill, sensuality, sensitivity, and sheer drop-dead pulchritude. Columbia's catchy ad-phrase for the film was, "There never was a woman like Gilda." You'd better believe it. Glenn Ford perfectly fills out the character of Johnny Farrel, the young gambler who hates to love femme fatale Gilda. In return, Gilda loves to hate Johnny. George MacReady offers an outstanding performance as murderous Ballin Mundson, the man Gilda fears.

If you like movies that challenge the viewer to figure out hidden meanings, then *Gilda* is for you. "Maybe that stands for something," Rita-as-Gilda says near the beginning; "Maybe that means something," she says near the end. Halfway through she says, "Any psychiatrist would say that means something." The question of interpretation hangs over the entire film, loaded as it is with symbolism and double-entendres.

On the other hand, you can ignore the subtext and enjoy *Gilda* as a noirish romantic mystery-thriller. It's a beautiful flick to look at in black and white, and it's never boring, even all the decades since it was made. Some reviewers say the plot is difficult to follow. I don't agree; the story is both logical and economical. But that may be because I understand *Gilda* to be a dramatized introduction to the psychological concepts of C.G. Jung. Never mind. If you like your movies to be just movies, *Gilda* tastefully blends ingredients from *Casablanca*, *The Maltese Falcon*, *Notorious* and *The Big Sleep*, then stirs in its own original sauce. In my opinion, it's an improvement upon those classics, as fine as they are by themselves.

I wouldn't call *Gilda* a true film noir, for the reason that at the end the male and female leads are triumphant instead of tormented. Great films of the 1940s that had real "noir" (black) denouements are *Criss Cross*, *Detour*, *Double Indemnity*, *Scarlet Street*, *The Killers* and *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. Still, on their way to a happy ending Johnny and Gilda pass through a landscape that is darker and more suggestive of spiritual abandonment than most '40s film noirs dared explore. At the same time, because of the intense chemistry between the leads, *Gilda* sizzles hotter than any film of that period I can think of.

Love the music too. Five stars. They just don't make 'em like this any more.


"Maybe That Stands for Something"   October 9, 2003
Coram (USA)
Rita Hayworth went down in Hollywood history as the Love Goddess. Her title role in *Gilda* (Columbia Pictures, 1946) leaves no doubt why. Yet here she is much more than a sex symbol. For one thing, Rita was a seriously talented actress. For another, she was one of the best dancers in films. To this day her performance in *Gilda* remains unrivaled as a combo of talent, sensuality, sensitivity, and sheer drop-dead pulchritude. Columbia's catchy ad-phrase for the film was, "There never was a woman like Gilda." You'd better believe it. Glenn Ford perfectly fills out the character of Johnny Farrel, the young gambler who hates to love femme fatale Gilda. In return, Gilda loves to hate Johnny. George MacReady offers an outstanding performance as murderous Ballin Mundson, the man Gilda fears.

If you like movies that challenge the viewer to figure out hidden meanings, then *Gilda* is for you. "Maybe that stands for something," Rita-as-Gilda says near the beginning; "Maybe that means something," she says near the end. Halfway through she says, "Any psychiatrist would say that means something." The question of interpretation hangs over the entire film, loaded as it is with symbolism and double-entendres.

On the other hand, you can ignore the subtext and enjoy *Gilda* as a noirish romantic mystery-thriller. It's a beautiful flick to look at in black and white, and it's never boring, even all the decades since it was made. Some reviewers say the plot is difficult to follow. I don't agree; the story is both logical and economical. But that may be because I understand *Gilda* to be a dramatized introduction to the psychological concepts of C.G. Jung. Never mind. If you like your movies to be just movies, *Gilda* tastefully blends ingredients from *Casablanca*, *The Maltese Falcon*, *Notorious* and *The Big Sleep*, then stirs in its own original sauce. In my opinion, it's an improvement upon those classics, as fine as they are by themselves.

I wouldn't call *Gilda* a true film noir, for the reason that at the end the male and female leads are triumphant instead of tormented. Great films of the 1940s that had real "noir" (black) denouements are *Criss Cross*, *Detour*, *Double Indemnity*, *Scarlet Street*, *The Killers* and *The Postman Always Rings Twice*. Still, on their way to a happy ending Johnny and Gilda pass through a landscape that is darker and more suggestive of spiritual abandonment than most '40s film noirs dared explore. At the same time, because of the intense chemistry between the leads, *Gilda* sizzles hotter than any film of that period I can think of.

Love the music too. Five stars. They just don't make 'em like this any more.


Dazzling, perverse, wonderful   September 10, 2003
B. Sloane (Los Angeles, CA USA)
Much has been made of the obvious pleasures in "Gilda" -- the stunning, idol-making performance of Rita Hayworth; the famous striptease-that-really-is-a-tease; the overripe dialogue (somebody could make a good drinking game based on how many times somebody says "Johnny" to Glenn Ford); the perversely sexual subtexts involving Gilda and Johnny, Gilda and Ballin, and certainly, Ballin and Johnny (!) But the other pleasures of this movie shouldn't be overlooked. For one thing, it's one of the best LOOKING movies ever to come out of the 1940's: stunning sets, gorgeous costumes, and most of all, eye-popping black-and-white photography, making effective use of noir conventions (everyone is forever stepping into or out of shadows) and creating Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth as pinnacles of physical beauty; neither one ever looked this good again, although Rita came close in "You Were Never Lovelier".
Maybe my favorite overlooked treat in "Gilda" is the enigmatic character of Uncle Pio, who has some of the best lines in the movie as he wittily comments on the foibles of the characters,
acting as a sort of Shakespearean Fool. Screenwriting this good is certainly part of what makes "Gilda" so special and brings its fans back to watch again and again.

One final comment: if Rita Hayworth really does her own singing during the quiet version of "Mame" in the nightclub at 5 a.m., as I've read and heard, the lady was not only gorgeous and a terrific dancer, she had quite a voice, too!


Columbia Pictures "Love Goddess" Hayworth now on DVD!!   May 17, 2003
forrie (Nashua, NH United States)
Columbia Pictures made 32 movies with Rita Hayworth thus she became known as the "The Columbia Lady". But after making a series of steamy romance films including "GILDA", she became known as "The Love Goddess".

Gilda was such an important Hollywood film that the UCLA Film and Television Archives with Sony Pictures digitally restored & remastered both picture & sound flawlessly. Gilda also is Archived in The Library of Congress.

This Standard (4:3 tv) Black/White film is perfectly presented in this collectable DVD. Hayworth is at her best and absolutely beautiful.

Summary; A steamy romance between Bosses wife ( Rita Hayworth) and South American casino manager (Glenn Ford). A love hate romantic triangle forms along with black mail, bribery, corruption, double crossing & murder. This fast pace romantic drama keeps us guessing and the surprise ending is a 1940's Hollywood gem.

Extra Features: featurette, Rita Hayworth - The Columbia Lady (some very enjoyable dance sequences with Fred Astaire), Vintage Advertising, Talent Files & Trailers.

Hayworth is "GILDA". This is a great movie to enjoy over & over. Get the popcorn ready and sit back and watch the "Love Goddess" at her steamy best. Enjoy.