Gilda (1946) ft. VP Morris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clIQfYqI1i4

Guest:

• VP Morris

  • Award-winning thriller and horror writer and podcaster;

  • vpmorris.com, @teawriterepeat on IG and X, The Dead Letters Podcast;

  • Previously on Scream (1996), The Shining (1980), Rear Window (1954), and American Psycho (2000)

Cast:

• Charles Vidor, Director

• Marion Parsonnet and Ben Hecht, Writers

• Rudolph Mate, Cinematography

• M. W. Stoloff and Marlin Skiles, Music

• Charles Nelson, Editing

• Rita Hayworth as Gilda Mundson

• Glenn Ford as Johnny Farrell

• George Macready as Ballin Mundson

• Joseph Calleia as Detective Mauricio Miguel Obregón

• Steven Geray as Uncle Pío

• Joe Sawyer as Casey

• Gerald Mohr as Captain Delgado

• Mark Roberts as Gabe Evans

• Ludwig Donath as German

• Don Douglas as Thomas Langford

• Lionel Royce as German

• George J. Lewis as Huerta

Background:

• Gilda was released on April 25, 1946.

• On a reported budget of $2 million, Gilda would gross $3.75 million in rentals and finish as the #20 film for 1946 in North America.

• At the time, the film was mostly panned by critics, but it has undergone a critical reclaiming in the modern era and becoming a cult classic.

• Rita Hayworth’s performance in this film was a primary inspiration for the iconic animated character Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Specifically, Hayworth's appearance, the song "Put the Blame on Mame," and her hourglass figure influenced Jessica’s design, hair, and stage presence.

• Hayworth later came to resent the film and its effect on her image. Hayworth once said with some bitterness, "Men go to bed with Gilda, but wake up with me".  This quote was referenced by Anna Scott, the fictional actress played by Julia Roberts in the film Notting Hill.

• In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

• Gilda currently holds a 90% among critics on RT and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd.

Plot Summary: In the shadowy world of postwar Buenos Aires, a cynical gambler named Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) rises to become the right‑hand man of a powerful casino owner—only to have his world upended when his boss returns from abroad with a new wife: Gilda (Rita Hayworth), the woman Johnny once loved and lost. What follows is a volatile triangle of desire, jealousy, and deception, where every smile hides a threat and every gesture feels like a dare. As Johnny and Gilda wage a private war under the watchful eye of a dangerous man, the film turns into a noir about obsession, control, and the impossibility of burying the past.

Did You Know:

• There is a rumour that this film is the only time Rita Hayworth's real singing voice is heard, but that is not true. According to the bonus features from the DVD, Hayworth actually never recorded her own singing voice and was a talented lip-syncher. Anita Ellis dubbed almost all of her singing in this film. Hayworth always wanted to do her own singing, and Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn paid for her voice lessons, but she never developed a voice he considered strong enough to be used; Hayworth remained bitter about that for the rest of her life.

• Humphrey Bogart declined the role of Johnny Farrell in what was to become a classic film noir. He reasoned that, with gorgeous Rita Hayworth playing Gilda, audiences wouldn't look at anyone else.

• Glenn Ford was hesitant to slap Rita Hayworth in one instance, but she and Charles Vidor both convinced him to just let go. He did, and even Hayworth was stunned at the effect.

• The script was not yet finished when filming began. According to choreographer Jack Cole, "The script pages would arrive practically the morning that we were going to shoot, they were making the picture up as we went along. If you really look, you can tell that was the way the picture was done because it doesn't really make any sense if you try to follow the story."

• Rita Hayworth died from complications of early onset Alzheimer's in May of 1987 at the age of 68. One of her pallbearers was Glenn Ford.

• Harry Cohn was worried about bad publicity affecting Rita Hayworth's box-office pull; her marriage to Orson Welles was a constant worry for him. Hayworth and Welles were, in fact, in the middle of one of their separations during the shooting, and the gossip magazines were full of stories of an affair between her and Glenn Ford. When the two weren't filming, the mogul would barrage the duo with angry phone calls and demand that Hayworth go home. Cohn went so far as to spy on his actors - he had recording devices set up in their dressing rooms. He got no useful information, though; as Ford later said, "Of course, we knew our dressing rooms were bugged. The sound department tipped us off." (Welles knew of the hidden mics when he returned to Columbia to make The Lady from Shanghai (1947) with his estranged wife. He said that he and Rita would perform impromptu skits and radio shows in their dressing room for the benefit of their "listeners").

Best Performance: Rita Hayworth (Gilda)/Glenn Ford (Johnny)

Best Secondary Performance: Glenn Ford (Johnny)/Rita Hayworth (Gilda)

Most Charismatic Award: Rita Hayworth (Gilda)/Steven Geray (Pio)

Best Scene:

• Saving Johnny

• Meeting Gilda

• Unplugged

• Disaster for the Wench

• Suicide

• Carnivale

• Mundson Walks In

• Gilda on the Run

• Put the Blame on Mame

• Mundson Returns

Favorite Scene: Meeting Gilda/Unplugged/Put the Blame on Mame

Most Indelible Moment: Put the Blame on Mame/Meeting Gilda

In Memorium:

• N/A

Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Gilda: Hate is a very exciting emotion. Haven't you noticed? Very exciting. I hate you too, Johnny. I hate you so much I think I'm going to die from it.

Ballin Mundson: [referring to his knife cane] It is a most faithful and obedient friend: it is silent when I want it to be silent, but talks when I want to talk.

Johnny Farrell: Statistics show that there are more women in the world than anything else. Except insects.

Gilda: I hate you so much that I would destroy myself to take you down with me.

Johnny Farrell: Hey, who's she?

Uncle Pio: A harpy.

Johnny Farrell: How would you classify me?

Uncle Pio: [looks at the tip he was given] Peasant.

Johnny Farrell: You're a lucky man.

Ballin Mundson: I make my own luck.

Johnny Farrell: Pardon me, but your husband is showing.

Johnny Farrell: You would think a bell would have rung. I would have had some warning, some instinct, but I walked right into it.

Gilda: I can never get a zipper to close. Maybe that stands for something, what do you think?

Gilda: They said that being married to Johnny Farrell was very like driving a car with no brakes.

Ballin Mundson: Gilda, are you decent?

Gilda: Me? [long pause] Sure. I'm decent.

Johnny Farrell: I thought we agreed that women and gambling didn't mix.

Ballin Mundson: My wife does not come under the category of women, Johnny.

Johnny Farrell: You have no idea how faithful and obedient I can be - for a nice salary.

Johnny Farrell: Doesn't it bother you at all that you're married?

Gilda: What I want to know is, does it bother you?

Gilda: For a long time, I've taken husbands in small doses. I've developed an immunity to them.

The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 6.17

Impact/Significance: 6.17

Novelty: 6.67

Classic-ness: 8.5

Rewatchability: 7.5

Audience Score: 8.45 (81% Google, 88% RT)

Total: 43.46

Remaining Questions:

• Why is Johnny so hard on Gilda?

• Are Johnny and Ballin attracted to each other?

• Is there a homo-erotic quality to Ballin and Johnny?

• Modern Recast with Luca Guadignino?