Review of Gilda (1946) by Ashley S — 10 Feb 2008

Now the reason this film is better than most noir's i've seen at the time is because glenn ford is a watchable actor who isn't wooden, he uses his facial expressions which is something that I find rare in noir men.

so he's good and not wooden. rita hayworth is great in this film, it's a film that surprises me in how deep the story goes and the really dark themes that the film plays with. the strip scene is very important because it's in that scene in which gilda almost tells glenn ford that she wants his friends to know that she is a.

.. basically a whore is what she is going to tell him. she acts like a flousy to make him look like an idiot, like a fool. she uses her sex appeal against his image. she won;t let her go in their abusive relationship, she can't escape so to escape the misery, she'll make him look like a fool and hopefully he'll leave her.

it's also about two men who place gilda under strict, abusive relationships because they're insecure with themselves. now consider that most movies that were star vehicles for these women, brigette bardot, monroe, mansfield, ava gardner, veronica lake they all didn't head into these dark depths of controlling and misery, they were all happier films that sugar coated their women and made sure they always looked wonderful.

this does this, but doesn't sugar coat. it is true that the ending is a little too much hollywood, I didn't quite understand A) why he treated her so badly B) why they suddenly fell in love with one another again, thus promising to never be mean to one another.

that is the lone major flaw in this movie, but up until that time, it's still a movie that I enjoyed greatly and feel that it really gives credit to rita hayworth and her abilities to act.