The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writer:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written by)

Release Date:

29 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

A girl with many ideas . . . and a man for each !

Plot:

Has-been director Harry Dawes gets a new lease on his career when independently wealthy Kirk Edwards hires him to write and direct a film...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Millionaire | Director | Friend | Count

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Harry Dawes
Ava Gardner	...	Maria Vargas
Edmond O'Brien	...	Oscar Muldoon
Marius Goring	...	Alberto Bravano
Valentina Cortese	...	Eleanora Torlato-Favrini (as Valentina Cortesa)
Rossano Brazzi	...	Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini
Elizabeth Sellars	...	Jerry
Warren Stevens	...	Kirk Edwards
Franco Interlenghi	...	Pedro Vargas
Mari Aldon	...	Myrna
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Eubanks
Diana Decker	...	Drunken blonde
Bill Fraser	...	J. Montague Brown
Alberto Rabagliati	...	Nightclub proprietor
Enzo Staiola	...	Busboy

Also Known As:

La contessa scalza (Italy)

Runtime:

128 min | 130 min (dvd release) (TCM print)

Country:

USA | Italy

Language:

English | Spanish | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #17078, General Audience) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Figaro

Trivia:

The name "Lloyd Richards" appears on the marquee of Maria's first film. "Lloyd Richards" is the name of Margo Channing's playwright friend in All About Eve (1950), also by written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the trial of Maria's father, Harry sits down with Jerry on his right side, with a light dress with dark details. Later, he appears talking to her on his left side, with different clothes. Outside the court, Jerry is wearing once again different clothes.

Quotes:

Drunken blonde: [of Maria Vargas] She hasn't even got what I've got.
Jerry: What she's got you couldn't spell - and what you've got, you used to have.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in L'homme qui aimait les femmes (1977)

Interesting depiction of a Hollywood goddess

Ava Gardner is beautiful Spanish dancer Maria Vargas who is discovered and given a Hollywood contract in "The Barefoot Contessa," also starring Humphrey Bogart, Edmund O'Brien, Rossanno Brazzi, Marius Goring, and Valentina Cortese. Written and directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, the story is supposedly based on Rita Hayworth, who turned down the role. There are some similarities - the Spanish roots, the dancing angle, the studio head who desires her but doesn't get her, a la Harry Cohn, and the great sadness of her life. The famous story about Rita is that her first husband, Edward Judson, was nothing more than a pimp, though he is the man who turned her into a movie star. He demanded that she have sex with Harry Cohn, and Rita refused time and time again. Finally, Judson made a date for himself and Rita to go on a boat trip with Cohn, and Judson cancelled at the last minute, leaving Rita alone with the studio head. She still didn't go to bed with him.

The story begins at Maria's funeral and is told in flashback by the various men who were in her life. Most of the narration is provided by the Bogart character, writer-director Harry Dawes, who had a unique relationship with Maria - he cared for her deeply and was always there to listen to her and advise her. Maria was a woman whose life was lived as a barefoot Cinderella looking for her prince. Harry has a sixth sense about things, and when Maria is about to marry the man she believes to be her prince, Count Torlati-Favrini, Harry starts to worry. He knows that, as is often pointed out in the film, real life is much more erratic than a movie script.

Edmund O'Brien gives a terrific, Oscar-winning performance as a yes man/publicist who does all the talking for the studio head, Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens). Bogart is excellent, but he does not have a great role; although he has top billing, he doesn't even have the starring role. One suspects he's there for box office pull.

The dialogue has been praised here - Mankiewicz was one of the great dialogue writers, but I found some of the dialogue in this a little pretentious and the pace slow. It's an interesting story, but for me it doesn't compare with "All About Eve" and "Letter to Three Wives" in script or in pace.

The star of the film is Ava Gardner. For this writer, Gardner and Hayworth were ultimate sex symbol/movie stars - gorgeous, sexy, exciting women. Around 32 here and living the wild life she always did, Gardner is breathtaking to look at. After the beginning of the film, she drops the Spanish accent, but she more than makes up for that in presence. Like Lana Turner and Rita Hayworth, she was one of those actresses whose appearance and private life often received more publicity than her actual acting - but Ava could act. There was always something uninhibited, earthy, sexy, and inherently honest about her performances - and she was that way as a woman, too. I highly recommend her autobiography to anyone who hasn't read it.

To see this marvelous cast and especially to see them in something written and directed by a fine artist like Mankiewicz is worth it, even if it's a little flawed. Nobody's perfect.