Gilda (1946)

A small-time gambler hired to work in a Buenos Aires casino discovers his employer's new wife is his former lover.

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

E.A. Ellington (story), Jo Eisinger (adaptation)

Stars:

Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rita Hayworth	...	Gilda
Glenn Ford	...	Johnny Farrell
George Macready	...	Ballin Mundson
Joseph Calleia	...	Det. Maurice Obregon
Steven Geray	...	Uncle Pio
Joe Sawyer	...	Casey
Gerald Mohr	...	Capt. Delgado
Mark Roberts	...	Gabe Evans (as Robert Scott)
Ludwig Donath	...	German Cartel Member
Donald Douglas	...	Thomas Langford (as Don Douglas)

Storyline

Just arrived in Argentina, small-time crooked gambler Johnny Farrell is saved from a gunman by sinister Ballin Mundson, who later makes Johnny his right-hand man. But their friendship based on mutual lack of scruples is strained when Mundson returns from a trip with a wife: the supremely desirable Gilda, whom Johnny once knew and learned to hate. The relationship of Johnny and Gilda, a battlefield of warring emotions, becomes even more bizarre after Mundson disappears...

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Plot Keywords:

jealousy | punched in the face | gambler | washroom attendant | suicide | 

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Taglines:

"I was true to one man once... and look what happened..."

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gilda (1946) has been restored by UCLA Film and Television Archive in cooperation with Sony Pictures Entertainment The Library of Congress and The National Film and Television Archive (U.K.).

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Goofs

The New York Blizzard happened in 1888, not 1886 as Gilda sings.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Johnny Farrell: To me a dollar was a dollar in any language. It was my first night in the Argentine and I didn't know much about the local citizens, but I knew about American sailors, and I knew I better get out of there.

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Connections

Referenced in The Sugarcube Critic: Griffon the Brush-Off (2014)

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Soundtracks

Amado Mio
by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher
Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Anita Ellis) (uncredited)

User Reviews

Uniqueness descending into the ordinary

This is one of my all time favourite films, much watched with all its faults. Even the best things can't be faultless but any faults can be more easily overlooked.

There is no golden age film I've seen quite like Gilda, full of strange people with highly-charged emotions saying and doing odd thought-provoking things in semi-comical ways - if you include violence and swearing you could say that's 90% of modern movies though! The subject of hate = love has been explored better since Gilda, but with me the first cut is always the deepest - I first saw this when I was a more impressionable youngster. What we have is a scintillating four way love/hate relationship between Ballin, Johnny, Ballin & Johnny's little friend with no name, & Gilda that ultimately becomes the "usual" tawdry tangle, resolved by their nightclub's toilet-attendant. Huh? When you're in the middle of this fantasy world you can swallow all of this and more.

Probably the second best B picture ever made it only starts to feel like one during the last 30 minutes down to the metaphorical walking into the sunset ending. There's so many good bits: The inventive and relentlessly snappy dialogue between the main characters throughout the film; Johnny quoting statistically that there are more insects in the world than women; Johnny waking up at 5am to the sound of Gilda singing to Pio the toilet-attendant; Pio's reaction after the midget industrialist killed himself in the toilets; Ballin describing his little friend's attributes to Johnny who claims he's just as good; Ballin asking Gilda if she was decent when she was; Johnny telling Ballin categorically that he taught Gilda ALL she knew; Gilda's little striptease - what creeps there were in that club - and fancy stopping her!

Not quite as good as, but a worthy bookend for Casablanca, THE best B picture ever made.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French German

Release Date:

25 April 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gilda

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1