Gilda

Charles Vidor's Gilda (1946) is a film wherein the depth of the script, performances, and film noir stylistics offset a weak and impotent ending. Yet, to be sure, the nihilism that centers much of this film cannot sustain itself at the hands of 40's Hollywood, so a weak conclusion is to be expected. Up until the final moments, Gilda is a strong example of rapid-fire dialogue and gifted characterization.

Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) is a gambler who has just newly arrived in Buenos Aires, and taken to streetside gambling. When he is saved from misfortune by regal Ballin Mundson (George Macready), Johnny is made Ballin's right-hand man at the illegal bourgeois casino that Ballin runs. However, complications ensue when Ballin vacations and brings back new bride Gilda (Rita Hayworth) with him. Unbeknownst to Ballin, Gilda and Johnny have a checkered past, and so Gilda channels her contemptuous anger at Johnny, becoming one of the first female provocateurs in American cinema.

In terms of subtext in this film, perhaps most noteworthy is how biting cynicism becomes the vehicle for desire. Johnny and Gilda torture each other endlessly with their contempt, yet this same contempt fuels their desire for each other. Consequently, aggression becomes their mode of operation, internalizing their desire even as they send barbs back and forth. Moreover, when Ballin "dies" and Johnny and Gilda finally marry, Johnny's idea of substituting a physical lack for any chance at consummation suggests a fascinating role reversal as perverse punishment for their thoughts of infidelity.

The finale of this film lacks the energy that the rest of the film is wrapped in, which is unfortunate, since the film plays off of gender relations and subverts them beautifully in the beginning. And the songs that Hayworth sings, while strong songs, seem to belong in another film. Yet the rest of Gilda is solid, especially the beautiful performance of Hayworth, and the film is rightly considered a classic of 40's cinema.

Gilda: 8/10