Gilda. 1946. USA. Directed by Charles Vidor. Screenplay by Marion Parsonnet, from a story by E.A. Ellington. With Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray. DCP. 110 min.
Audiences continue to swoon over Rita Hayworth's performance as the sensual, unattainable Gilda, an archetype worthy of Carl Jung. Set in a Buenos Aires casino that serves as a clearinghouse for Nazi economic interests, the film follows Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford), a small-time gambler drawn into the orbit of casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready). Their intense male partnership is disrupted by the arrival of Mundson's new wife Gilda, whose past relationship with Johnny sets in motion a complex dance of desire and revenge. Costume designer Jean Louis is said to have used John Singer Sargent's portrait of Madame X as the inspiration for the black gown in which Hayworth famously performs her sly striptease, "Put the Blame on Mame," choreographed by the brilliant Jack Cole.