IMDb plot summary: Johnny Farrell is a gambling cheat who turns straight to work for an unsettling casino owner Ballin Mundson. But things take a turn for Johnny as his alluring ex-lover appears as Mundson's wife, and Mundson's machinations begin to unravel.
Directed by Charles Vidor. Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, and Joseph Calleia.
(Spoilers.)
There's not a lot of serious film response in this, because my main thought coming away from this movie continues to resonate around one very specific thought: If ever there was a movie about the worst of humanity that deserved a fatalistic noir ending, this is it. And yet... it doesn't have one. The leads somehow get together, and it's implied that they just might live happily ever after. This is the ending I get after an hour and 45 minutes of people being genuinely horrible to each other because of a vague reason that's never actually given to us? THIS is what I was waiting for? I clearly missed something here, because this is one of the most disappointing endings I've seen in awhile. Gilda herself is the most interesting thing about this whole movie, and I was intrigued with her desperate attempts to free herself, although that too all fell apart for me in the ending.
2 stars.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Gilda < My Best Friend's Wedding
Gilda < The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Gilda > The Little Drummer Boy
Gilda > Breach
Gilda > Waiting...
Gilda > X-Men: The Last Stand
Gilda < Monkey Business
Gilda < The Music Man (2003)
Gilda > 10 Items or Less
Gilda > How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Gilda < The First Wives Club
Final spot: #1766 out of 2315.
No comments:
Post a Comment