Bogart and Edmond O'Brien do their best, and there are a lot of snappy one-liners about the movie business. Ava Gardner is good, I don't know about the claims as to her fabulous beauty, Blue Ray does her no favours, exposing the thickness of make-up but her costumes also seem most constricting and unflattering. The film totally shines in dialogue (after all this is a Mankiewicz script) just as All About Eve and the brilliant lines come one after the other. While Maria at first refuses, Harry is able to convince her to come where others have failed. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. Overall, however, The Barefoot Contessa is a very good, classic film that puts Mankiewicz and Bogart's talents on full display. It's hard to believe Bogart got top billing for this one since this film clearly revolves around Ava Gardner's Maria Vargas. If this movie had been well-written, it could have been truly intriguing. The emphasis is more on Maria's private life than on her professional career, and we never see any clips from her films. Mankiewicz's bitter-sweet satire of Hollywood is extremely well acted by Bogart (witty), Avan Gardner (gorgeous), and Edmond O'Brien, who won the Supporting Oscar. I'll watch it again. But Ava Gardner is lifeless, the story makes no sense, and the whole thing just oozes "tragedy" in the most artificial sense of the word. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. The film feels as if it has been "written." This must have either played to half filled movie houses or emptied them rather quickly. The undeniably multi-talented Joeseph L. Mankiewicz must have been hoping to cash in on his earlier success with the similarly themed 'All About Eve' here, he transfers the setting from Broadway to Hollywood - but with very different results. His entourage includes an alcoholic director who is on the wagon (Humphrey Bogart) and a fast-talking idiot PR man (Edmund O'Brien). | Fresh (10). According to the audio commentary on the 1931 film Tabu, she was based on Anne Chevalier, an actress in that film. Ava Gardner carries herself--and the film--beautifully. Review: There's a funeral taking place in the pouring rain for the Contessa, the former movie star Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner), and the men in her life gather around the tomb and remember her as the priest conducts the service. Metacritic Reviews. With cinema-centered ‘The Barefoot Contessa,’ writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz brought years of professional and family experience, so if this almost illegally gorgeous saga about a Spanish dancer-turned-movie-star can be on the windy and lumpy side, it is a real insider’s movie. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. His scenes with Ava Gardner are rich with subtext, and while there's a palpable sexual attraction between the two characters, both people realize that decorum demands they react as they do. Being a little naive and simple, Maria is convinced to go to Hollywood, make some films with new friend Harry, and she also gets to like his girlfriend Jerry (Elizabeth Sellars). I love watching Humphrey Bogart films and whilst The Barefoot Contessa is not one of my absolute favourites it’s still an enjoyable enough experience. When a movie opens with the funeral of the main character, you know you are in for a long, sad ride. Good try though. Regal Don't have an account? She still didn't go to bed with him. Afterall Maria's whole life is supposed to be a fairy tale. Christopher MachellCineVue. What exactly was Rossano Brazzi's sexual problem? Joseph L. Mankiewicz' The Barefoot Contessa exerts the baleful fascination of an uncoiling serpent. "); although the scenes of the pathetic/glamorous European jet set are also excellent, the way Mankiewicz can create a small line or gesture that delineates an entire character. …………………………………………………. Ava Gardner is breathtakingly beautiful and Jack Cardiff photographs her like a goddess but that's no match for any of the exchanges between Bette Davis and Thelma Ritter in All About Eve. What she's got you couldn't spell, and what you've got you used to have ! Humphery Bogart plays the lead and I forgot to mention it. The Movie: If ever there was a film to challenge the movie-making truism, "Show, don't tell," it would be Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954). This movie sounded like a good idea. | Rating: 4/5, July 30, 2002 The film's cynical tone and shifting viewpoint is similar to writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's earlier success, All About Eve. I had often wondered why it took so long to finally catch up with 'Contessa' now I think perhaps I understand. An imperfect film, but its excesses are as suggestive as its subtleties. Expecting a naive Spanish peasant eager to grab at the brass ring, he finds instead a woman as smart as she is beautiful, whose main motivation is to enjoy the challenge and escape that a Hollywood career might offer a woman who will nevertheless always value the simpler things in life. As for why the names of the characters seem to be allusions to "The Great Gatsby", your guess will be as good as mine. It’s a problematic, but intriguing film. According to Turner Classic Movies, Mankiewicz based the film's central character of Maria Vargas on American movie star and dancer Rita Hayworth, who had been married to Prince Aly Khan. For that reason and for the characterization that is created this way it totally deserves to be seen. Here the soap opera elements dominate the tale. Forgot your password? With the inevitability of a tragic death fixed at the opening, it's hard not to see the entire film through filter of sadness. April 23, 2018. It reeks of private scores being settled, of spiteful inside jokes. This 10-digit number is your confirmation number. Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed the film and appreciated its message, 8/10. This film seemed to be populated by one-dimensional characters. First, there's the brilliant script by Joe Mankiewicz, who was always at his best when dissecting Hollywood and its denizens. The Barefoot Contessa Movie Review. A wooden, fawning, male-gaze look at Hollywood at its worst, I like it better than All About Eve, myself, The Barefoot Contessa - Looks a Little Souless. I expected much more out of the writer of this film. Great movie. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Jim H Super Reviewer Nov 24, 2011 Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service. User Ratings Goaded by his producer, strong-arming Wall Street financier Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens), Harry convinces her to screen test for, and then star in, his next big picture. “On her own terms” Humphrey Bogart heads the cast as Harry Dawes, a recovering alcoholic whose drinking has all but wrecked his Hollywood career. On my view, the movie's really a modern fairy tale turned into a tragedy. It is just a shame that the promise at the start of some Hollywood expose and an attack upon the bullying and abusive producers comes to nothing and we talk once more of Cinderella. The structure of the film is the same and shows how much forward of his time Mankiewicz was in breaking classical narrative within the compounds of Hollywood (still Citizen Kane precedes everything else and one should comment M. for accepting the lesson). Seeing matinee idols on the screen living out fantasies, both dark and light, took … That it is strung together via flashbacks inserted in the "contessa's" funeral is merely a way of admitting as much. We're left to ponder, which I think is going to make me remember this one a lot longer than I will All About Eve. Also starring Valentina Cortese as Eleanora Torlato-Favrini, Franco Interlenghi as Pedro Vargas, Mari Aldon as Myrna and Bessie Love as Mrs. Eubanks. In the past, wealthy Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens) hires down on his luck Harry as screenwriter and director for his next picture, and they are travelling to Spain to find their new star. Maria is such a fascinating character. This movie seemed to be ponderously written with a series of one-dimensional characters, most of them cliches. And what you've got, you used to have. The early fifties saw several excellent films made in Hollywood about Hollywood itself, such as "Sunset Boulevard", "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Bold and the Beautiful". From those heights, however, she unwisely marries a rich man (Goring), who soon proves intolerably abusive. Naturally, everything in Hollywood is bound to be louder, more vulgar, more shallow and more expensive and surprisingly less relatable, less credible. 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. FAQ An actress, who befriends a washed up Hollywood director, struggles to maintain her integrity in the spurious business of movie-making. I don't know of any other film that has ever used this device. Hence, the movie's title. He's wonderful in it but the Oscar went to Edmond O'Brian for his unbearable press agent. This ultimately was a thought-provoking film, but not because of the plot as such. The film begins in Spain where a totally obnoxious and evil rich producer (Warren Stevens) has come to offer a talented Spanish lady (Ava Gardner) a film contract. | (Citizen Kane was co-written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz's brother, Herman Mankiewicz). Ouch. For example, consider a recurring theme; namely, Maria's constant attachment to bare feet over shoes. She is Daisy, a possibly schizophrenic patient who takes a shine to Jay and follows him out of the hospital like a stray puppy. This film being so old, there is no commentary to explain the purpose for this or whether it was by design at all. They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Though not as deliciously biting or captivating as his masterful 'All About Eve,' Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 'The Barefoot Contessa' remains a fascinating yet flawed film that exposes the tawdry underbelly of the movie industry and vacuous frivolity of its depraved international set. Coming Soon, Regal Joseph L. Mankiewicz is probably most famous for his film All About Eve, which he both wrote and directed, as he did with The Barefoot Contessa. The Barefoot Contessa (1954) - Reviews & Comments. He just doesn't have much to do in this film. Where one might expect Mankiewicz to make The Barefoot Contessa about Hollywood what All About Eve was to Broadway, the film has little to do with Hollywood. That was a wonderful satirical work with interesting, believable characters. The main female character, Maria Vargas, is a famous actress and the leading male one, Harry Dawes, is a veteran director and screenwriter, although the film does not deal with the technicalities of movie-making quite as much as, say, "The Bad and the Beautiful". The Barefoot Contessa is the most classic example of the star vehicle at a time when star vehicles were at their most potent and entertaining. Cinemark Humphrey Bogart did his best, but Ava Gardner was unsatisfying, though beautiful to look at--a paper doll. He plays Harry Dawes, a washed-up movie writer/director who is carried along to Madrid by his producer, Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens) and his producer's assistant, Oscar (Edmond O'Brien, who won a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar; Oscar is the second narrator). | Rating: A- Coming Soon. In 1955 he was nominated again for Best Original Screenplay for The Barefoot Contessa, a film that utilised his knowledge of movie-making and its characters to its utmost. Bogart's heated objection to the cousin and the relationship was pointless -- something left in that ended up making no sense in the context of the outcome. Ava Gardner replaced Rita Hayworth, in the late forties and early fifties, as Hollywood's leading love goddess She was less sparkly than Rita, and her reign, coming just before Marilyn Monroe's, was a short one, but she had certain symbolic virtues that were not to be denied There is indeed an animal quality about her sensuality She is a proud, restless tigress, sure of her powers, yet confused about their proper uses. It is Harry's sad duty not only to help tell the audience the story, but to watch (one might say inevitably) Maria destroy herself. Your Ticket Confirmation # is located under the header in your email that reads "Your Ticket Reservation Details". That's a great line and it neatly sums up one of the key pleasures of Joseph L.Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, namely a bitchy wit that survives all … Uncoiling serpent other film that puts Mankiewicz and starring Humphrey Bogart as the film really! 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