Stream Selected Films of Rita Hayworth

Blood and Sand 1941 based on Sangre y arena, a 1908 Spanish novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez that’s critical of bullfighting. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. After 10 years away, successful bullfighter Juan Gallardo (Tyrone Power) returns home to help his poor mother, sister, and brother-in-law. He hires ex-bullfighter Garabato  (J. Carroll Naish) now a beggar, as his servant and marries childhood sweetheart Carmen (Linda Darnell). Gallardo’s fame and skill grow. Despite being illiterate, the matador is included in high society gatherings.

At one of these, he catches the eye of socialite Doña Sol des Muire (Rita Hayworth). Gallardo beds the temptress, spends lavishly, loses professional discipline and falls mightily. Eventually he asks forgiveness of Carmen, but fate has something else in store. Great bullfighting scenes; romantic clichés.

Mamoulian’s sets were inspired by the works of El Greco, Goya, and Velasquez. He painted shadows onto walls rather than changing the lighting. There are two earlier iterations of Blood and Sand, a 1922 version starring Rudolph Valentino and a 1916 version filmed by Blasco Ibáñez with the help of Max André. In 1989, the story was remade with Christopher Rydell and Sharon Stone. Rent on Amazon Prime.

Cover Girl 1944 Directed by Charles Vidor. A genial musical showcase for Hayworth, the film has elaborate modern and 1890s costumes, eight dance routines for the actress, and songs by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin in their first collaboration. Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) runs a Brooklyn nightclub in which his girlfriend Rusty (Rita Hayworth) is a showgirl. With a friend they call “Genius” (Phil Silvers), the three wait amiably for success.

When fashion magazine editor John Coudair (Otto Kruger) runs a contest looking for a new model, his assistant, Cornelia Jackson (Eve Arden), takes him to Danny’s for a second look at someone she auditioned. Instead he fixes on Rusty. (There’s a special reason for this.) The redhead becomes a cover girl bringing crowds to the club. Impresario Noel Wheaton (Lee Bowman) offers to star her on Broadway. She loves Danny and would stay in Brooklyn, but…

Kelly removed several sound stage walls so that he, Hayworth, and Silvers could dance along an entire street in one take. He also used trick photography so that he could dance with his own reflection in one sequence. The popularity of Cover Girl lead MGM to allow Kelly to create his own dance numbers going forward. Rent on Amazon Prime.

Gilda 1946 Directed by Charles Vidor. Said to be Hayworth’s signature role. The actress imbues her femme fatale with insecurity. Post WWII Buenos Aires, Argentina. Small time gambler Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) cheats at a posh casino owned by Ballin Mundson (George Macready) who takes a liking to him. In a short time, Farrell becomes manager. His boss goes away and returns with new wife, Gilda (Rita Hayworth). It’s clear to us that Johnny and Gilda have a clandestine past. Mundson assigns Farrell to watch over her which necessitates observing Gilda overtly flirt with others. Johnny boils.

German mobsters want to take over the casino. Mundson is murdered. Gilda inherits. She and Johnny seem to have reconciled, but with so much deception in play…“Gilda was a cross between a hardcore noir adventure of the 1940s and the cycle of women’s pictures. Imbued with a modern perspective, the film is quite remarkable in the way it deals with sexual issues.” (Emanuel Levy) Anita Ellis dubbed the actress’s singing voice in all songs except the acoustic guitar version of “Put the Blame on Mame,” which Hayworth sang herself. Rent on Amazon Prime.

Miss Sadie Thompson 1954 Based on W. Somerset Maugham’s short story Miss Thompson. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt. A bar girl from Hawaii (Rita Hayworth as Sadie), religious zealot Alfred Davidson (Jose Ferrer), and besotted Marine Sgt. Phil O’Hara (Aldo Ray)  struggle with sin and salvation just after World War II while Sadie Thompson kicks out several songs and it rains. And it rains.

Hayworth threw herself into the unglamorous role, but the production lost its pith when sanitized to appease the Hays Production Code. Several musical numbers were inserted to distract from a reworked plot. Other film versions include 1928’s Sadie Thompson with Gloria Swanson, 1932’s Rain starring Joan Crawford, and Dirty Girtie from Harlem in 1946.  Rent on Amazon Prime.

Pal Joey 1957 Loosely adapted from the Rodgers & Hart musical. Directed by George Sidney. Jo Ann Greer sang for Hayworth, Trudy Stevens for Kim Novak. Good songs. Hayworth’s “Zip” is memorable. Second rate vocalist/ first rate womanizer Joey Evans (Frank Sinatra) juggles two women in San Francisco, sweet chorus girl Linda English (Kim Novak) and former burlesque queen, now wealthy Nob Hill widow, Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth).

English is wary but falls for Joey’s softer side. Prentice-Simpson begins by wanting to teach the cocky, rough-cut crooner a lesson, then grows accustomed. She backs his life-long dream to own a nightclub. Chez Joey is built, but he never takes a peripheral eye off English. Nor does his benefactor. Fireworks ensue.

Pal Joey is one of the few post-From Here to Eternity movies in which Sinatra didn’t receive top billing, which surprisingly went to Hayworth. The actor was, by that time, a bigger star, and his title role was dominant. When asked about the billing, he replied, “Ladies first.” The happy ending of the film (a reformed Joey) contrasts with that of the stage musical, where the hero exits alone. Rent on Amazon Prime.

And Men Created a Goddess 2017 Directed by Arnaud Xainte. An overview of Rita Hayworth’s life (1918-1987) featuring childhood, career, glamour, private life, insecurities, and finally Alzheimer’s – missing only a bit more from the woman herself. Born into a family of professional dancers, Maria Carmen Hayworth nee Margarita Cansino was onstage before puberty, professionally partnered her father (who sexually abused her) at 12, and arrived in Hollywood the source of her family’s income. Every man she married acted as Pygmalion.

Promoter Edward C. Judson put the 18 year-old on a diet, had her molars pulled to accentuate cheekbones, radically changed her hairline, had her hair dyed red, made her a pin-up, and sold her to the movies. Orson Welles exposed his unsophisticated bride to literature, philosophy and theater. With the poorly received Lady From Shanghai  for which he cut her hair short and turned it blonde, he forever changed her screen persona and showed the world she could act.

Mostly absent Prince Aly Kahn gave her the lavish lifestyle, worldly society, and the responsibilities of a princess while spending his time with horses and dalliances. Vocalist Dick Haymes, who married to improve his own marquee, was violent (almost all her domineering spouses physically mistreated her). Producer James Hill is documented as having been emotionally abusive. Rent on Amazon Prime.

The Strawberry Blonde 1941 can be found under Stream Selected Films of Olivia De Havilland

Lady From Shanghai 1948 can be found in Streaming Orson Welles

Top illustration: Bigstock