Rita Hayworth Review

Hello All, 

     It took me way too long to finish this [nearly two months, my gosh], but I think I've learned enough about and seen enough of Rita Hayworth to do a decent post on her. 

     When I started this, I had only seen one Rita Hayworth movie, 1941's You'll Never Get Rich. And it had been so long since I saw that I didn't even remember if I had liked Rita (although I can't imagine anyone NOT liking Miss Hayworth). Now I've seen 11 movies in all - from her earliest roles like in Only Angels Have Wings to some of her last like Affair in Trinidad. Most of the really popular ones, Gilda and Cover Girl, for example. Of course, there are ones I still want to see (The Strawberry Blonde, You Were Never Lovlier) but I've seen enough to be able to say I really like Rita.


     The Reet is magnificent. Period. She's a magnificent dancer, a magnificent actress, and just drop-dead gorgeous. She has a stunning, very intense screen-presence; but at the same time she's so darling, so fun to watch. The fact that she never got an Oscar or a nomination kills me, because she was just SO good. Her best, as far as I'm concerned, was in Gilda, which is a flawless performance if I've ever seen one. It really is one of the best I've ever seen, and if there was ever an overlooking of extreme talent, it was that year at the Academy awards.


     Rita is remembered mostly as a pin-up girl, which depresses the heck out of me. That was how she was portrayed in the films, but it was all studio built. The red hair, the pin-up status - she was one person (like Errol Flynn, I think) who suffered from the studio system. In real life she was terribly shy. Her step-daughter Chris Welles Feder explained really well what I like about Rita (the things I think come through in a lot of her movies), "natural dignity" and "sweet-natured, affectionate, fun-loving, and, in many ways, a child herself." It's awfully sad how the Reet was mistreated, really, but nonetheless, she left a body of work that's so unique, so entertaining, so irresistible... <3

      Over the last couple of months, I've really fallen in love with the Reet (as I like to call her, if you couldn't tell). Although she's not actually on that oh-so-elusive favorite actresses list now (like I thought she would be) she's still a favorite. Anyway, I'm super glad I picked Rita, she's an important piece of film history (important enough to be recognized on AFI's Legends list, but Paulette Goddard isn't on there and Missy is #11 so I don't put much stock in that list anyway) and I just liked watching her movies! So, I think it's now my turn to tell you what movie to watch... and I say Down To Earth (1947) which has one of the most hilarious musical numbers ever called "This Can't Be Legal". 

 

Until Later On~

P.S. I already know who's next for this so I'll post them tomorrow. :D