The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.0/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Guionista:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written by)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

29 septiembre 1954 (USA)

Género:

Drama | Crimen | Misterio | Romance

Frase comercial:

A girl with many ideas . . . and a man for each !

Plot:

Has-been director Harry Dawes gets a new lease on his career when independently wealthy Kirk Edwards hires him to write and direct a film...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | Millionaire | Director | Friend | Count

Premios:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Good Character Study, Writing, & Settings

Reparto

Humphrey Bogart	...	Harry Dawes
Ava Gardner	...	Maria Vargas
Edmond O'Brien	...	Oscar Muldoon
Marius Goring	...	Alberto Bravano
Valentina Cortese	...	Eleanora Torlato-Favrini (as Valentina Cortesa)
Rossano Brazzi	...	Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini
Elizabeth Sellars	...	Jerry
Warren Stevens	...	Kirk Edwards
Franco Interlenghi	...	Pedro Vargas
Mari Aldon	...	Myrna
Bessie Love	...	Mrs. Eubanks
Diana Decker	...	Drunken blonde
Bill Fraser	...	J. Montague Brown
Alberto Rabagliati	...	Nightclub proprietor
Enzo Staiola	...	Busboy

También conocida como:

La contessa scalza (Italy)
La condesa descalza (Argentina) (Spain) [es]

Duración:

128 min | 130 min (dvd release) (TCM print)

País:

USA | Italy

Idioma:

Inglés | Español | Italiano

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Relación de Aspecto:

1.75 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Clasificación:

Australia:PG | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #17078, General Audience) | West Germany:16

Locaciones de Filmación:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Compañía:

Figaro

Trivialidades:

The character of Maria Vargas is said to be based on Rita Hayworth, who was actually offered the part.

Errores:

Continuidad: When Harry is talking to Maria, outside of her house, for a moment he is with his left hand in his coat lapel and his right hand holding the cigarette. The next shot shows him with his both hands in the pockets.

Citas:

Drunken blonde: [of Maria Vargas] She hasn't even got what I've got.
Jerry: What she's got you couldn't spell - and what you've got, you used to have.

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Good Character Study, Writing, & Settings

This sometimes slow, but interesting, movie has a number of strengths, most notably its characters, writing, and settings. The cast also features some fine performances from Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, and Edmund O'Brien. The 'contessa' herself is undeniably the center of attention, but there is also much more to appreciate.

Gardner does well in personifying Maria, a character with an unusual mix of earthiness and innocence. The symbolic contrast between wearing shoes and going barefoot seems at first to be a rather obvious device, but as the character is developed, it gradually takes on more meaning. Gardner, with a lot of help from the Joseph Mankiewicz script, is convincing amidst Maria's changing fortunes in love and in her career.

Bogart is an ideal choice to play the director, whose own nature has an unexpected combination of world-weariness and integrity. And O'Brien gets one of his very best roles, as a press agent who is largely a parasite, but who turns out to have a couple of interesting things inside of him.

On the surface, the story is a relatively simple tale of a young 'discovery' and of what happens to her after she finds sudden fame. Yet the contrasts and conflicts among the characters, and the contrasts between them and their surroundings, make for plenty of good material. The multiple narratives and the dialogue help considerably in bringing out many of these possibilities. It's an interesting and effective movie that makes its characters come alive, and allows you to spend a couple of hours in their world.