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DVD Review HTF DVD REVIEW: The Films of Rita Hayworth (1 Viewer)

Richard Gallagher

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The Films of Rita Hayworth
 
Studio: Sony/Columbia
Years: 1944-1953
Rated: Not Rated

Program Lengths:

Cover Girl 107 minutes
Tonight and Every Night 92 minutes
Gilda 110 minutes
Miss Sadie Thompson 90 minutes
Salome 103 minutes

Aspect Ratios:

Cover Girl Color, 1.33:1
Tonight and Every Night Color, 1.33:1
Gilda Black & White, 1.33:1
Miss Sadie Thompson Color, 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Salome Color, 1.33:1

Languages: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
 
The Program


Hate is a very exciting emotion. Haven't you noticed? Very exciting. - Gilda

Rita Hayworth was more than just a glamorous Hollywood movie star. She also could sing and dance, but most of all she was able to display a degree of sensuality on screen which most of her peers could not match. This collection of five films from Sony showcases some of the iconic performances of her career and puts the full range of her considerable talents on display. As a bonus, the transfers are virtually pristine, with four of them in glorious Technicolor. Three of the films - Tonight and Every Night, Miss Sadie Thompson, and Salome - appear on DVD for the first time in Region One.

Cover Girl (1944)

In this enjoyable piece of fluff Rita Hayworth stars as Rusty Parker, a dancer whose relationship with Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) becomes strained when she is selected to be a magazine cover girl. Danny becomes jealous when Rusty's fame surpasses his own, and predictable complications ensue. The clichés can be forgiven because of the songs by Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern (including "Long Ago and Far Away"), Kelly's superb dancing, and excellent work by the supporting cast. Otto Kruger appears as magazine publisher John Coudair, and Eve Arden steals every scene in which she appears as Coudair's wisecracking assistant. Phil Silvers provides comic relief as Genius, a friend and co-worker of Rusty and Danny. Rita Hayworth is gorgeous, of course, and she dances very well. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards and won for Best Music Scoring of a Motion Picture.

Tonight and Every Night (1945)

This musical was inspired by the true story of the Windmill Theatre, a variety venue in London which gained fame because it never closed during World War II. When bombs started to drop during The Blitz, the performers and audience members found safety in the underground floors beneath the stage. The Windmill also earned renown because of its risqué shows which prominently feature nudity (none of which can be found in Tonight and Every Night). Those who might be interested in seeing a more adult film about The Windmill should take a look at the 2005 film, Mrs. Henderson Presents. In Tonight and Every Night, Rita Hayworth plays Rosalind Bruce, an American showgirl who has fallen in love with Paul Lundy (Lee Bowman), a flyer for the RAF. The theater's fame increases when a photographer from Life magazine arrives to cover the story of the theater which never allowed anything to prevent the show from going on. Although the true nature of the theater had to be toned down for Hollywood, Hayworth's scintillating performance of "You Excite Me" surely raised the temperature in movie theaters.

Gilda (1946)

Buenos Aires at the end of World War II is the setting for Gilda, a classic but somewhat overrated film noir. Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) is an American drifter who, after winning some cash in a game of craps, is held up by a thug but is rescued by Ballin Mundson (George Macready), the mysterious and sinister owner of an illegal but prosperous casino. Mundson likes what he sees in Farrell, who eventually becomes the casino manager and Mundson's right-hand man. All is going swimmingly until Mundson returns from a trip with a wife, Gilda (Rita Hayworth). Unbeknownst to Mundson, his new wife and Farrell have a past, and her appearance stirs up highly charged love-hate feelings in both of them. There is a murky sub-plot involving Germans, the tungsten market, and the ownership of patents. Mundson harbors ambitions of becoming an extremely powerful man - ambitions which are never adequately explained. The real drama, however, is found in the tortured relationship between Gilda and Farrell. One thing about the film which is not overrated is Rita Hayworth's performance. The screen sizzles in every scene in which she appears, and the striptease which she performs while singing "Put the Blame on Mame" is notable both for its sensuality and the fact that the only things she removes are a glove and a necklace.

Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)

Miss Sadie Thompson is a musical version of "Rain," the oft-filmed short story by W. Somerset Maugham about a prostitute in the South Pacific and the efforts of a missionary to reform her. However, this adaptation was filmed in the early fifties, so while Sadie (Rita Hayworth) is accused of being a prostitute, she insists that she is just a night club singer who happens to be very popular with the local Marines stationed on American Samoa. Aldo Ray co-stars as Phil O'Hara, the Marine sergeant who falls in love with Sadie but turns on her when he hears stories about her supposedly sordid past. Jose Ferrer appears as Alfred Davidson, the missionary who accuses Sadie of being a worker in the world's oldest profession. Charles Bronson also has a minor role as one of the Marines. This is a highly sanitized version of Maugham's story, but it is redeemed by some bright musical numbers and Hayworth's provocative and steamy performance as Sadie.

Salome (1953)

An all-star cast enlivens this Biblical potboiler. Among the famous actors are Stewart Granger, Charles Laughton (as King Herod), Cedric Hardwicke (as Tiberius Caesar), and Judith Anderson (as Queen Herodias). The Queen is angered because John the Baptist (Alan Badel) has been preaching against her and the king, calling her an adulteress because Herod is the brother of her former husband. Herod is reluctant to do anything about John the Baptist because of a prophecy he has heard. Rita Hayworth stars as the title character, who is Herod's stepdaughter. Without spoiling the plot, I will just say that this film turns the Bible story on its head. Nevertheless, viewers will be fascinated by Salome's erotic dance, the "Dance of the Seven Veils." Hayworth's biographers have referred to it as the most demanding dance of her career.

The Video
 
The video quality of this DVD set is superb. Gilda is the same restored transfer which was previously released on DVD in 2000. While not perfect, it is very satisfying. The transfers of the Technicolor features are dazzling, and it is difficult to believe that they have ever looked better. An appropriate level of film grain has been retained to give all of these films very pleasing, film-like appearances. There is some inherent softness in some of the shots, but contrasts and strong and shadow detail is very good. All of the films except Miss Sadie Thompson are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratios. Miss Sadie Thompson was originally filmed and released in 3-D, but shortly afterwards the 3-D prints were recalled and subsequently the film was presented only in 2-D. Several sources report that the single-strip 3-D version was released at 1.75:1 and the dual-strip version was released at 1.85:1. This DVD presentation is framed at 1.85:1.


Fans will be delighted by how good these vintage films look.

The Audio
 
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is nothing to get excited about, but it does the job with clear, intelligible dialogue and no noticeable distortion. IMDB says that Miss Sadie Thompson was recorded in three-track stereo, but I cannot confirm this and I do not detect any stereo separation.

The Supplements

Each film in this collection except Cover Girl is accompanied by its original theatrical trailer (the trailer for Gilda indicates that it is for the film's re-release), all of which are in commendably good shape.

Cover Girl includes a four-minute commentary on the film by Baz Luhrman, who clearly is fascinated by Rita Hayworth. Here he emphasizes her ability as a dancer. This disc also includes the trailer for the mini-series The Pillars of the Earth.

Tonight and Every Night has its original theatrical trailer and a four-minute exposition about the film by Patricia Clarkson.

Gilda contains its trailer and a 16-minute featurette with appearances by both Martin Scorcese and Baz Luhrman. Both directors discuss how they were influenced by Gilda and Rita Hayworth's torrid performance. Gilda also has the box set's only running commentary track, by Richard Schickel.

The extras on Miss Sadie Thompson include the trailer and four minutes of comments about the film by Patricia Clarkson.

The only extra on Salome is the theatrical trailer.

The Packaging
 
Each of the five features is on its own disc. The five discs are in a three-section gatefold package, so two of the discs are overlapped. The gatefold packaging is encased in a slipcase. The slipcase lists the major credits and a brief summary of each film. The gatefold packaging includes some evocative still photos from the collection.

The Final Analysis
 
The Films of Rita Hayworth is an excellent collection which will certainly please her fans. It is particularly gratifying to see that some classic catalog films are still getting first-class releases on DVD.

Equipment used for this review:
 
Toshiba HD-XA-2 DVD player
Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 Plasma display calibrated to THX specifications by Gregg Loewen
Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver
BIC Acoustech speakers
Interconnects: Monster Cable
 
Release Date: December 21, 2010

 

Robin9

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Thank you for your review. Like most Rita Hayworth fans, I have been waiting for this set with increasing impatience for the longest time. I am pleased that the picture quality of the color movies is so good, but if Gilda is from the same transfer as the original DVD, then for me it will not be "very satisfying". Anyone who has been lucky enough to see a high quality 35mm print of Gilda will agree that the original DVD lacked the visual gloss, the sheen that is there on the original material.


I am of course buying this set. My guess is that Gilda will come out on Blu-ray at some point.
 

marcco00

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thanx richard for such a great review. i was a little worried about the video quality of this set after reading some other reviews, but you have reassured me.


amazon is already preparing to ship my copy....if i'm lucky i may receive it on friday, xmas eve. can't wait!
 

Matt Hough

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Thank you for your review, Richard. I'm delighted these Hayworth films are finally seeing the light of DVD day.


I just wanted to add for the record that while Rita could carry a tune (she sang on Carol Burnett's variety show which was the first time I had ever heard her own singing voice), she was dubbed in her Hollywood films by a succession of voice doubles. Nan Wynn did her vocals in Cover Girl, Martha Mears in Tonight and Every Night, Anita Ellis in Gilda, and Jo Ann Greer in Miss Sadie Thompson.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Originally Posted by marcco00

thanx richard for such a great review. i was a little worried about the video quality of this set after reading some other reviews, but you have reassured me.

I know that there are people who aren't happy when a 65-year-old film on DVD doesn't look as sharp as a 2010 film on Blu-ray. I try to be more realistic in my expectations when dealing with films that old. I don't want studios applying excessive digital enhancements to try to sharpen scenes which were shot in soft focus.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Originally Posted by MattH. I just wanted to add for the record that while Rita could carry a tune (she sang on Carol Burnett's variety show which was the first time I had ever heard her own singing voice), she was dubbed in her Hollywood films by a succession of voice doubles. Nan Wynn did her vocals in Cover Girl, Martha Mears in Tonight and Every Night, Anita Ellis in Gilda, and Jo Ann Greer in Miss Sadie Thompson.

Thanks for that info, Matt.
 

JoHud

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Originally Posted by MattH.

Thank you for your review, Richard. I'm delighted these Hayworth films are finally seeing the light of DVD day.


I just wanted to add for the record that while Rita could carry a tune (she sang on Carol Burnett's variety show which was the first time I had ever heard her own singing voice), she was dubbed in her Hollywood films by a succession of voice doubles. Nan Wynn did her vocals in Cover Girl, Martha Mears in Tonight and Every Night, Anita Ellis in Gilda, and Jo Ann Greer in Miss Sadie Thompson.

Didn't know that, but it's not surprising, since in the recent interview in the Kim Novak set, Miss Novak mentioned that Harry Cohn dubbed her singing in Pal Joey (and probably Rita's too) because Harry Cohn demanded professionals.
 

Matt Hough

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Originally Posted by JoHud

Thank you for your review, Richard. I'm delighted these Hayworth films are finally seeing the light of DVD day.


I just wanted to add for the record that while Rita could carry a tune (she sang on Carol Burnett's variety show which was the first time I had ever heard her own singing voice), she was dubbed in her Hollywood films by a succession of voice doubles. Nan Wynn did her vocals in Cover Girl, Martha Mears in Tonight and Every Night, Anita Ellis in Gilda, and Jo Ann Greer in Miss Sadie Thompson.

Didn't know that, but it's not surprising, since in the recent interview in the Kim Novak set, Miss Novak mentioned that Harry Cohn dubbed her singing in Pal Joey (and probably Rita's too) because Harry Cohn demanded professionals.

[/QUOTE]


Yes, they both were dubbed in Pal Joey: Jo Ann Greer once again did the honors for Miss Hayworth and Trudy Erwin sang for Kim Novak.
 

marcco00

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amazon does not mess around.... i recieved my hayworth set today.


richard is right on the money on his review. comparing 'cover girl' from this set to the previous dvd release, the colors are pretty close, but the new transfer is as clean as a whistle, amazingly so.... and so are the other color films i've sampled so far.

the transfers of the color films are a little darker and have a slightly higher contrast than i remembered from previous viewings of these films. but that, plus the rich color, and the film grain, really makes for an interesting transfer altogether. i would like to know the name of the company that handled this restoration.


on the whole, i'm adjusting to this new look and am pleased so far.


i'm saving 'gilda' for last.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Marc,


I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it.


It would have been nice if there had been a feature on the restoration process, but five films at $8 apiece isn't a bad deal.
 

Dave B Ferris

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Richard, when I was filing this new box set, I originally intended to make (some) space by disposing of my copy of the

stand-alone release of Gilda. However, at the last minute I noticed the stand-alone release of Gilda includes a featurette

(Rita Hayworth: The Columbia Lady). The featurette is slight, only 8:45.


Nevertheless, is this featurette exclusive to the original stand-alone release, or is it also hidden somewhere on the box set?
 

GregK

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IMDB in this case is correct, but the original three track stereo mix is considered lost.

Originally Posted by Richard Gallagher

IMDB says that Miss Sadie Thompson was recorded in three-track stereo, but I cannot confirm this and I do not detect any stereo separation.
 

cocoflove

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Didn't know that, but it's not surprising, since in the recent interview in the Kim Novak set, Miss Novak mentioned that Harry Cohn dubbed her singing in Pal Joey (and probably Rita's too) because Harry Cohn demanded professionals.
 

marcco00

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after a week of fiddling with my tv's settings while watching 'cover girl', 'salome', and 'tonight...' i finally hit on the correct settings for my taste-- my brightness setting @ 75, my contrast @ 100(!!).


these are the highest setting i have had to use for a dvd so far, but it really seems to help.... i have no idea why sony would release such dark transfers of these color films.


as for the 'sadie' transfer..... i don't know what to say. i'm just glad i have the 'sadie' region 2 dvd, i prefer that transfer, however faded it is.
 

Richard Gallagher

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Originally Posted by Dave B Ferris

Richard, when I was filing this new box set, I originally intended to make (some) space by disposing of my copy of the

stand-alone release of Gilda. However, at the last minute I noticed the stand-alone release of Gilda includes a featurette

(Rita Hayworth: The Columbia Lady). The featurette is slight, only 8:45.


Nevertheless, is this featurette exclusive to the original stand-alone release, or is it also hidden somewhere on the box set?

No, it's not on the box set - at least, I can't find it.
 

Bill:N

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I'm still waiting for Amazon Canada to get their supply. Every major Canadian retailer has had it since Dec.21st, so I don't know what their problem is. I've got a good pre-order price, otherwise I'd cancel.
 

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