The Barefoot Contessa (1954) - Old Hollywood sophistication with Bogart, Gardner

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Spry, full colors and sensual life stirs from this elegant poster for Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa

Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)) is Hollywood director Harry Dawes, and Ava Gardner (The Killers (1946)) is the stunning Spanish beauty Maria Vargas, who gets discovered by him. Her life as the 'barefoot contessa' is a life of fairy tale complexes and solid baggage, leading up to her premature death, which we know about right from the beginning of the film.

 

The Barefoot Contessa is written, produced and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Dragonwyck (1946)).

If you haven't seen The Barefoot Contessa, oh, do you have a wonderful and sad movie waiting for you here. It is a story about a lot of jet-set characters, who struggle with life's dark sides just as every other person. Mankiewicz's dialog is especially sharp and incredible. The Barefoot Contessa is one of the Hollywood giant's most splendid works.
Bogart and in even more so Edmond O'Brien (White Heat (1949)), who plays the perspiring PR-agent, are great in the film.
The Barefoot Contessa is a sophisticated, enchanting and deeply melancholic tragic drama.

 

Watch the lovely trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown, projected 2 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 3.25 mil. $ (North-American rentals alone)
= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.5 times its cost)

[The Barefoot Contessa premiered 29 September (New York) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place in Italy, including in Rome, from January - March 1954. A 1955 Variety article lists its North-American rentals as 3.25 mil. $. The projected cost of 2 mil. $ and world gross of 5 mil. $ would make it a box office success. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: It won Best Supporting Actor (O'Brien) and lost Best Writing, Story and Screenplay to Budd Schulberg for On the Waterfront. It also won a Golden Globe, among other honors. Mankiewicz returned with Guys and Dolls (1955). Bogart returned in Producer's Showcase (1955, TV-series) and theatrically in We're No Angels (1955); Gardner in Bhowani Junction (1956). The Barefoot Contessa is fresh at 100 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Barefoot Contessa?