Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A gambler discovers an old flame while in Argentina, but she's married to his new boss.
Gilda is a landmark film noir elevated enormously by Rita Hayworth's incandescent, career-defining performance — her magnetic screen presence and the 'Put the Blame on Mame' number are genuinely iconic. Rudolph Maté's cinematography is exceptional, with expressionistic shadows and lustrous close-ups that define the noir aesthetic. The acting across the board is strong, with Glenn Ford effectively conveying obsession. The plot, however, is a somewhat convoluted love triangle that strains credibility, and the ending notoriously deflates the film's transgressive tension with a rushed, moralistic resolution that feels at odds with the dark, charged atmosphere built throughout — a concession to censorship that weakens the overall impact.