Day 4 of Noirvember: Gilda Trivia

— These three.

I can’t get enough of what I like to call “Dame Name” noirs – Mildred Pierce, Laura, Nora Prentiss and, of course, Gilda. And you know what else I can’t get enough of? TRIVIA! So, in today’s Noirvember post, I’m combining these two loves of mine, taking a deep dive into Gilda, and coming up with a handful of trivia. Hope you see something you never knew before!

Gilda, in case you haven’t seen it, tells the story of the title character, played by Rita Hayworth, who becomes involved in a triangle of passion and deceit with her powerful (and scary) casino owner husband, Ballin Mundson (George Macready), and her ex-lover, Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford), who just happens to be Ballin’s right-hand man.

— Hayworth and Ford were lifelong friends.

On to the trivia . . .

Gilda was Glenn Ford’s favorite film – because he was in it with his longtime friend Rita Hayworth. The two “had a very tender, lifelong affection,” according to Ford’s son, Peter, and starred together in a total of five films.

Hayworth’s character sang in several scenes, but the actress’s voice was not heard in the film. Instead, her songs were performed by Anita Ellis. It was thought for several years that it was Hayworth singing in the scene where she is accompanying herself on the guitar, but that was Ellis as well. Ellis would later dub Hayworth’s singing in The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Down to Earth (1947), and The Loves of Carmen (1948).

— Bess Flowers

The film had a large cast with many uncredited performers. One of these was Bess Flowers, who was known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films – so many that she was known as “The Queen of the Hollywood Extras.” In addition to Gilda, Flowers can be seen in numerous other noirs, including Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), The Blue Dahlia (1946), The Big Sleep (1946), Dead Reckoning (1947), The Damned Don’t Cry (1950), and Angel Face (1953).

Gilda was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946 and was nominated for the Golden Palm award. A total of 16 films were nominated in that category and the award was won by 11 of them. Gilda was not one. (The winners included Brief Encounter and The Lost Weekend. Another nominee that did not receive the award was Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious.)

— Van Upp with Hayworth and Ford.

The executive producer of the film was Virginia Van Upp, one of only a few female studio executives in Hollywood. Van Upp started her Hollywood career as a child actress, and later worked in such capacities as secretary, script assistant, film cutter, and casting director. She worked as a writer at Paramount Pictures and later transferred her skills to Columbia, where her credits included Hayworth’s 1944 musical Cover Girl.

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All this Gilda talk has made me want to give it another re-watch. I think I’ll dust off my VHS tape and put the blame on Mame. Meanwhile, join me tomorrow for Day 5 of Noirvember!

~ by shadowsandsatin on November 4, 2023.