Gilda (Blu-ray) (1946)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Featurette
Rating
Year Of Production	1946
Running Time	110:07
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Charles Vidor
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Rita Hayworth Glenn Ford George MacReady Joseph Calleia Stephen Geray
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$19.95	Music	M. W. Stolorf

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	None
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.37:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Gilda is a classic noir from 1946, justifiably famous for Rita Hayworth's starring role. As far as noirs go, there are certainly better stories but it is the dialogue and performances which set this film apart. The dialogue is snappy and the performances are pitch perfect from the three leads, Hayworth as the femme fetale of the title, Gilda, Glenn Ford as drifting gambler and cheat Johnny Farrell and George Macready as Ballin Mundson, casino owner, businessman and closet collaborator. They come together in 1946 Argentina where Mundson owns a casino and Farrell drifts into town looking to score. He wins at a game with sailors but as he leaves with the winnings gets mugged only to be rescued by Mundson. The following evening Farrell plays cards at Mundson's casino, cheating his way to healthy winnings. Of course, Mundson knows and confronts him. Farrell talks his way into a job with Mundson, helping to run the casino. Their relationship develops and Farrell becomes his trusted offsider. When Mundson needs to go away for work he leaves Farrell in charge of the casino operations. On his return, however, Farrell is in for a surprise. Mundson has married a beautiful woman while he was away on business, bringing Gilda back with him. The bigger surprise (but not for a noir) is that Farrell and Gilda have significant history and he believes that she did him wrong. Their antagonism to each other is very obvious from the moment they see each other and her new husband becomes jealous, although his business interests are providing much more for him to think about. The plot thickens as the local authorities circle, his shady business partners want to become more involved and things start to come unstuck.

     This film was a very early DVD release which we reviewed here back in 1999 and to my knowledge it has not previously been available on Blu-ray in this country. Our release seems to be very similar to an Italian release from 2014, reviewed here but is not like the more recent Region A criterion edition which has more extras and lossless sound.

     This is a very entertaining film which as I mentioned above features sparkling dialogue between its leads who are all basically unhappy and cranky about life. There is also a wonderful support character in Uncle Pio (Stephen Geray) who is the washroom attendant at the casino. He provides comedy relief and homespun wisdom combined with a wide streak of sarcasm. Hayworth is wonderfully sensual as the femme fetale, toying with both her husband and her ex-lover, amongst others. The black and white cinematography is also a treat utilising light and shadow to great effect, along with some interesting camera angles such as the scene where Gilda is lying on the bed talking to her husband. The music is also a big addition to this film and draws you in.

     Recommended especially for noir fans.

Video

     Subtitles are available in English which are clear and easy to read, although occasionally different to the dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The soundtrack is good but disappointingly is in a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono format. Dialogue is clear throughout and the music sounds quite good but the overall impression is a little flat and I feel confident the lossless audio available in Region A would be an improvement over this.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     One extra despite what the case says. The case says a commentary and theatrical trailer are included however this is not true.

Menu

     The menu features music.

Martin Scorsese & Baz Luhrmann on Gilda (16:06)

     Decent featurette featuring both directors talking about the film interspersed with scenes from the film. There is a lot more Luhrmann than Scorsese, however they both have some interesting things to say about the film and its influence on them.

    This local disc seems to be very similar to an Italian edition featuring the same audio format and extras as opposed to the more recent Region A edition which has lossless audio and a commentary. Region A wins.

    The video quality is very good for a film of this age but has some challenges.

    The audio quality is good but lossy.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall