THE
BAREFOOT CONTESSA ($20) stands amongst the best 50's films to turn
a jaundiced eye on the filmmaking industry. Written and directed by Joseph
L. Mankiewicz, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA looks at the life and meteoric
rise of a Hollywood star that nobody really knew. Told in flashback, from
several different viewpoints, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA pieces together
the life of a Spanish dancer named Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner), who is
molded into a star by director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart)- a man looking
to rebuild his own career. While on a talent search with a despotic producer
named Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens), Harry is able to entice Maria to
make a screen test, after the clumsy attempts of Edwards' own PR man Oscar
Muldoon (Edmond O'Brien) fail to impress the Spanish dancer.
With
her screen test in the can, Maria goes on to make her first film under
Harry’s tutelage. The film proves to be an instant smash and overnight;
Maria becomes a huge Hollywood star. Despite her outward success, Maria
cannot shake the dirt from her feet and finds herself torn her new life
and the one she left behind. THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA is old style
Hollywood entertainment at its best, featuring legendary stars, wonderfully
juicy dialogue and the cinematic glories of the old IB Technicolor process.
FYI, Edmond O'Brien earned an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for
his portrayal of the loutish, oily, opportunistic press agent. The cast
of THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA also includes Marius Goring, Valentina
Cortese, Rossano Brazzi and Elizabeth Sellars.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA available on
DVD in a very good-looking full screen presentation. While not perfect,
the transfer does bring out the beauty of Jack Cardiff glowing Technicolor
cinematography. Most of the time, the hues are richly saturated with the
type of color values (especially the reds) that the now defunct process
was noted for. Some shots appear a bit faded, with slightly off kilter
flesh tones, but fortunately there are very few of these moments. For
the most part, flesh tones are rendered with the healthy pallor that only
a makeup man could supply. The image itself is pretty crisp, except where
diffusion lenses were employed to photograph the actors in a more flattering
fashion. Blacks are fairly velvety, contrast is smooth and the level of
shadow detail is good for a 1954 production. The film element used for
the transfer displays some age related blemishes, but they ever become
distracting. Digital compression artifacts remain out of sight throughout.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack doesn't suffer from audible distortion
of noticeable hiss, but the age of the recordings does affect fidelity.
Mario Nascimbene's involving score sounds a bit thin, lacking in the upper
and lower registers. Dialogue is always completely understandable and
the actors’ voices maintain their sense of character. A French monaural
track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are French and Spanish subtitles.
The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a theatrical trailer.
THE
BAREFOOT CONTESSA is the kind of entertainment that film buffs, as
well as Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner fans, will want to snap up on
DVD. MGM has produced a very good-looking disc that will give them very
little to complain about.
THE
BAREFOOT CONTESSA ($20) stands amongst the best 50's films to turn
a jaundiced eye on the filmmaking industry. Written and directed by Joseph
L. Mankiewicz, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA looks at the life and meteoric
rise of a Hollywood star that nobody really knew. Told in flashback, from
several different viewpoints, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA pieces together
the life of a Spanish dancer named Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner), who is
molded into a star by director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart)- a man looking
to rebuild his own career. While on a talent search with a despotic producer
named Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens), Harry is able to entice Maria to
make a screen test, after the clumsy attempts of Edwards' own PR man Oscar
Muldoon (Edmond O'Brien) fail to impress the Spanish dancer.
With
her screen test in the can, Maria goes on to make her first film under
Harry’s tutelage. The film proves to be an instant smash and overnight;
Maria becomes a huge Hollywood star. Despite her outward success, Maria
cannot shake the dirt from her feet and finds herself torn her new life
and the one she left behind. THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA is old style
Hollywood entertainment at its best, featuring legendary stars, wonderfully
juicy dialogue and the cinematic glories of the old IB Technicolor process.
FYI, Edmond O'Brien earned an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for
his portrayal of the loutish, oily, opportunistic press agent. The cast
of THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA also includes Marius Goring, Valentina
Cortese, Rossano Brazzi and Elizabeth Sellars.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA available on
DVD in a very good-looking full screen presentation. While not perfect,
the transfer does bring out the beauty of Jack Cardiff glowing Technicolor
cinematography. Most of the time, the hues are richly saturated with the
type of color values (especially the reds) that the now defunct process
was noted for. Some shots appear a bit faded, with slightly off kilter
flesh tones, but fortunately there are very few of these moments. For
the most part, flesh tones are rendered with the healthy pallor that only
a makeup man could supply. The image itself is pretty crisp, except where
diffusion lenses were employed to photograph the actors in a more flattering
fashion. Blacks are fairly velvety, contrast is smooth and the level of
shadow detail is good for a 1954 production. The film element used for
the transfer displays some age related blemishes, but they ever become
distracting. Digital compression artifacts remain out of sight throughout.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack doesn't suffer from audible distortion
of noticeable hiss, but the age of the recordings does affect fidelity.
Mario Nascimbene's involving score sounds a bit thin, lacking in the upper
and lower registers. Dialogue is always completely understandable and
the actors’ voices maintain their sense of character. A French monaural
track is also encoded onto the DVD, as are French and Spanish subtitles.
The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a theatrical trailer.
THE
BAREFOOT CONTESSA is the kind of entertainment that film buffs, as
well as Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner fans, will want to snap up on
DVD. MGM has produced a very good-looking disc that will give them very
little to complain about.