Chosen by special guest Paul K. Brooks (Talking Pictures podcast), Gilda (1946) was directed by Charles Vidor and stars Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. Gilda follows Johnny Farrell, played by Ford, a gambler and con man who runs into Ballin Mundsen, played by George Macready, a mysterious hotel and casino owner in Argentina. Johnny talks his way into managing the casino and everything is going great until his ex-lover Gilda, played by Hayworth, shows up as his boss' new wife. Will Johnny and Gilda be able to keep their hands off of each other? How similar are the feelings of love and hate? In this episode Matt does his best hair flips, Jeanne explains how this film both fits into and defies the conventions of Noir, and Paul and I debate whether this movie is sexy or not, and if so, just how sexy it is. On the more serious side, this episode is also marked for its important discussion of Rita Hayworth's life, and how it relates to the film, and the perceived roles and opportunities of women in the 1940s. What has changed? What has remained the same?

The Criterion Collective

Join poets and film lovers, Jeanne Marie Spicuzza (Night Rain), Matt Sedillo (Mowing Leaves of Grass), and David A. Romero (My Name Is Romero) as they meet each week, to form The Criterion Collective, discussing some of their favorite classic/foreign/art films. These are the films they connect with most deeply, the films that move and inspire them. They hope to inspire a new generation of cinephiles and cinéastes!

The Criterion Collective is a special production by the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, CA. https://www.dacenter.org/

Intro and outro music, "Exploring the Inferno," by Myuu. https://www.thedarkpiano.com/