Ouch. What can I tell you? "The Barefoot Contessa" is a film so heavy, so un-fun, so self-consciously aware of its own bitter sophistication that I could not find a single saving grace in the picture.
Okay, Ava Gardner is luscious, and her lovely breasts are wonderfully showcased. And yes, Bogart manages to turn in a decent performance despite the disastrous dialogue, a tribute to his charm.
What went wrong? First and foremost the dialogue, written by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. There is no action in the film- just characters standing and speaking in the most heavy-handed movie metaphors ever committed to screen. Voice-over fills every silence to drown us in details that would have choked the actors outright. Ava Gardner & Bogey share a relationship that spans years... and yet they never have a conversation in which either of them simply says what they mean.
BOGEY: Has Cinderella found her Prince Charming yet or must she return to the ball?
AVA: The actor writes the role for the screenwriter, not the other way around. And yet all this time, the peasant girl abides, and wonders when she must put on shoes and walk out of the valley forever...
!CRINGE! Every time I had a vague notion of what the characters were trying to say my attention waned and I had to start all over again. It wasn't worth the effort. If you want to know why novels are adapted and condensed before becoming a screenplay this movie stands as a perfect example. "The Barefoot Contessa" would have made a brilliant novel, but as a film it's a plodding failure.
GRADE: D
Okay, Ava Gardner is luscious, and her lovely breasts are wonderfully showcased. And yes, Bogart manages to turn in a decent performance despite the disastrous dialogue, a tribute to his charm.
What went wrong? First and foremost the dialogue, written by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. There is no action in the film- just characters standing and speaking in the most heavy-handed movie metaphors ever committed to screen. Voice-over fills every silence to drown us in details that would have choked the actors outright. Ava Gardner & Bogey share a relationship that spans years... and yet they never have a conversation in which either of them simply says what they mean.
BOGEY: Has Cinderella found her Prince Charming yet or must she return to the ball?
AVA: The actor writes the role for the screenwriter, not the other way around. And yet all this time, the peasant girl abides, and wonders when she must put on shoes and walk out of the valley forever...
!CRINGE! Every time I had a vague notion of what the characters were trying to say my attention waned and I had to start all over again. It wasn't worth the effort. If you want to know why novels are adapted and condensed before becoming a screenplay this movie stands as a perfect example. "The Barefoot Contessa" would have made a brilliant novel, but as a film it's a plodding failure.
GRADE: D