X
- 1954
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 8 m
- 1954
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 8 m
Summary This is the life of a Hollywood movie star named Maria (Ava Gardner), as told by writer/director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), from being discovered in Madrid, Spain, until her funeral in Italy.
Directed By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Written By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- 1954
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 8 m
- 1954
- Approved
- United Artists
- 2 h 8 m
The Barefoot Contessa
70
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary This is the life of a Hollywood movie star named Maria (Ava Gardner), as told by writer/director Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart), from being discovered in Madrid, Spain, until her funeral in Italy.
Directed By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Written By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
70
58% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
42% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
70
58% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
42% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mankiewicz's classic Hollywood backstage tale of a tragic sex goddess/superstar (Ava Gardner), her gloomy, intellectual director (Humphrey Bogart) and the retinue of glamorous and/or exploitive movie types around them. [05 Nov 2004, p.C6]
Ava Gardner in the role of her career (Humphrey Bogart isn't bad either) and writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz at the top of his form. [03 Dec 2006, p.18]
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa is at once a deeply satirical depiction of Hollywood and a sumptuous saga of the rise and fall of a star.
It’s overlong, talky, and sometimes stolid, but these are all familiar Mankiewicz failings. He shines in his deft verbal wit and novelistic propensity for detail, backlit by a highly personal blend of romance and cynicism. An imperfect film, but its excesses are as suggestive as its subtleties.
Not as incisive as Minnelli's film, but still a heady Mankiewicz brew of Hollywood trash and wit.
The story that's told against this background is a curiously empty tabloid tale, and the title performer, Ava Gardner, fails to give it plausibility or appeal.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Writers Guild of America, USA
• 1 Nomination
