Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, Marius Goring, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, and Mari Aldon
There were mentions of this movie on Twitter as of late, and I wanted to see why people are loving this movie. The poster of the movie confused me, "The World's Most Beautiful Animal?" Realizing that it was a pet name for Ava Gardner concerns me. I would rather watch a Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten marathon than this.
The last three years of Maria Varga's (Gardner) life is recounted by the three important men in her life; her writer/director friend, Harry Dawes (Bogart), the publicist who tries to convince her to be in movies, Oscar Muldoon (O'Brien) and the love of her life, Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini (Brazzi).
This movie could have been great. When I was watching it, I kept thinking that they should have gotten rid of the three narrator voice-overs and not have the funeral peppered throughout the movie. The movie could have been more streamlined if they leave the mystery of what happened to Maria until the final moments of the movie.
I wanted to love this movie. It has some fabulous costumes, Ava Gardner, Spanish music and the Italian countryside. The movie as whole was not cohesive. The dialogue was long winded. It felt that Mankiewicz's hubris got the better of him.
I wanted to know more about this woman that never wanted to be caged. I didn't get that. It felt very surface. It could have been more tragic if I knew who Maria was more.
Rating: 6/10
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