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Actors: Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Edmund O'Brien, Rossano Brazzi
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Barefoot Contessa |
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Harry Dawes is a veteran movie director-writer attending the funeral of the Contessa Torlato-Favrini. With him are two others, the Contessa's husband and Hollywood PR man, Oscor Muldoon. Each man has a part to tell about the Contessa and the movie fades to flashbacks with each man narrating his section.
Harry Dawes begins by admitting he was washed up until business tycoon Kirk Edwards hired him for a film. Looking for a new star for the female lead, Harry hears about a Spanish dancer named Maria Vargas and takes Edwards to Spain to check her out. She is earthy, exotic and wild, having been raised by gypsies. She has also come from a very poor background. She agrees to become their star--and the object of Edwards' attentions.
Muldoon narrates how he helped Maria Vargas becomes Maria D'Amati, a sensation in Hollywood. Men lust for her, among them the wealthy playboy Alberto Bravano. Tiring of Edward's possessiveness, Maria chooses Alberto as her new patron. But even with success, Maria is restless, like a hungry child, and she takes pleasure where she can find it, even with servants.
Her salvation comes in the person of Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini, who takes up the story next. Maria's affair with Alberto has palled on her and he humiliates her in public but gets a slap in the face himself from the Count. The Count offers his arm to Maria. She takes it and follows him into a new life, leaving Hollywood behind. Maria finds true love with the Count, but the tragedy is that there can be no children as he was injured in the war. He is the last of his line. Maria's solution is to give him a child by using another man. Harry tries to warn her, but it is too late. When the Count finds Maria with another man, he doesn't understand and there is bloodshed.
--Karen Law, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Barefoot Contessa |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- love triangle/polygon
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- actor
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- dancer
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) skinny
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- very athletic
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Switzerland
- Spain
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
Any profanity?
- None
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Karen Law
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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