The Barefoot Contessa

A Spanish dancer (Ava Gardner) is plucked from obscurity and becomes a star with the help of a washed up director (Humphrey Bogart), only to find that happiness is more elusive than she thought.

The Barefoot Contessa is simultaneously a scathing look at the Hollywood star system and, by virtue of it’s existence, a celebration of it. One scene has Humphrey Bogart’s character delivering a cynical speech about how acting talent only goes so far in Hollywood, how so much is tied to appearance and knowing how to manipulate the camera and light; all while Ava Gardner’s character is framed perfectly in the moonlight.

And make no mistake, this is Ava Gardner’s movie. Gardner handles the role well, believably portraying a flawed but compelling character that could easily come across as unlikeable, were it not for her considerable talent.

Humphrey Bogart, who has top billing, is really just a supporting character but delivers a great performance. Edmond O’Brien turns in perhaps the strongest performance of all as an almost inhuman publicity agent who gradually finds humanity.

The movie itself is mostly entertaining, and strongest in it’s first half, when it’s critiquing the Hollywood system. In the second half, the movie focuses on the Cinderella metaphor that had been running throughout, which is a significantly weaker device. Indeed, during the second half, the movie is almost a parody of itself. The first half pokes holes in the conventions of Hollywood storytelling, while the second half executes many of those same conventions. The ending, while not enough to justify the second half, is not a complete loss and keeps you from feeling burned.