The Barefoot Contessa
Short description
The Barefoot Contessa tells the story of Maria Vargas, a Spanish dancer discovered performing barefoot in a Madrid nightclub. The down-on-his-luck director Harry Dawes, hired by the wealthy producer Kirk Edwards, spots her and brings her to Hollywood, where she becomes a star. Though she achieves fame, Maria struggles with the compromises stardom demands and with the possessiveness of those who control her career. Longing for genuine love, she searches for a man she can escape with, a quest that shapes the rest of her life. The film unfolds largely in flashback, framed around Maria's funeral.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz wrote and directed the film, the eighth of the fourteen features he directed, following Julius Caesar and preceding Guys and Dolls. Humphrey Bogart plays Harry Dawes, Ava Gardner plays Maria Vargas, and Edmond O'Brien appears as the producer Oscar Muldoon, with Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese and Marius Goring among the twenty-five credited cast members.
Released in September 1954 by United Artists and Italian partners, the drama grossed about 7 million dollars worldwide, a solid return for its era. On IMDb it holds 6.9 from roughly 14,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 from around 285 votes. A critics' rating of 7.8 from twelve reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The statue of Ava Gardner shown in the film was sculpted by Bulgarian sculptor Asen Peykov (1908-1973). After filming was completed, the statue was purchased by Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) and placed on his estate in California.
- Ava Gardner was under contract with the film company Metro-Goldwyn Mayers, in whose pavilions Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (1909-1993) completed filming the historical film "Julius Caesar" in 1953. When Mankiewicz asked the studio bosses for permission to film Gardner, he was told that the actress would cost him $200,000, i.e., twice the fee paid to Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) plus ten percent of the revenue. Thus, the actress cost Mankiewicz $1,000,000, while the film company itself paid Gardner only the amount stipulated in her contract weekly – $60,000.
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