MovieChat Forums > The Barefoot Contessa (1954) Discussion > Not A Very Good Movie.

Not A Very Good Movie.

posted 15 years ago by MoviesGuru90069
12 replies | jump to latest

Dialogue was not very good and seemed too scripted. Ava talked her lines too much. Movie just didn't work for me.

~ UC Berkeley Film Studies Graduate Proud ~

[–] AliciaHuberman59 15 years ago

The dialogue is stilted. I enjoyed the voiceovers more. Ava's character was speaking English - not her first language - so I think one could make allowances for that. In her autobiography she said she didn't get on well with Mankiewicz and Bogart, so that could have played a part.

[–] lewis-51 14 years ago

Right. Everyone seems to be making a speech all the time. unreal.

[–] Eightythreeyearoldguy 14 years ago

This was a favorite movie for me at the time it came out, but I haven't seen it since until now having just borrowed it from the library.

Some think Seventysevenyearoldguy is senile, so this is one of my last posts under that screenname.

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Gardner certainly had a regal bearing and presence, but in general, I found the characters uninteresting and the dialogue, less than lively.

[–] fbm72751 10 years ago

The film got a little boring and too drawn out about halfway thru (when Rossano Brazzi's part takes over)

[–] hisgrandmogulhighness 10 years ago

Okay . . . but I must confess that I started to enjoy it more when Rossano showed-up . . . I was intrigued with what sort of relationship was going to evolve with Ava . . .

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nrangerseven 10 years ago

Agreed. I was really looking forward to this film and was told it had great dialogue. Um...no. It was tedious dialogue. I just wanted them to shut up. Also, Ava's English was too good based on her background. It just wasn't believable. I lost interest fairly quickly. The BIG REVEAL I was waiting for was just stupid. It's like too much time was wasted on writing the excessive dialogue that there was no time to come up with a decent ending.

The people you idolize wouldn't like you.

[–] bruno-32 8 years ago

At times she 'lost' her Spanish accent. Actress's like her, Lana and the ilk, were really not good actress's, they were personalities. On rare occasion, they may have made one movie that showed some depth in acting, but overall they were just 'sugarcandy' for their looks. As for Ava, aside from what I previously said, I think she was riding the success of her one time husband, Sinatra. I will admit she had some figure, but she should never allowed herself to be photographed in a profile stance...not very attractive with her 'nose'.

[–] Jamal-Nazreddin 8 years ago

Unfortunately, Mr Mankiewicz's Oscars went to his head. He seems to think he's Hollywood's Oscar Wilde.

All the characters talk in indigestible epigrams instead of dialogue.

[–] johnmiller (3964) 5 years ago

Very stilted, very cynical, no purpose to it. You don't believe a second of it.

And, the only reason Ben Mankiewicz is on TCM: Because his great uncle made this thing and other movies.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 4 years ago

Disagree slightly, I enjoyed some of the dialogue and the direction of the movie, Bogart is always great to watch and Edmond O'Brien is engaging too, the rest of the cast are a let-down however, the movie really drags with those two off screen.