‘Are you decent?’

A wave of hair as Rita Hayworth straightens up, eyes widening towards just off-camera, as she sultrily asks; ‘me?’. That was all that was needed to put Hayworth’s name in movie stardom forever. A then-up-and-coming star, Gilda did more than any other role to solidify Hayworth as a smouldering femme fatale of the noir genre. Here, she and co-star Glenn Ford find themselves locked in a twisty tale as two ex-pats in Buenos Aires caught up in corruption, lust and organised crime.

As the titular character, she’s introduced to Ford’s Johnny Farrell, a casino manager, by her new husband, casino owner Mundson (George Macready). Unbeknownst to Mundson, the two already know each other as former lovers! With shady goings on at the casino, many of them way beyond Farrell’s pay-grade, events start to come to a head.

Directed by Charles Vidor, Gilda's sumptuous visuals and Hollywood classicism ensure it remains a supremely watchable work. But it is Hayworth igniting the screen that ensures it remains an iconic classic. Few entrances in movie history are as memorable.

A Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation. Restoration from the original 35mm nitrate negative and a 35mm nitrate internegative. 4K digitization and digital image restoration by Cineric, Inc. Audio restoration by John Polito at Audio Mechanics from the soundtrack of the original 35mm nitrate negative. Color correction, conformation, additional image restoration and DCP creation by Motion Picture Imaging colorist Sheri Eisenberg. Restoration supervised by Grover Crisp.

This opening screening is sponsored 6 O'Clock Gin & Tonic.

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