This post was written when this blog was known as "Aige: Film and Television"
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I'm currently working on a script and I suddenly got the great idea to make it "Film Noir". With that decision, I also thought it would be a good idea to watch more Film Noir movies and take notes--really looking into the details of the genre and noting what made them different from other films of the time.
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I'm currently working on a script and I suddenly got the great idea to make it "Film Noir". With that decision, I also thought it would be a good idea to watch more Film Noir movies and take notes--really looking into the details of the genre and noting what made them different from other films of the time.
The first movie I watched today was 1946's Gilda. I love looking at Rita Hayworth and I think she is/was one of the most beautiful women to walk this planet, but oddly enough the only film I saw with her before Gilda was Pal Joey and only a little bit of Cover Girl. I'd never really seen a film with her where she was the BIG star or big lead.
I was completely blown away by not only her beauty, but her Ms. Rita's overall screen presence. I couldn't keep my eyes of her for fear that I would miss a facial expression or a diva-like puff of her cigarette. She was a marvelous actress and the chemistry between her and Glenn Ford was AMAZING.
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As I was watching and looking at Rita--or Senora Margarita, I thought about the painful changes she had to go through to make her look less "Mediterranean" or less "Spanish-y" as one website put it. Her mother was of Irish/English descent and her father was from Spain, so of course she probably gained more of her father's Spanish or (according to Hollywood) "exotic" features, causing her to only acquire "exotic" movie roles.
She also dyed her hair an auburn color.
I will say however that she was a gorgeous woman before and after the alterations to her face. But I'm very curious to know how she would be remembered had she not gone through with it. Would she have been able to push through? Or would she have been confined to the "exotic beauty" roles and the characters that stereotype(d) Latin women women of Spanish and/or Latin descent.
Before the alterations--hairline electrolysis, skin lightening
Thank you to the commentators below. Rita Hayworth DID NOT have her skin lightened and I apologize for the inaccurate information. Rita Hayworth DID NOT have her skin lightened!
My sincerest apologies.
Sources:
(Scroll down to #3):
Rita and Glenn photo:
http://www.classichollywoodbios.com/Images/Glenn%20Ford%20Images/G.%20Ford%20Gilda%20(1946).jpg.jpg
Photo of Rita before surgery (Rita Cansino):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Rita_Hayworth_Argentinean_Magazine_AD.jpg/220px-Rita_Hayworth_Argentinean_Magazine_AD.jpg
Actually, Rita never got her skin lightened. Name changed, hairline raised, yes but never anything else. Also, you have to understand how racist the Hollywood system was back then...almost EVERY star with an ethnic background went through changes. Please research properly before posting
ReplyDeleteWell, I actually did read a few things that said Rita had her skin lightened, but if I'm incorrect I'll take that. Otherwise I'm very aware of how racist Hollywood was and STILL is and I'm aware that most stars with ethnic backgrounds went through and STILL go through changes (did you RESEARCH or notice what this blog is about?). I wasn't singling Rita out as the only person who did this. It just so happens that--as I said in the post--I was watching a movie with her and my mind went to the changes she went through and I spontaneously decided to write about that and her. You talk as though I was were saying harsh, critical things about her.
DeleteThe anon is right. there is no proof whatsoever that she had her skin lightened and it's easy to see in her childhood photos. Everything else is true though (except she's not latin) but that was just hollywood back then
ReplyDeleteThanks Sonz, I will correct it right away and I will also rephrase that statement as well!
DeleteSonz989, you are incorrect. Rita Hayworth was partially of Latin descent. Spain is part of Latin Europe. Spaniards, Portuguese, French, Italians, etc are all Latins. Rita was not Latina. Latina would mean her family origins were in Latin America.
DeleteMy apologies A. Warren, I actually didn't mean to make it sound like you were saying nasty things as I see you praise her. I just wanted to clear up that fact first because it's wrong
ReplyDeleteI apologize as well for how I came off in my reply. Thank you for pointing it out to me and letting me know; I will correct it.
DeleteShe was not a woman of colorful Pete's sakes!!! She was a white Caucasian woman. She never had dark skin and was not a native American or mexican Indian what so ever. She was a woman of mediterramean and northern European decent. The only time she had real dark skind was when she played some Egyptian roles early in her career and they sprayed her with a tan spray. She naturally had dark hair, dark eyes, light olive beige complexion znd a very low hair line.
ReplyDeleteShe was not a woman of colorful Pete's sakes!!! She was a white Caucasian woman. She never had dark skin and was not a native American or mexican Indian what so ever. She was a woman of mediterramean and northern European decent. The only time she had real dark skind was when she played some Egyptian roles early in her career and they sprayed her with a tan spray. She naturally had dark hair, dark eyes, light olive beige complexion znd a very low hair line.
ReplyDeleteNicko, did you miss the bold text at the top of this post where I stated that this post was created before I turned this blog into POC in Classic Film? Or the text in bold at the bottom where I apologized for erroneously stating that she'd lightened her skin? And where in the post did I mention she was of Native or Mexican descent?
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