Ava Gardner enchanted audiences with her earthy femininity, but her personal life was fraught with jealousy, infidelity, and a series of short marriages. Server delves into her tumultuous relationships with Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra. Despite her lack of self-confidence, she excelled in films such as John Ford’s Mogambo and George Cukor’s Bhowani Junction.
Whistle Stop (1946)
After a long run of bit parts, Gardner proved she could hold her own as a leading lady with this dark and stormy film noir. She embodied the femme fatale archetype in this tense drama about love and betrayal. The movie also explores the dynamics of small-town life, touching upon issues like gossip and loyalty.
Mary (Ava Gardner) returns to her “whistle stop” hometown and reunites with her old boyfriend, Kenny Veech (George Raft). But when she takes up with his mortal enemy, nightclub owner Lew Lentz (Tom Conway), he becomes jealous and sets out to destroy her.
In addition to its themes of love and betrayal, this movie is a compelling tale about redemption. The movie is notable for its striking beauty and the remarkable performance of Gardner, who was just 18 at the time. Her striking green eyes and dark hair caught the eye of a talent scout at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and she signed a seven-year contract.
The Killers (1946)
After five years of bit parts, Gardner’s appearance in The Killers propelled her to stardom. She hardly had any screen time, but she managed to establish herself as one of the defining femme fatales in the film noir canon. Her character, Kitty Collins, is both seductive and dangerously manipulative. Her gleefully vicious characterisation makes her a more unlikable figure than most, but there is also a tinge of righteous anger that underlines her homewrecking antics.
Siodmak’s adaptation of Hemingway’s short story is a brilliant example of how the genre was developing after the end of World War II. His background in silent cinema and experience of German Expressionism made him well suited to the shift towards visual realism in postwar American films, and his use of shadows and lighting in this film is exemplary. The movie’s opening scene, depicting the hit men waiting for a prize-fighter at a diner, is a haunting and chilling visual foreshadowing of the film’s twisted plot.
The Great Sinner (1949)
In this thriller movie, Gardner demonstrates the toughness and intelligence that were hallmarks of her best work. Her role as Pauline, a drifting novelist who lures sanctimonious writer Fedja into the hedonistic world of high-stakes gambling, offers a delectable mix of vulnerability and swagger.
Though Gardner’s acting career began in a string of bit roles, she quickly became a major Hollywood star thanks to the success of film noir and other genre films. Her performance in The Great Sinner, paired with Gregory Peck, helped solidify her place among the finest leading ladies of classic cinema.
Siodmak’s film satirically examines societal expectations and the consequences of straying from them, particularly as they pertain to gambling and forbidden love. The film was panned on its release, but has gained critical and popular acclaim over the years. The enduring appeal of this film is its ability to explore themes that continue to be relevant in today’s world.
The Angel Wore Red (1960)
In this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Titanus co-production, priest Arturo Carrera (Dirk Bogarde) sympathizes with the plight of Spain’s poor during the Civil War and decides to resign from the priesthood. While on the run from the Loyalists, he is aided by cabaret dancer Soledad (Ava Gardner) and, inexplicably, falls for her. The pair must help guard a valuable religious relic that is being sought by the opposing factions. Joseph Cotten also stars in this erotic forbidden priest romance. The working titles of this film were Temptation and La Sposa Bella. Nunnally Johnson directed. The Angel Wore Red is based on a novel by Bruce Marshall.
Seven Days in May (1964)
After a string of decorative bit parts during her first 17 films from 1942 to 1945, Gardner was loaned out to Universal where she appeared in one of the era’s great Film Noirs, The Killers (1946). She remained at the studio for another four years and continued to improve with each movie.
Ava Gardner was a natural actress who brought to her screen persona an earthy femininity that was shaped by her rural upbringing. She never studied acting, but was discovered at age 18 when a talent scout spotted portraits of her in the window of her brother-in-law’s New York photo studio. Her rudimentary screen test left MGM boss Louis B. Mayer declaring, “She can’t sing, she can’t act, and she can’t talk; but she is terrific!”. MGM signed her to a seven-year contract. Despite a thinly written part, she makes it believable and compelling in this suspense thriller.
Mayerling (1968)
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Gardner established herself as a major star with films like Show Boat (1951), Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (both 1952), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956) and On the Beach (1959). She co-starred in John Huston’s critically acclaimed The Night of the Iguana (1964) with Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr.
In 1968, Terence Young directed her in the romantic tragedy Mayerling, which was based on the true story of Rudolf II’s love for his mistress Maria Vetsera. The film placed her second in the billing below Burton and above Kerr.
Gardner was paired with Burt Lancaster again in the political thriller Seven Days in May (1964). She starred in the disaster films Earthquake (1974) and The Cassandra Crossing (1976) before making her last feature film appearance as Lillie Langtry at the end of the TV miniseries remake of The Long, Hot Summer and in a major recurring role on the primetime soap opera Knots Landing.