Customer Reviews

The Loves of Carmen

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rita Hayworth was never more captivatingly beautiful and sensuous than in "The Loves of Carmen". Fortunately, this lushly restored digital transfer is breathtaking in color and clarity and a fitting medium for Rita's screen presence and the film's fantastic cinematography.

The movie, however, is beyond melodramatic and turgid. The dialogue is often hysterical. While Rita (a Latina whose real name was Cansino) is actually pretty impressive as the gypsy Carmen, the otherwise reliable Glenn Ford is hopelessly miscast as the naive Spanish don who falls under her spell.

But if you love simply to behold Rita (and I do!), this is the ultimate feast for you. She is beyond stunning in this film.

I recently decided to purchase this film on vhs instead of dvd, because I figured there were probably no extras. Needless to say I was extremely delighted at the superb quality of this movie on a used vhs tape!!! Rita was simply magnificent as the wild gypsy Carmen!!! She came alive as the red-haired vixen like no other. The dance scenes alone are worth seeing this passionate film. I agree with another reviewer who felt that Glenn Ford was miscast as the don who falls for the electrifying Carmen, but it's of very little importance because Rita Hayworth completely carries the film. When you have a film starring Rita Hayworth it doesn't matter who her co-star is!!!

I have watched this movie again and again, and I can't imagine a better Carmen than Rita Hayworth! Her Carmen is a free spirit, proud, sensual, intelligent, and yet vulnerable too. Glenn Ford may have been slightly miscast as Don Jose, but he and Rita had such a chemistry that they make this film work.

What really sets this film apart, though, is Rita's fantastic dancing! She was raised in the tradition of Spanish dancing from the time she was about 4 years old--she came from a famous family of renowned Spanish dancers--and it's such a pleasure to watch her do what must have come so naturally to her. No other dancer can match her for her sheer gracefulness and passion.

I've only seen the DVD version of this movie, so that's the version I'm recommending. The colors are luscious and the photography is clear and crisp. And the musical score is very moving. This film may very well become one of your favorites, especially if you're a Rita Hayworth fan!

Based on Bizet's tragic Spanish opera, this was Rita Hayworth's first film made by her production company, Beckworth (derived from her screen surname and from the name of her daughter, Rebecca). She decided on her close friend and favorite leading man, Glenn Ford, as Don Jose to her Carmen. The results are far better than some reviews would have you believe.

The glorious, lush Techincolor is fabulous (studio-bound as most of the sets may be), while Hayworth's unforgettable screen presence, dancing and bewitching beauty, and the heat generated between her and Ford makes this movie memorable. The sequence in which she describes what virtues a lover should have (complete with putting her finger to his lips) sparkles with sensual static. Granted, Ford looks stiff and ill at ease in his uniform (after he sheds his soldier garb and dons his "bandit clothing", he appears much more relaxed).

If it is deemed worthy enough to be released as part of the Columbia Classics collection, so should "Affair In Trinidad", another Hayworth/Ford collaboration.

It's just great to look at, flaws aside. If you adore Rita and Glenn, even in a tempestuous, volatile romance, this movie will provide that for you.

Was there ever a more enticing, tempestous gypsy with so many men in her life but only one true and ultimately tragic love?

"She's bad all the way through. She lies as easily as other people drink water. She's a liar, a thief and a cheat. Has no more manners than my Great Aunt's cat. She's really awful. And I'd sell my soul to hear her say just once she loves me."

1948's The Loves of Carmen may dispense with Bizet, but this lavish `straight' adaptation of the classic tale of destructive love from the days when Technicolor was still glorious does reunite Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford with their Gilda director Charles Vidor to good effect. The passion may not burn as hot or as deep as in Prosper Merimee's novel or Bizet's opera but it's fairly grand entertainment with all the production values that only the studio system at its height could provide even if idealistic young Spanish officer Ford's brooding over his ruined life and amoral gypsy temptress Carmen's fickle affections does threaten to get on your nerves in the last third. Hayworth wasn't yet a good enough actress to make the most of the part, but she certainly scores in the allure department.

Columbia's DVD boasts a magnificent color transfer with the original theatrical trailer included.

Rita Heyworth (1918-1987) & Glenn Ford (1916-2006 ) a superb pair in a marvelous story . The movie are full of temprament and passion , nobody could it play better than Rita , this marverlouse women . They are vibrant and volatile as impassioned lovers in this Romantic drama of Desire and revenge . Set in 18th-century Spain , this beautiful gypsy girl and respectable dragoon soldier ignite the screen with a love affair you?ll never forget ! . Do you need a better recommendation ! . Transfer in High resulution with superb shar and clear pictures . Truly Recommended ! Pure Hollywood nostalgic movie

"The Loves of Carmen" is a glorious Technicolor costume romp set in Spain. The film was promoted as based on the same novella that served as the source material for Georges Bizet's opera. There is a gypsy girl, Carmen (Rita Hayworth) who works in a cigarette factory; and a young dragoon, Don Jose (Glenn Ford), who inadvertently kills his Colonel in a duel over Carmen. This movie has its fair share of melodrama, but it is not the Bizet opera.

This version is not a musical but there is a beautiful film score by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and lively dancing choreographed by Rita's father, Eduardo Cansino. Rita Hayworth was a trained dancer who came from a family of dancers going back generations. In one of the dance numbers, her partner is her Uncle Jose.

This was the first film from Rita Hayworth's own production company, Beckworth. She made it a family affair. In addition to hiring her father and uncle, her brother Vernon is one of the dragoons. The film also reunited her with her Gilda director, Charles Vidor, as well as co-star, Glenn Ford.

The DVD features a beautiful restored print in glorious Technicolor. The audio track is crisp and clean. The film can be viewed with English or Portuguese language tracks; subtitles are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Thai. Special features include stills of vintage advertising, theatrical trailers, `talent files' -brief biography and filmography information on Charles Vidor, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, and Victor Jory; a featurette, "Rita Hayworth: The Columbia Lady" which gives an overview of her life and career and is available on other DVDs of Hayworth films, such as "Gilda."

If you like full on Technicolor cinematography, gorgeous costumes, and melodramatic story lines, this is highly recommended.

The casting of Rita Hayworth as Carmen, the passionate Spanish gypsy who rolls her own cigarettes and picks her own men, was inspired; "The Loves of Carmen," was not...

Making lavish use of her considerable charms, physical assets and whatever acting ability was necessary, Rita made her Carmen the most colorful, heartless and hot-blooded screen heroine of the year... Although by this time Rita's mind was on the Riviera, where she was about to embark on the great romantic adventure of her life...

Ford was not able to make audiences believe in him as the Spaniard with spoiled love life since his acting forte usually followed a much different romantic approach--Offer the heroine yourself, the prospects of a happy future and a direct sexual approach, open and above-board... And if that fails, a few fast slaps across the chops would usually bring any reluctant heroine to her senses...

THE LOVES OF CARMEN (1948) Directed by Charles Vidor. Based on the
novel by Proper Mirimee.

Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Luther Adler, Arnold Moss,
Margaret Wycherly, Trevor Bardette and Victor Jory.

In post Napoleonic wars Spain, a young Spanish officer is ensnared in
the destructive web of a passionate and generally untrustworthy gypsy
girl. Murder and various other unpleasantries ensue before it all ends
passionately but badly for all concerned.

While this viewer has not quite understood what was all the hubbub was
about Hayworth, besides being a fine dancer and perfect for musicals,
she was undoubtedly a fine actress. That said one cannot help wondering
that this film really should have been made a decade earlier starring
Marlene Dietrich and directed by Josef Von Sternberg.

However that is also not to say that this is not a superb version of
the story with nary an unkind word to be said against it. It is
interesting that, though considered a romantic tragedy, what the story
actually is is a crime drama in the film noir mode that just happens to
be set in early 18th century Spain. There are murders and crime enough
to satisfy any fan of that genre. Obviously intended to be a follow up
to GILDA, Hayworth and Ford are in another one of those I Love you..I
love you..I hate you...I will kill you but I still love you
relationships that ran rampant through the post war film. As generally
unpleasant but oh so witty villains, Jory and Moss are great fun in
roles that earlier probably would have been played by Bruce Cabot and
Lionel Atwill.

Of note is the story's supernatural subtext involving gypsy second
sight and predestination which might hold the interest of a fan of the
period's fantasy/horror genre.

It also bares noting that the film disproves a current film historian
lie that Hollywood's portayal of Hispanics was somehow degrading and
racist. As always with politically correct revisionism, such would be
only true if one ignores the entire history of the Hollywood film.

The color photography, sets and lighting are truly remarkable. Vidor's
direction is top notch.

Recommended.

Loved this movie. Because I am a special fan of rita Hayworth. As in my younger years I took dancing lessons with her father and appeared in this movie dancing. The dvd came on the time it was expected. Overall I am happy with the service.