Barefoot Contessa, The (1954)

Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve (1950)), this slightly above average drama features the Academy Award winning Supporting Actor performance by Edmond O'Brien (the first of his two nominations in the category); original story and screenplay writer Mankiewicz was also Oscar nominated. Humphrey Bogart plays a washed up director who gets a new opportunity from a millionaire (Warren Stevens) that wants to make a film starring his girlfriend (Ava Gardner in the title role), a Spanish beauty peasant who dances the flamenco provocatively. O'Brien plays a press agent. Gardner's character becomes a star after three films with (a fatherly) Bogart; she then runs off with a millionaire playboy played by Marius Goring. Later, she marries a Count (Rossano Brazzi) with a protective sister (Valentina Cortese) and a secret. The movie actually begins with the Contessa's funeral, with the story being told in flashback such that the audience eventually learns how and why she died.

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