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                                             RITA HAYWORTH:  
                                               HOLLYWOOD'S RED HAIRED DANCING LEGEND

                                                                                  by Carl Rentz

   

    She was a superstar, a pin-up girl of the 1940's, and she became America's Love Goddess.  Her photographs are poetry and to see her in motion on film is sublime.  Rita Hayworth was the movie star of the decade.  She was exquisite on the screen and the public flocked to see her perform.  She had magnificent long red hair, and she danced with a charm and grace unmatched on the silver screen.  And also, when she sang and the public found out that her voice was dubbed, her adoring fans did not care.
They loved Rita, and the image of the red haired dancing goddess was etched into the public's imagination where it is immortalized to this day.

    If hair is a woman's crowning glory, Rita Hayworth set the pattern.  During World War II, and after, her exciting red tresses were copied by millions of women all over the world.  To look like Rita was an image to be devoted to.  But, Rita was not a true redhead and nobody minded that either.  Of Spanish-American descent, she was a Hollywood studio product refined by the makeup artists at Columbia Pictures where she made most of her films.  Her hairline was changed through electrolysis, and her dark hair bleached out and recolored with henna.  The effect was dazzling! Rita was made for the Technicolor cameras.  Her perfect white teeth, the jut of her magnificent jaw, joyous smile and graceful form made her a star of the first magnitude in the Hollywood system.

    Rita stood alone.  She did not need a male co-star to sell the film.  Fans lined up by the thousands to see her.  She was fun and fascinating to watch, and she was what motion pictures were all about -- beauty, fame and talent.

    In her early musical films, when at the peak of her physical appeal, Rita Hayworth burst from the screen line like a ripe peach, ready to be devoured by millions of World War II G.I.s who had voted her their "favorite redhead."  She was the girl they wanted to come home to. And home they came to the vampy screen image of "Gilda" (1946), Rita's most memorable "bad girl" role.  Though Gilda was a knockout, it was a complex role in which she portrayed a reckless and somewhat cynical female seductress.  The film was shot in black and white so that the famous red hair was not evident, but in our imagination, we knew it was red, and audiences were fascinated by this predatory female.  The moment she first appeared on the screen is an unforgettable entrance -- flipping her luscious hair into the camera, she said, "Who me?" Unforgettable, too, was the strapless black dress she wore with long black gloves while strutting that an impudent bouncy walk and lip-syncing "Put the Blame on Mame, Boys."  Well, this was a new creature to enjoy and savor.  However, underneath it all, she was still the fun loving Rita audiences knew and loved. The "bad girl" image was not the real Rita.  It was as though she were play acting, and she was putting us on.  The image she created was so strong that men everywhere fell in love with this overblown sexpot, and Rita complained ever after that she was not Gilda in real life.  What an impossible image to live down! What could she do to top this?

    Rita first gained public attention when she performed a ballroom dance in "Dante's Inferno" (1935).  She was electrifying, and seeing her twirl on the ship's floor was a thrilling experience.  She started in films as Rita Cansino, her father's name.  He was a famous Spanish dancer in his day who trained and guided young Rita into a Hollywood career.  In the future, her dance numbers became great moments on celluloid.  No one moved like her, and her love of dancing mad motion picture fans take notice of her artistry.  In the 1930's, Rita was cast in many "B" films, mostly westerns and where she was cast as a dancer too.  During 1935, she also danced the zamba in "Under the Pampas Moon," and two Russian dance bits in "Paddy O'Day."

    In 1937, she was a fandango dancer in "Hit the Saddle," a dance hall hostess in "Paid to Dance" and in "Criminals of The Air," with a saucy ribbon in her dark hair, a shawl and a slinky, tiered, floor-length satin gown, she danced.  Weekly Variety wrote, "She does one Spanish terp number, which shows her off well, even if it's nothing fancy."

    After ten films Rita Cansino had her name changed to the more glamorous sounding Rita Hayworth, and then her career soared like a meteor in the Hollywood sky.

    In 1939, Rita was cast as a temptress in the classic, "Only Angels Have Wings."  She did not sing and did not dance, but the film focused on her dramatic talent and alluring beauty so well that she gained wide public recognition, and excellent reviews.

    In 1940, she had a fleeting moment of dancing in "Music in My Heart" and in "Angels Over Broadway" as Nina Barona; she did a turn on a bare stage for just a moment which was a hint of the magic concealed within her.

    1941 was the year that brought Rita to the ranks of Hollywood stardom.  She was "The Strawberry Blonde" for Warner Brothers Studio, but it was as the beautiful Spanish siren, Dona Sol, that she catapulted to the top of her profession.  Though she was cast as a heartless creature, she bewitched audiences when she danced a spirited Paso doble in a form-fitting tangerine dress designed by Travis Banton.  The film was "Blood and Sand" directed by Rouben Mamoulian, and filmed in lush Technicolor which won the Academy Award for that category for 20th Century Fox Studio to whom Rita was on loan-out. Rita was a sensation, and the public clamored to see more of this beguiling woman.

   Columbia Pictures, to whom she was under contract, had been loaning Rita out with great financial success, and they decided it was time for the "big buildup" to launch her as a major Hollywood star.  The result was her first important black and white musical "You'll Never Get Rich" (1941), with a score by Cole Porter and dance routines with her splendid co-star Fred Astaire.

    In her last loan-out to 20th Century Fox (19442), she appeared in a dramatic role in "Tales of Manhattan."  It had an all-star cast and Rita was highly praised.  And, as Sally Elliott, in "My Gal Sal," she lit up the screen with song and dance in a captivating Gay Nineties plot.  Rita was deliciously showcased in a Technicolor extravaganza; it was one of the best musicals of the year.

    Back to Columbia Pictures the same year, she teamed in another classic with Fred Astaire, "You Were Never Lovelier," with a musical score by Jerome Kern.  It was a joyous reunion, but alas, it was filmed in black and white like its predecessor.  From this blockbuster came the enchanting song "Dearly Beloved."

    Then Rita was off the screen for a full year in preparation for the box office smash musical "Cover Girl" (1944).  It had another great score by Jerome Kern, and another hit song "Long Ago and Far Away." Filmed in Technicolor, Rita was incomparable.  As Rusty parker with flaming red hair, she was the essence of feminine beauty.  Her dancing co-star was Gene Kelly, and their dancing duet in the "Put Me to The Test" number erupted on the screen in a riot of rhythmic force seldom seen in a dance number.  Near the end of the film, Rita was spectacularly showcased in a solo number running down a dizzying ramp, with long hair flying behind her, into the arms of a dancing male chorus.  It was an unforgettable vision of loveliness. Here indeed was a cinema goddess to capture the hearts of movie fans the world over.

    The public demanded to see more of this radiant, dancing Rita Hayworth.  The result was another Technicolor reward "Tonight and Every Night" (1945).  Rita was breathtaking as usual, and scorched the screen in a solo song and dance spectacle "You Excite Me," choreographed to a Latin beat by Jack Cole. Another delightful number was the Greek costumed "Cry and You Cry Alone -- Laugh, Make It Loud and Strong."  At the end of the film, as a patriotic Rosalind Bruce in war torn London, she had a stirring moment.  After the death of her two friends in an air raid, in "the show must go on" tradition, Rita sang the title song:
                "If you've faith like mine,
                The stars are bound to shine,
                Tonight and every night."

    The sensational black and white film "Gilda" (1946) came next which was to become a cult classic.  It forever changed Rita's image from a fun loving, free-spirited beauty into a man devouring vamp.  It was Rita's metamorphosis into "bad girl" roles, and moviegoers were titillated by this brazen portrayal.  Glida and Rita became one in the public mind.

    Rita's next film displayed her in brilliant Technicolor once again.  She sang (dubbed in, of course), she danced and that red hair lit up the screen as before.  Her fans rushed in droves to see her. Rita had become the goddess of song and dance, the Greek Muse Terpsichore.  In the film she had come "Down to Earth" (1947) from Mount Olympus to enchant mortals once again.  She sang gleefully, "People Have More Fun Than Anyone."  The theatres rang with Rita's gaiety and laughter.

    The evil Elsa Bannister came next, "The Lady From Shanghai" (1948), who bore no resemblance to the love goddess America had come to adore.  Rita's gorgeous hair was cut short and bleached.  A real shock! Rita in disguise.  She was deadly and she did not dance.  Disturbingly beautiful in an icy, elegant way, her dramatic performance was hypnotic.  The film was a financial failure at the time, but has survived to become one of Rita's best remembered roles, but has survived to become one of Rita's best remembered roles along with that film noir "Gilda."  The great Orson Welles, her husband at the time and father of her daughter Rebecca, was the mastermind behind the Rita transformation.

    She never repeated the stark blonde look in a film again.  In the end, the image her fans loved was restored, and the original Rita Hayworth look was recognizable in the films that followed.

    After the luxuriant red hair was restored, Rita sparkled again in "the Loves of Carmen" (1948) produced through her own company Beckworth.  She was perfect as the fiery and tempestuous cigarette girl, and best of all she danced some Spanish classics.  Rita could do no wrong.  Her fans loved her, and the public was avid to hear about her love life on and off the screen.

    World headlines told how Rita fled the Hollywood dream factory to marry Prince Ali Khan, the father of her second daughter Yasmin.  Her studio was dismayed at her inactivity and the tremendous financial loss they were suffering at the box office.  Four long years went by without a Rita Hayworth film.  When her marriage, sadly, did not work out, Rita returned to film making, and her loyal fans rushed to see her as Chris Emery in "Affair in Trinidad" (1952).  It was not filmed in color, but Rita was a sensation as always. So hungry was the public to see her again that her new film out grossed the returns from "Gilda."  Though it was a so-so role, Rita's magnetism and star quality made another Hayworth characterization worth watching.  And yes, there was a song and dance number called "Trinidad Lady" danced by Rita in bare feet which turned the screen to fire.  And, in the climatic scene, she performed in a slinky, black beaded dress the provocative number "I've Been Kissed Before."  Welcome home, Rita Hayworth.

    In 1953, Rita appeared in two Technicolor films, but they were on the heavy side.  She was not as lighthearted on screen as before, and a new generation of moviegoers were not as entertained by sparkling musicals as their predecessors had been.  Rita's fans still thronged to see her as "Salome." Photographically beautiful as ever, she mesmerized the audience with "the Dance of The Seven Veils."  In the other film, "Miss Sadie Thompson," she did a torrid song and dance number called "The Heat Is On" surrounded by eager soldiers in a tropical bar.  But, how long would the Hayworth magic last?

    Unluckily another four years were to drag by before we saw Rita on the screen again due to her preoccupation with her personal life, which was creating headlines around the world.  When she appeared on film again, it was in the leaden "Fire Down Below" (1957) which came to life only when she danced. There was one dance number done to a Limbo beat on a crowded floor, and Rita was still superb!  Though filmed in color, there was no lavish production number this time to showcase Rita as the world famous beauty she was, no chorus boys to chase and lift her up and no great dancing star to lend support.  How one longed to see her as before surrounded by glamour and glitter.  Whatever she did, when Rita danced, she was at her best and the world took notice.  A quality shone from the screen that no other film star possessed.  The Golden Age of Hollywood was coming to a close and moviegoers were not interested in screen goddesses anymore.

    The last of Rita's great Technicolor musicals was filmed in 1957, and with it came to end of her Columbia contract. But what an end it was!  The film was the box office smash "Pal Joey." The score was by Rogers and Hart.  Rita, dazzling with years of professional skill behind her, was cast as an older but wiser woman of the world.  She performed two solo numbers that made you wish she would sing and dance forever. While preparing for a bath, she lip-synced the haunting ballad, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," and the feline grace of her movements as she floated through the lavish set was like watching the enchanting Rita of younger days.  She glowed on the screen and that famous red hair was as luxurious as ever.  In her Jean Louis black and white form-fitting strapless gown with streamers, she strutted into the saucy "Zip," and she was a delightful apparition once again.  Yes, Rita Hayworth on the Technicolor screen in a spectacular musical was still box office magic.

    Frank Sinatra, her co-star in the film, and a true gentleman, paid Rita the ultimate compliment when he insisted on Rita Hayworth's name being top-billed.  When asked by reporters, he was said to reply, "The Studio built her into a star but Rita Hayworth gave Columbia Pictures status."

    Though Rita appeared in other films, they never compared with her wonderful musicals which included her dance numbers and the toss of her ravishing red hair.  There will never be another star like Rita Hayworth.

NOTE: Rita Hayworth died of Alzheimer's Disease in 1987.  Her film legacy will live on in the hearts and imagination of all who love the Hollywood musical.