“Gilda” is considered a classic of Hollywood film noir, but genre-bending actor Humphrey Bogart turned down the male lead. And here’s why.
Gilda is a classic of cinema history and a classic of film noir. Released in 1946, it is a “vehicle” film for actress Rita Hayworth to ride on her image as a “pin-up” for American soldiers during World War II and finally give her the big film she deserves.
Columbia Pictures
Rita Hayworth in “Gilda”
As producer of this project for Columbia, Virginia Van Upp is supervising the screenplay to adapt it to the persona of Rita Hayworth and her image with the public.
It was again Van Upp who sent the script to Humphrey Bogart, then a star of film noir with titles such as The Port of Anguish, The Kingpin, No Time to Die, The Maltese Falcon and A Dangerous Woman. But the latter did not judge the film to his taste.
“A woman’s film”
Warner Bros.
Bogart in “Casablanca”
In Gildaa book by Melvyn Stokes published in the BFI Film Classics collection (cited by Collider), we can read that Bogart, after reading the script, refused to play the role of Johnny Farrell on the pretext that it was, according to him, a ‘woman’s film’. In other words, where the star is a woman. And where he would potentially only have a secondary role.
One evil for two goods
But her refusal was a blessing in disguise. First, because it must be acknowledged that Gilda – and this is far from being a crime in Hollywood – was trying to reproduce the formula of Casablanca, Warner’s huge success released four years earlier, and starring (rightly) Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Columbia Pictures
Rita Hayworth
It features a love triangle, an American expatriate bartender in a white suit, and a complex political context. The comparison ends there, but Bogart’s refusal may have allowed the writers to move towards the Gilda we know today, and to differentiate it from Casablanca.
Columbia Pictures
Glenn Ford remplace Bogart
Above all, Bogart’s refusal allowed the talent of Glenn Ford, the final interpreter of Johnny Farrell, to be highlighted and truly launched his career as a leading actor. This would allow him to appear in the excellent Seeds of Violence, 3:10 to Yuma, The Mystery of Black Lake or The Deserter of the Alamo.
