Would have loved to see her work with Hitchcock…
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metalman091 — 12 years ago(December 15, 2013 12:15 AM)
I'm trying to imagine Ava as a blonde. I cannot picture her making a movie as a blonde. The same thing might have happened to her as what happened to Rita Hayworth with THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI.
But, I can imagine Ava in a Hitchcock film like VERTIGO. Imagine a film in which the lead actor becomes obsessed with Ava Gardner like James Stewart did.
But more importantly, I think Ava should have done more film noir. She was made for it. She came along at the right time [1946] for the darker elements of film noir and with the perfect film [THE KILLERS]. Imagine her playing Carmen Sternwood in THE BIG SLEEP.
I also think that she would have had the perfect leading men in film noir. She could have worked with Burt Lancaster again and Tyrone Power in a noir, but also Dana Andrews, Arthur Kennedy or Robert Preston. -
LiteraryLegend — 12 years ago(February 21, 2014 03:22 PM)
I love Ava, but I don't see her as a Hitchcock girl at all. His girls were icy blonds. Grace Kelly, Kim Novak and Tippi Hedron were his type. Not Ava Gardner. Even if she dyed her hair, I just can't see it.
Actors are mere products of a good writer's imagination -
Eurasiana — 10 years ago(September 27, 2015 10:48 PM)
Eh, I've seen the photos of AG as a blonde and to put it nicely, it did NOT become her. Lowered her allure and cheapened her looks imo; dark hair brought out her best and with it she was a deservedly great beauty. Whereas with women like Monroe and Lana Turner, blonde became them amazingly and elevated their appearance.
And while I adore AG, I don't wish she had worked with Hitchcock; she simply was not his kind of woman and it wasn't ever a possibility. Hell, even Kim Novak he balked at as she was too overtly sultry for his tastes; even tho she did have a reserve about her that set her apart from the other blonde bombshells.
Hitch absolutely loathed the blatantly sexy types, of which AG definitely falls into that category. In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich, he stated he despised actresses like Harlow and Monroe, who wore their sexuality around their neck like a signpost. So needless to say, he would never be interested in a brunette bombshell like AG.
Now someone like Gene Tierney, most likely as she was the epitome of a cool, classy brunette with an inner flame. -
AliciaHuberman59 — 10 years ago(September 28, 2015 07:09 AM)
I see your points and agree, but then again, we never actually got to see Ava act in a film as a blonde. I don't think Ava wore it around her neck so much as it just oozed out. Check her out on "What's My Line": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2hy6fyheIA I have seen a clip of her MGM screen test, as well, and it was just there, waiting to be tapped into. As I said earlier, I think she could have done justice to Suzanne Pleshette's role in "The Birds".
"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it." -
Eurasiana — 10 years ago(October 10, 2015 06:43 AM)
In photos as a blonde the color didn't mesh well with her strong features and exotic face. But in motion who knows, it may have been different. AG did have an effortless sensuality, nothing forced or put-on, but she was just too smoldering and scorchingly hot for Hitch's liking. Even as a mere 19 year old, in that well known clip playing table tennis with Mickey Rooney, if one didn't know she was a newlywed at the time who had just recently been a virgin, one certainly would be hard pressed to believe it as she possessed that "knowing" look and gave off a "seasoned" aura in spades. The same way Lauren Bacall did at a mere 19 as well. Both teenagers but nothing girlish about them, they looked and exuded a woman of the world quality.
I think I've seen that screen test you mentioned, I think I do recall a hidden, dormant flame. But given her earthy, sexpot beauty and overpowering animal magnetism, I don't think she ever would have been "sold" as an understated type.