The Complete Films of Rita Hayworth: The Legend and Career of a Love Goddess

by Gene Ringgold

Dust jacket notes: "This book is the first detailed account of the fabulous life of the screen's first and most authentic Superstar. Rita Hayworth's career began in a below-the-Mexican-border nightclub in the mid-thirties, when Winfield Sheehan, then vice president in charge of film production at Fox Studios, first saw her dancing with her father. The act caught his interest, and the young dancer, then named Marguerite Cansino, was signed to a standard player's contract, which introduced her to the movies. Under the name of Rita Cansino she appeared in a number of B films, which caused few ripples across the nation's screens. When Sheehan left Fox Films, and the sutdio merged with 20th Century Pictures, Rita's career almost came to an end. But fortune in the form of Ed Judson (who later became her first husband) came along. He would devote his time and energy to promoting her rise to stardom. Harry cohen, at Colubia Pictures, listened to Judson, gave Rita more B picture roles, but signed her to a long-term contract. He lent her to her original employer, 20th Century Fox, and the newly named Rita Hayworth became Tyrone Power's co-star in Blood and Sand. A Life magazine photograph of Rita Hayworth, posed seductively on a bed, became the pin-up picture which decorated the locker doors of hundreds of thousands of U.S. servicemen during World War II, who, en masse, proclaimed her their "Love Goddess." After the war, returning GIs took their own sweethearts to see her on the screen in Gilda, the film which was to become the highwater mark of her career as well as one of the biggest grossing hits in the history of Columbia Pictures. This book is the complete story of Rita Hayworth's life and career, detailing every screen appearance she made....The volume is illustrated with nearly four hundred photographs, still photographs from the films, pictures from private collectors' archives, and many candids from the star's personal files."

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 1975

Reviews

[Merriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good reference book with lovely b/w pictures. The information is mediocre; you could probably find much of it on IMDb. The biography in the beginning is nice, however because it explains when and how some pictures I was wondering about were taken, as well as providing nice quotes.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a book. This "films of" series is fantastic! Helped me to hunt down many lesser-known films, the ones with no summary on imdb so I had no idea whether the star in question was the lead, or only a minor player.