Sadly, I found this film to be overrated.

The noir crime story in Gilda is almost unwelcome, because as the title attests, this about the girl, not the mobsters. And what a girl. The film is basically playing for time until Rita Hayworth appears on screen (what an entrance!), and tends to flag when her razor-sharp love triangle isn't in play. Because crime story aside (and I'm already forgotten the details), this is about toxic relationships, which is where the tension of the film lies entirely. Gilda is married to a casino owner, but obviously had a past relationship with his right-hand man (Glenn Ford). As this is a woman whose beauty essentially destroys men - her face would launch a thousand ships - emotions boil over, jealousies flare, and hate proves to be akin to love and vice-versa. The magic of the film resides in Gilda's complexity. She's too vulnerable to be a real femme fatale, and yet plays that part for reasons all her own. She doesn't need to be on screen to have presence, as she haunts the men in her life. That's not easily done.

There's no question this is Hayworth's show, so a plot about obsession and filled with sexual tension (and gratuitous dance numbers) makes sense. Her scenes have been referenced umpteen times since, for good reason. (Jessica Rabbit pretty much is Gilda.) It's a thin line between love and hate, and that line has rarely been illustrated so well.