Rita Hayworth pictures | Hollywood Yesterday

Rita Hayworth, Fire Down Below Promotional Pictures

April 28, 2021 By Joi Leave a Comment

Rita Hayworth

One of my favorite actresses (or stars overall) is Rita Hayworth. Love her, love her, love her. The first thing about her that caught my attention (when I was around 16 or so) was her beauty. I remember seeing a photo of her in one of my mom’s books and asking her about the ridiculously beautiful actress. She said she’d find one of her movies on tv soon for us to watch. She did… we did… and I’ve been obsessed with Rita since!

As I said, her beauty is what I first noticed about Rita Hayworth, but after seeing a few of her films, I quickly realized that she was as talented as she was beautiful. Over the years, as I’ve seen so many more of her films, I’m also struck by the fact that she could play any role, any genre, and master anything thrown her way. Comedy, drama, musicals (she was one of the best dancers ever and was the one Fred Astaire named as his favorite dance partner… HIGH praise from a man who danced with the best)… there isn’t anything this lady couldn’t do.

The pictures here are promotional photos for Rita’s 1957 film Fire Down Below. I rewatched this film recently and something else occurred to me about this lovely actress – she seemed to heighten the charisma and screen presence of everyone around her. It’s almost as though they knew they were sharing a screen with an icon and stepped their game up to the highest notch possible.

Not that any of her co-stars needed to step up their game, mind you… I just personally think she made the great ones even better.

You can find the Fire Down Below dvd on Amazon (link to Amazon) or watch it on Prime Video: Fire Down Below on Prime Video (Amazon link).

Rita Hayworth

Rita Hayworth: Wonderful Actress and Dancer Who Happened to be Extraordinarily Beautiful

August 8, 2020 By Joi Leave a Comment

Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, The Loves of Carmen

One of my favorite actresses (for as long as I can remember knowing what an actress even was!) has always been Rita Hayworth. So many people – UNDERSTANDABLY – associate the name Rita Hayworth with beauty. They’ll usually even picture her in her role as Gilda. For me, I guess the relationship I have with her image is a little different. Obviously, I associate the name with great beauty (I’m not blind after all!) but I associate it first and foremost with her wonderful, wonderful talent.

My first Rita Hayworth movie was actually Miss Sadie Thompson and while, obviously, beautiful, the main thing that stands out to you in that particular film is her acting. She does as great a job in this role as any actress has ever done in any role.

Yes… ANY role.

My second Rita Hayworth film was The Loves of Carmen (the promotional photos in this post are from that film). Her beauty and talent kind of fight it out in this particular movie!

My third film was You Were Never Lovelier (her perfect musical with Fred Astaire). At the time (I was just a teenager without all of the Old Hollywood knowledge I currently sit on), I had no idea she could also dance, so I was blown away. I thought, “Gorgeous, wonderful actress, and an excellent dancer…. wow!”

She still wows me, each and every time I watch and rewatch her films.

Like Marilyn, Ava, and Lana… Rita is so much more than just a beautiful face. She was an actress and dancer who just happened to be extraordinarily beautiful.

You can find The Loves of Carmen (link to the dvd) on Amazon or watch it on Amazon Prime.

Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, The Loves of Carmen

Rita Hayworth, Miss Sadie Thompson (So Much More Than a Beautiful Face!)

July 25, 2020 By Joi Leave a Comment

Rita Hayworth, Miss Sadie Thompson

As if we Rita Hayworth fans needed the reminder, the actress served notice in Miss Sadie Thompson (1953, directed by Curtis Bernhardt) that she was much more than just a beautiful face. She was a very, very good actress and this role allowed her to show off her talent as well as her beauty.

If you’ve never seen this one, as a huge Rita Hayworth fan, I very much wish you’d check it out. She’s mesmerizing – the entire cast is outstanding, but she (as always) stands out.

You can buy the movie on dvd or blu-ray (Amazon link) or watch on Prime.

She seemed to relish playing the role so much that I think she totally understood the opportunity she had been given as an actress. And, boy, did she ever come through!

Beautiful Rita Hayworth, The Loves of Carmen

June 24, 2020 By Joi Leave a Comment

Rita Hayworth, The Loves of Carmen

One of my favorite actresses of ALL time is Rita Hayworth. Love her, love her, love her. She was so much more than just a beautiful face – she was an exceptionally talented actress AND dancer. She was equally wonderful in dramatic roles, lighthearted comedy, and colorful musicals. I’ve seen all of her films and, while some are better than others, every single one was good and worth watching more than once.

Not many stars have a filmography like that!

The Loves of Carmen (1948, written by Charles Vidor) isn’t one of my absolute favorite Rita films, but it is good. She’s great in the role as Carmen… someone you don’t particularly like but you simply can’t look away. It’s funny, she’s the bad girl and Glenn Ford is the good guy… and yet, his character annoys me more than her character does! I mean…. she’s supposed to be bad – we expect that. But for him to be such a simpleton is unforgivable!

I normally love Glenn Ford in every single role, but I honestly don’t care for him in this role. He seems out of place, somehow. Whenever I watch the film, I always wonder if he FELT out of place in the role of if, perhaps, he wasn’t any fonder of his character than I was.

Either way, the film is definitely worth watching (obviously, since I’ve seen it four times, I strongly feel it’s worth watching). Rita is mesmerizing and the film is a visual masterpiece.

Rita Hayworth: Publicity Stills from Salome (1953)

March 4, 2020 By Joi Leave a Comment

Rita Hayworth, Salome (1953)

Rita Hayworth has been one of my absolute favorite actresses since I first saw her on television as a child. They were playing her film, “Blood and Sand” and I was hooked – even though she was the bad girl in the movie. Didn’t bother me – I loved her!

Not long after Blood and Sand I saw Salome and grew to love her even more. There was just something about her – she commanded scenes, often without even saying a word. What’s amazing to me is the fact that it wasn’t just her beauty that separated her. If we’re honest, there were actresses as lovely as Rita – many even co-starred with her.

Yet she had a certain something – a certain magic only given to a particular number of stars. When you watch her in Gilda, you’re fairly certain she had her portion of magic as well as enough for six others!

Like most people, I’ve been feeling anxious over the news (sometimes it seems like there’s never any good news, doesn’t it?!). It’s times like this that I choose to escape into the world of Old Hollywood, Classic Television, and Old Radio. Whether it’s reading a biography or watching a movie, an episode of a classic show, or listening to a great old radio episode – I’m awfully grateful that my “oldies” always take me on a mini-vacation… far away from the madness around us.

Sure, it’s there when I return, but I feel stronger and more able to cope with the craziness without it making me crazy, too!

(Continued Below Rita Hayworth being Rita Hayworth!)

Rita Hayworth, Salome

I hope these three gorgeous photos of Rita Hayworth from the 1953 film Salome (Amazon Link) lift your spirits if they need lifted and put a smile on your face. If that happens, it will have made my day.

Rita Hayworth as Princess Salome

Movie Description: After she is banished from Rome, Jewish Princess Salome (Rita Hayworth) returns to her Roman-ruled native land of Galilee where prophet John the Baptist (Alan Badel) preaches against Salome’s parents, King Herod (Charles Laughton) and Queen Herodias (Judith Anderson).