MovieChat Forums > Mogambo (1953) Discussion > She Might Have Been the Next Harlow or L...

She Might Have Been the Next Harlow or Lombard...

posted 17 years ago by AliciaHuberman59
3 replies | jump to latest

It's too bad MGM, or some other studio, for that matter, didn't see how well Ava Gardner tossed off those wise-cracking one liners. She had a definite knack for comedy (e.g. "One Touch of Venus"), and as much as she was known for using salty language and being somewhat mercurial, she was equally known for being very fun loving. Perhaps being a brunette played a part in this, as the aforementioned actresses, along with Mae West, Marion Davies, Constance Bennett and Irene Dunne, for example, were all fair-haired.

[–] Piperson 16 years ago

Yes, she is great at the wisecracks in "Mogambo". I also liked her a lot in "Night of the Iguana". She was older but still beautiful and very lively and sexy.

[–] AliciaHuberman59 16 years ago

I agree about "Iguana". I'm reading Lee Server's bio "Love is Nothing" and while many of her films mirrored her life ("Barefoot Contessa" in particular), I believe "Mogambo" and "Night of the Iguana" captured the real Ava, as she was known by the people who really knew and loved her.

[–] LiteraryLegend 11 years ago

She was the first and only Ava Gardner. She had no need or reason to emulate others. She was very unique. Many other actors of her era are mere carbon copies of each other. Gardner wasn't. And IMO, the only other actor who was in a class of her own that way was Elizabeth Taylor.

Actors are mere products of a good writer's imagination