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The Barefoot Contessa

The Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, and Edmond O'Brien. The plot focuses on social positioning and high-powered politics within the world of film and high society.

For other uses, see Barefoot Contessa (disambiguation).

The Barefoot Contessa

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (uncredited)

Figaro
  • September 29, 1954 (1954-09-29)

130 minutes

United States

English
Italian
Spanish

$3.3 million (US and Canada rentals)[1]

For his performance, O'Brien won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe. Mankiewicz was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.


The majority of the film is explained by Harry Dawes (Bogart), narrating the events, with additional sections narrated by Oscar Muldoon (O'Brien) and Count Vincenzo Torlato-Favrini (Brazzi).

In popular culture[edit]

The May 1955 issue of Mad (#23) has a parody by Jack Davis entitled "The Barefoot Nocountessa".


The Food Network cooking show Barefoot Contessa is named after Ina Garten's best-selling cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,[18][19] which in turn was named after her specialty food store which she bought in 1978. The store, which is no longer in operation, opened in 1975 and was named after the film.


A tour boat in the TV series Riptide was named Barefoot Contessa.


Parts of the movie were featured in Lana Del Rey's music video for "Carmen".

Home media[edit]

The VHS from MGM was first released in 1990 and again in 1999 as part of the Vintage Classics lineup. MGM also released the DVD version in 2001.


On December 13, 2016, Twilight Time Movies released The Barefoot Contessa on high-definition Blu-ray. This release is a limited-edition release of 3000 copies.[20][21]`

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The Barefoot Contessa