The Barefoot Contessa

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

The first appearance by Maria (Ava Gardner) with Harry (Humphrey Bogart) narrating from her funeral, sent by his masters, finding her in fact shoeless, back stage, where they talk about Hollywood, early in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

Movie star Maria (Ava Gardner), unhappy at a cafe society party, summons Harry (Humphrey Bogart) to complain about her needs, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

Back at the funeral, Dawes (Humphrey Bogart) standing by, narration by Oscar (Edmond O'Brien) begins, covering the launch of Maria (Ava Gardner) on the world stage, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

The distinctive opening of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa, 1954, starring Ava Gardner, and the initial narration by Humphrey Bogart, as writer-director "Harry Dawes."

The nightclub in Madrid, in which writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz refuses to show "Maria" (Ava Gardner), features Enzo Staiola (from "The Bicycle Thief") then resumes Harry (Humphrey Bogart) in narration, from The Barefoot Contessa, 1954.

A Spanish dancer becomes an international star but still longs to get her feet in the dirt in The Barefoot Contessa (1954) starring Ava Gardner.