---
title: "The Barefoot Contessa: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa"
critics_score: 71
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Barefoot Contessa (1954): what the critics said

Critics' score 71 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics respond warmly to The Barefoot Contessa as a sharp satire of the film business, with praise clustering around its dialogue and performances. Ava Gardner is central to that approval: the reviews find her well suited to the title role and praise the fire of her performance. Humphrey Bogart also earns credit for his quietly effective work and cynical lines, while the writing’s wit and sharply drawn characters give the Hollywood satire its bite.

The available scores suggest a fairly narrow spread, though the evidence for the more cautious responses is incomplete. The New Yorker identifies a strangely undramatic quality, yet still finds the treatment of ambition and the distance between screen image and private life incisive and poignant. Three reviews lack enough accessible text to establish their reservations, so there is no securely documented pattern of dissent.

## Radio Times — Tony Sloman

Rating 4/5. 

Sloman presents the film as a mordant satire of the movie business, though less theatrical than Mankiewicz’s All About Eve. He singles out Ava Gardner’s beauty and performance as central to the film’s appeal.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-wtz2zz/the-barefoot-contessa/)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1953. 

Variety gives the film a strongly positive verdict, praising its sharp characters, wit, and high-voltage dialogue. It singles out Ava Gardner as ideal in the title role and Humphrey Bogart for his quietly effective performance.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1953/film/reviews/the-barefoot-contessa-1200417621/)

## The New Yorker — Richard Brody

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 March 2012. 

Brody finds the film incisive and poignant, despite its strangely undramatic quality. He especially praises its exploration of Hollywood ambition and the divide between an actor’s screen image and private life.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/dvd-of-the-week-the-barefoot-contessa)

## Empire — empire

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The review finds the film an entertaining satire of the movie industry. It praises Gardner’s fiery performance and Bogart’s cynical lines.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/barefoot-contessa-review/)

## RogerEbert.com

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page could not be accessed, so the critic’s verdict is unavailable. No praise or complaint can be confirmed from the provided page.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/barefoot-2014)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 30 September 1954. 

The page identifies a review, but its text is inaccessible, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No specific praise or complaint can be reliably extracted.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1954/09/30/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-barefoot-contessa-arrives-at-capitol.html)

## Time Out — TM

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page is a review, but the critic’s verdict cannot be determined from the available text. Its description singles out the film’s funeral-to-flashback structure and multiple guides to the central character’s life.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-barefoot-contessa-1)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md