The legendary “Love Goddess” was a huge box-office star, and her sultry beauty and sensational figure turned her into the ultimate sex-symbol. Yet behind the smoldering image lay a tragic secret that wrecked her private life. Extremely shy as a child, Rita Hayworth was forced by her vaudevillian father to be his dancing partner—and he abused her as well. Her need for protection led her into five disastrous marriages. If This Was Happiness...

"Narrated by a starry-eyed lesbian, Big Red reimagines the tragic career of Rita Hayworth and her indomitable husband, Orson Welles. Set amidst the noir glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age, Big Red reenvisions the life of one of America's most enduring icons: Gilda herself, Rita Hayworth, whose fiery red hair and hypnotic dancing helped make her the quintessential movie star of the 1940s. With narrator Rusty Redburn-a feisty second-string gossip columnist...