Eureka Entertainment are to release The Barefoot Contessa, an extravagant display of directorial prowess from Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner, for the first in the UK on Blu-ray in a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition as part of The Masters of Cinema Series in March.

A high point in the already success-laden career of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve), and one of the most glamorous and extravagant films from Hollywood’s Golden Age, The Barefoot Contessa is a tragic drama about the tumultuous rise and fall of fictional Hollywood actress Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner).

Humphrey Bogart plays down on his luck writer and director Harry Dawes, reduced to working for an egotistical and abusive producer, Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens). Whilst scouting for the female lead in his new movie, Dawes meets the beautiful and charismatic Maria Vargas, a barefooted flamenco dancer, in a Madrid night club and convinces her to star in his movie. Maria is an overnight sensation, but cannot find satisfaction in the shallow world of Hollywood, and the men in her life who treat her as nothing more than a commodity.

Also featuring Edmund O’Brien in an Oscar winning role as a duplicitous publicist, and featuring cinematography from the legendary Jack Cardiff, The Barefoot Contessa was a massive success upon release, and Eureks's dual format editions in cludes the film's first Blu-ray release in the UK.

The Barefoot Contessa will be released on UK Dual Format by Eureka Entertainment as part of the Masters of Cinema series on 12 March 2018 at the RRP of £17.99.

Dual Format features:

• 1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray, with a progressive encode on the DVD
• Optional 5.1 and uncompressed LPCM dual mono soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and David Del Valle
• Original theatrical trailer
• A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Farren Smith Nehme and rare archival material