Based on the famed tale of Carmen, best known through Bizet's opera, the third pairing of stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth takes advantage of their smoldering on-screen chemistry in this depiction of amour fou. Lusciously photographed in Technicolor, the sumptuous tones highlight the eroticism of the tale, as well as Hayworth's gorgeous red hair and the fabulous costumes in this timeless Spanish story. When young soldier Don José (Ford) falls for gypsy girl Carmen (Hayworth), he doesn't realize that Carmen is the sweetheart of many of the young Dragoons, not to mention his own Colonel. After finding his Colonel (Arnold Moss) in Carmen's boudoir, Don José kills him and flees with the girl into the den of thieves run by Carmen's gypsy husband (Victor Jory). Though sickened by the moral code of the gypsies, Don José cannot tear himself away from the treacherous femme fatale.