The story of Rita Hayworth is a sobering reminder of how ruthless the Hollywood star machine can be.

Hayworth was "created" by Columbia studio boss Harry Cohn, who took the Spanish-American Margarita Carmen Cansino, dyed her hair strawberry blonde, lifted her hairline with painful electrolysis and packaged her as Columbia’s new big thing.

The 1940s were Hayworth’s golden period, when she made such classics as Cover Girl, Gilda and The Lady From Shanghai.

By time Hayworth made Fire Down Below, she was past her prime and Hollywood wanted nothing more to do with her.

Consequently, it can be seen as a record of Hayworth’s life in the late fifties.

She plays Irena, an exotic woman having to hop from country to country to escape a shady past.

In the Caribbean she hooks up with petty smugglers Robert Mitchum and Jack Lemmon, whose friendship is fractured when they both fall for her.

There follows blackmail and betrayal, and a surprising plot jump and disaster that draws the three characters in for one last reckoning.

While Mitchum and Lemmon are solid support, Hayworth is the fascinating centre of Fire Down Below.

The film is a double entendre on hidden passion, and though visibly older than in her heyday she retains that screen presence that separates good actors (which she wasn’t) from real stars (which she definitely was).

Watching her suffer abuse from almost every male character in the film is to watch a summation of her career.

Sadly, Hayworth would star in one more high profile film, Pal Joey with Frank Sinatra, but the good roles became fewer, and undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease gave her a reputation for being difficult.

Rob Daniel