Desc: Ava Gardner: Life Is Bigger Than the Movies: Directed by Arnaud Xainte. With Nicole Calfan, Michael Garady, Ava Gardner, Mickey Rooney. A barefoot contessa, a screwed-up princess, an exquisite drunk, a bawdy aristocrat, a nightmare for puritanical U.S. and MGM moguls, Ava Gardner turned women green, made men sweat, and rejected with all her power the bulwark of normality.