Rating: 
Summary: "I've made a career out of playing SOB's"
Review: Kirk Douglas once said this when remarking upon his movie career and in this film he portrays one to perfection the way only he can. "The Bad and the Beautiful" is a brutal, behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood's Golden Age in its portrayal of Tinseltown as a city full of backstabbing, betrayal and heartbreak but also one of magic, wonder and possibility. Douglas plays SOB extraordinaire Jonathan Shields, loosely based on movie mogul David O. Selznick. Like Selznick, Shield's once wildly successful--and widely hated--father died in bankrupt and movie studio-less disgrace, which left his son determined to restore his father's name and success at any costs. Lana Turner, Dick Powell, and Barry Sullivan give sterling performances as the three unfortunates who are left professionally successful but emotionally devastated by Jonathan's (sometimes unintended) treachery and ruthless ambition. In the role she should have been nominated for instead of "Peyton Place," Turner is cleverly cast as mediocre actress Georgia Lorrison, another character based on a real-life Hollywood counterpart, this being Diana Barrymore, daughter of the Great Profile. She gives a superb performance as the troubled, alcoholic tramp daughter of a great star who becomes one herself. Jonathan does this for his own ego and scars Georgia when she realizes their romance was just a ploy to get her through filming.Dick Powell stars as James Lee Bartlow, bestselling novelist who has come to Hollywood to write a screenplay of his book with distracting wife Rosemary (played by vixenish Gloria Grahame) in tow. So James Lee can get to work, Jonathan whisks him away to a cabin the the woods while he arranges for flirtatious, star-struck Rosemary to go off with a latin movie idol; news comes of their deaths in a plane crash and James Lee becomes disillusioned when he discovers Jonathan's role in the affair, after which Jonathan has the bad sense to badmouth his dead wife! In this performance, along with his other 40's and 50's roles, Powell does a great job in a part he could truly sink his teeth into (unlike the 30's comic and light romance roles at Warner's). Barry Sullivan stars as Fred Amiel, a director who starts at the bottom with Jonathan making B-pictures. Fed's moment of truth comes when his chance to breakthrough by directing a big-budged film of a classic (the screenplay of which he has written, no less!) is denied him when Jonathan dumps him for a famed director. A mesmerizing must-see film about the inner workings of Hollywood in its heyday with flawless direction as usual by Vincente Minelli, gorgeous B&W cinematography, and what has got to be one of the most breathtakingly haunting movie scores in history!
Rating:
Summary: "I've made a career out of playing SOB's"
Review: Kirk Douglas once said this when remarking upon his movie career and in this film he portrays one to perfection the way only he can. "The Bad and the Beautiful" is a brutal, behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood's Golden Age in its portrayal of Tinseltown as a city full of backstabbing, betrayal and heartbreak but also one of magic, wonder and possibility. Douglas plays SOB extraordinaire Jonathan Shields, loosely based on movie mogul David O. Selznick. Like Selznick, Shield's once wildly successful--and widely hated--father died in bankrupt and movie studio-less disgrace, which left his son determined to restore his father's name and success at any costs. Lana Turner, Dick Powell, and Barry Sullivan give sterling performances as the three unfortunates who are left professionally successful but emotionally devastated by Jonathan's (sometimes unintended) treachery and ruthless ambition. In the role she should have been nominated for instead of "Peyton Place," Turner is cleverly cast as mediocre actress Georgia Lorrison, another character based on a real-life Hollywood counterpart, this being Diana Barrymore, daughter of the Great Profile. She gives a superb performance as the troubled, alcoholic tramp daughter of a great star who becomes one herself. Jonathan does this for his own ego and scars Georgia when she realizes their romance was just a ploy to get her through filming. Dick Powell stars as James Lee Bartlow, bestselling novelist who has come to Hollywood to write a screenplay of his book with distracting wife Rosemary (played by vixenish Gloria Grahame) in tow. So James Lee can get to work, Jonathan whisks him away to a cabin the the woods while he arranges for flirtatious, star-struck Rosemary to go off with a latin movie idol; news comes of their deaths in a plane crash and James Lee becomes disillusioned when he discovers Jonathan's role in the affair, after which Jonathan has the bad sense to badmouth his dead wife! In this performance, along with his other 40's and 50's roles, Powell does a great job in a part he could truly sink his teeth into (unlike the 30's comic and light romance roles at Warner's). Barry Sullivan stars as Fred Amiel, a director who starts at the bottom with Jonathan making B-pictures. Fed's moment of truth comes when his chance to breakthrough by directing a big-budged film of a classic (the screenplay of which he has written, no less!) is denied him when Jonathan dumps him for a famed director. A mesmerizing must-see film about the inner workings of Hollywood in its heyday with flawless direction as usual by Vincente Minelli, gorgeous B&W cinematography, and what has got to be one of the most breathtakingly haunting movie scores in history!
Rating:
Summary: 'You have a very naughty mind.'
Review: The career of director Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) is examined through the stories of three people who worked with him, and swear they'll never do so again. Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan) is the director who worked with Shields when they worked on a series of B films together. James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) is the Southern professor turned Hollywood screenwriter whose grievance with Shields stems from personal tragedy. Shields redeemed actress, Georgia Lorrison--he saw her star quality, but then his wanton cruelty almost destroyed her. Amiel, Bartlow and Lorrison each have a tale to tell through flashbacks, and their stories reveal different aspects of Shields' nature.
Supporting roles include Walter Pidgeon, Gloria Grahame (as the annoying yet charming Mrs. Bartlow), and Gilbert Roland as Gaucho, a dashing, Hollywood romantic lead. 'The Bad and the Beautiful' is directed by Vincente Minnelli, and while this drama contains aspects of the classic tear-jerker, its emphasis remains squarely on hard-boiled Hollywood.
The most fascinating thing about this well-structured film is the character of Jonathan Shields. He's an ambitious, driven man--that's quite clear, but he's also complex. In his relationship with Georgia Lorrison, Shields is extremely interesting. He shows persistence when salvaging Georgia, and he handles her with a tough reality that she responds to. Many people would fold under the tough challenges Shields offers, but he reads Georgia's character well, and anticipates her reactions. Unfortunately, Shields also has a hard, ruthless side, and he's perfectly willing to dump people when he's used them to get what he wants.
DVD extras include a documentary about Lana Turner, and the original screen trailers. The DVD transfer is excellent--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: A Great Film about Hollywood
Review: The deft hand of master director Vincente Minnelli was clearly visible in this rapidly paced scorcher about Hollywood. Minnelli had a master cast which was put to adroit use to carve out a memorable gem. The film is seen through the viewpoint and career experiences of a highly complicated genius producer played by Kirk Douglas with a penchant for using people and getting them extremely angry at him. Finally his tricks have placed him on Hollywood's backburner as he seeks one more chance to produce a film based on an idea he believes cannot miss. The irony of the film is that, yes, the major Hollywood figures who despise him had been mistreated, but the connection to Douglas propelled all of them to the heights. Lana Turner was romanced by Douglas and discarded, but he launched her toward superstar status. Barry Sullivan had worked as a faithful and career cautious assistant under Douglas, was doublecrossed, then went out and achieved fame as a director on his own. He arranged an extramarital foray between Dick Powell's meddlesome wife, Gloria Grahame, with lothario actor Gilbert Roland so that Powell can fully concentrate on a screenplay assignment for Douglas. Their rendezvous ends in the tragic plane crash deaths of Grahame and Roland. Powell then goes on to establish a career as an Oscar-winning scenarist after a life as a literature professor and novelist. Walter Pidgeon is the experienced studio head who, through fascinating flashbacks, recounts the experiences of Douglas and his celebrated contacts. Just before Fadeout he has succeeded in arousing their collective curiosity as they agree to talk to Douglas on the phone about his project. John Houseman produced this celebrated film, which won 5 Oscars, including Gloria Grahame for Best Supporting Actress and Charles Schnee for Best Original Screenplay.
Rating:
Summary: Bad and the Beautiful
Review: The finest movie on Hollywood. Lana Turner is magnificent and too beautiful to be believed. Intelligent and sophisticated. Gloria Grahame is also brilliant. Makes me sad to see the work that used to be done.
Rating: 
Summary: Soapy, but entertaining
Review: This is a slick and enjoyable wallow by Hollywood about Hollywood, which succeeds despite Lana Turner's performance (she was not a good actress and ended up trying much too hard as a result). Gloria Grahame specialized in creating vivid supporting characters but never got her full props -- if you're impressed with her work here, check her out as Ado Annie in Oklahoma or in any number of excellent films noirs, including her unforgettable role as Lee Marvin's girl in The Big Heat. Kirk Douglas was born to play nasty connivers; he could go over the top at times but in a movie like TBATB, that just adds to the fun. Also deserving of mention is the superb score by David Raksin, another of Hollywood's best who never got much recognition beyond Laura (the one score everyone knows). Raksin, unlike expat European classical musicians such as Korngold, Waxman, Herrmann et al. was a pure Hollywood product, cutting his teeth working on Charlie Chaplin shorts and helping to pioneer film scoring as an art form. Raksin's TBATB score perfectly sums up the emotional throughline of the story, and the gorgeous main theme stays with you long after the film's done.
Rating:
Summary: A great Hollywood film about Hollywood..
Review: This is perhaps my favorite Hollywood movie about Hollywood. All the actors from the sublime Barry Sullivan, to the eurodite Dick Powell, to the glamorous Lana Turner, to the amazing Kirk Douglas, give teriffic performances. It's a shame that only Gloria Grahame received an oscar. The film is about a Director (Sullivan) a movie star (Turner) and a writer (Powell). All three are gathered so that they can be asked to make a motion picture for a producer (Douglas) who's fallen on hard times. In turn, each describes his or her experience with Douglas' character while waiting for him to call. Even though Douglas made each of them a success in his or her field, each one was hurt by Douglas and had a falling out. To me this film is analogous to boxing, one cannot become a sucess at it without receiving a bloody nose. I love the way the film ends ambiguously. No need to wrap things up, let the audience decide.
Rating:
Summary: captivating
Review: this movie is one other masterpiece, a movie on the movies- but the best one. no hesitating, buy this one.
Rating:
Summary: FASCINATING BEHIND THE SCREEN FILM
Review: Vincente Minnelli delivers one of his best dramas, a probing study of an egotistical man, who both characters and audience like and hate. Enthusiastic, backstabbing, likable and loathsome, Kirk Douglas' slimy producer is one of his most remarkable creations, forming the center of the film, connecting all characters, most memorably Lana Turner's alcoholic starlet and Gloria Grahame's scheming wife of a novelist/screenwriter.Minnelli uses black and white like an old painter, spinning a web of lies and deceit, but apparently never love for the characters other than creating motion pictures.Scathing and sublime.
Rating:
Summary: How Hollywood sees itself...& the world.
Review: What makes The Bad and the Beautiful outstanding is that it is Hollywood doing Hollywood at its Hollywood best, slickly & glamorously & gorgeously & dramatically. In no way is it about "real" people or "real" life. This film wonderfully exemplifies why everyone in America, if not the world, wants to be a movie star. It's about life taking place with a perpetual audience in mind. No matter how bad things get in this film, you always know they're happening at the very center of the universe with everyone's eyeballs focussing in. And it's got the best damned score in film history too!
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