In The Bad and the Beautiful, Kirk Douglas plays a tyrannical, manipulative producer fallen on hard times. To get back on his feet, he asks for help from three Hollywood giants whose careers he helped launch—a director (Barry Sullivan), an actress (Lana Turner), and a writer (Dick Powell). Unfortunately, they all hate him. Flashbacks explain why. Douglas had been close to all three at different points in his career: He and the director started out together making B-movies, he gave the wayward actress her first starring role, he turned the novelist into a successful screenwriter. Then in one way or another he stabbed each of them in the back, though not always deliberately. The script has a lot of backstage clichés, but Vincente Minnelli’s sharp, energetic direction, the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, and the topnotch performances—particularly Douglas and Gloria Grahame, who won an Oscar for her sweet role as the writer’s cheerful Southern wife—flesh out the clichés with cutting details and convincing bile. Caustic, starry-eyed, and slyly funny, The Bad and the Beautiful is a strange and skillful blend of “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere” pluck and poisonous cynicism, one of the great movies about making movies. —Bret Fetzer
Vincente Minnelli (February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was a Hollywood director and stage director. His skilled integration of story, music, lighting, and design elements in a film made him the most critically respected crafter of American film musicals. With first wife Judy Garland, he was the father of Liza Minnelli.
Born Lester Anthony Minnelli in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Minnelli was the youngest surviving child of Mina Mary LaLouette Le Beau and Vincent Charles Minnelli. His father was musical conductor of Minnelli Brothers’ Tent Theater. Minnelli’s Chicago-born mother was of French Canadian descent and his paternal grandfather was from Sicily.
With his background in theatre, Minnelli was known as an auteur who always brought his stage experience to his films. The first movie that he directed, Cabin in the Sky (1943), was visibly influenced by the theater. Shortly after that, he directed Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), during which he befriended the film’s star… read more
Remember Sunset Boulevard, just that this is more humane when it unveils the movie industry, presenting both sides of the balance in a portrait in shades of gray. Wounds and remedies.
A ferocious performance by Kirk Douglas sustains this melodrama that has a bigger reputation than it really deserves. It's nothing special and for pure hysteria seek out TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN
Although this melodramatic Hollywood exposé may not have the same shock value it had 60 years ago, it still holds up surprisingly well today on its own terms. Lana Turner's star power doesn't quite compensate for her just adequate acting ability, which keeps this film from ranking as an unqualified classic. Otherwise, the cast is uniformly outstanding, including Kirk Douglas in one of his best performances.
The comprehensive retrospective runs through May 31.
And to think he’s appeared in nearly as many films.
BAMcinématek and the Locarno Film Festival take that word “Complete” seriously. The retrospective runs through November 2.
"Elaine Stewart, 81, an actress who appeared in a string of films in the 1950s and after taking a break to start a family appeared on the 1970s
Ketika kita membicarakan tema narsisistik self-contemplation, tidak ada yang dapat membuatnya lebih baik dari Hollywood. The Bad and the Beautiful adalah pilihan yang mewakili. Melodrama? Hell yes… read review
