Review of The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) by Jonathan I — 10 Nov 2015

There are a lot of pricks in Hollywood and many great movies have been about them. This isn't one of those movies.

Kirk Douglas plays our prick producer as he steps over three lives (a director's, an actress's, and a writer's) to become one of the most successful producers in Hollywood's history. As far as his performance goes, Douglas is great. He's charming, determined, and it's very easy to see how and why anyone would fall under his hypnotic spell. Unfortunately, the film's script is really too tame, so that we don't really get the "this guy is an asshole" feel the film wants to tell.

Yes, he does do some crummy things, but the only one who is given a true reason that we can really understand Douglas's jerk behavior is the writer. This is the only time in the movie where the hatred justifies the crimes. The hatred of the three wronged parties doesn't really come across very well, because the material given to two of the three isn't enough.

It's pretty to look at, but it's a very lacking film that seems almost afraid of its own subject matter. If you want a 50s film of how brutal Hollywood and the star making machine can be, check out Sunset Boulevard or All About Eve. See this film for Douglas's performance only.