Review of The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) by Blake P — 17 Aug 2011

This is a classic! Jonathan Shields (Douglas) is a selfish, cold-hearted movie producer who takes advantage of people to get to the top of the film ladder. He ruins the lives of an actress (Turner), a director (Sullivan), and a writer (Powell).

After their incidents with Shields, they all succeed in the business, but when he wants them all to make a picture with him, will they do it? "The Bad and the Beautiful" is a movie I have heard about for a very, very long time.

Having heard so many things, I finally decided it was time to put it into my DVD player. All I can say is wow. The story is weird, we have the three main characters in a room with the movie company owner (Pidgeon) discussing what their past experiences with Shields has been like.

It's told through flashbacks by each person, and it almost seems like the movie itself was divided into three parts. That was cool, because I know how difficult it is to do something so complicated, but it is very well done.

Vincente Minnelli's direction is flawless, and the fact that he didn't even get nominated for an Oscar surprises me beyond belief. The cinematography definitely deserved it's award, and it really reminded me of film noir throughout.

It looks great, and really sets that dark mood down. All of the casts performances are great (Kirk Douglas should have won), and I consider this to be Lana Turner's best performance. Yes, I have seen "The Postman Always Rings Twice", but all she had to do was be sexy there-- here she cries, gets drunk, and turns into a movie star.

Which one sounds better to you? My one complaint however is how much of a steal it seemed for Gloria Grahame to win. I really do like her, but watching Jean Hagen who was also nominated for "Singin' in the Rain" is almost crushing considering Grahame's amount of screen time is only about fifteen minutes.

Anyways, "The Bad and the Beautiful" is a wonderful MGM melodrama/film noir that any film lover will love at some level.