Review of The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) by Cindy I — 11 Mar 2010

This is a racy, mud-slinging look at the dark underbelly of the movie business, and it is YUMMY!. Kirk Douglas is at the top of his game as the backstabbing self-absorbed A-hole producer Jonathan Shields. The story is told in flashback by the people Shields has screwed over -- Barry Sullivan as the screenwriter with a dream that Shields stole from him, Lana Turner as the troubled starlet Shields pretends to love (or WAS it pretend?) in order to get what he wants out of her, Dick Powell as the author whose writing talents Jonathan uses to his own ends, where even tragedy doesn't soften his selfish, "win at any cost" attitude, and Walter Pidgeon as the studio head that Shields befriends and steps on up the ladder of success.

There is so much I liked about this, but two things stand out. Dick Powell I'm just liking more and more. I'm not a fan of his musicals, but between this and his role in Murder My Sweet, I'm interested in looking into more of his films. Ditto for director Vincente Minnelli. A nod should also go to Gloria Grahame, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Powell's star-struck Southern Belle wife.

This film holds a mirror up to Hollywood, and I'm not sure it liked what it saw. BTW -- did anyone else suspect that Douglas' character was based on David O. Selznick? Just wondering...

UPDATE: AHA! I was right. I just read a critique of this film by Roger Ebert in his book The Great Movies. He says that the character of Jonathan Shields is loosely based on Selznick, with nods to Orson Welles and Irving Thalberg as well.