The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) is a MGM
melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
tic film which tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It stars
Lana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
,
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
,
Walter PidgeonWalter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor who lived most of his adult life in the United States.-Early life:...
,
Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
,
Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, the seventh son of a seventh son, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
, and
Gloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
.
The film was written by George Bradshaw and
Charles SchneeCharles Schnee gave up law to become a screenwriter in the mid-1940s, crafting scripts for the classic Westerns Red River and The Furies , the social melodrama They Live By Night , and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful , for which he won an Academy...
and directed by
Vincente MinnelliVincente Minnelli 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...
. It won
Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for
Best Actress in a Supporting RolePerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Gloria Grahame),
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-WhiteThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(
Cedric GibbonsAustin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
,
Edward CarfagnoEdward Carfagno was an art director who established himself in the 1950s with his Oscar-winning work on such films as Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful , Joseph Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar and William Wyler's Ben-Hur...
,
Edwin B. WillisEdwin Booth Willis was an award-winning motion picture set designer and decorator. Willis worked exclusively at MGM studios for his entire career. During his career as a set designer Willis worked on over 600 separate productions...
,
F. Keogh GleasonFrancis Keogh Gleason was a resident set decorator at MGM studios for over 40 years. In that time he won 4 Academy Awards and was nominated an additional 3 times....
),
Best Cinematography, Black-and-WhiteThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture....
,
Best Costume Design, Black-and-WhiteThis Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies.- 1940s :Black-and-White*1948: Roger K. Furse – Hamlet** Irene Lentz – B...
and Best Writing, Screenplay. Douglas was nominated for
Best Actor in a Leading RolePerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
The Bad and the Beautiful holds the record for most Oscars won (five) by a movie that was not nominated for
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
.
In 2002 the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
In Hollywood, screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (
Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
), movie star Georgia Lorrison (
Lana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
), and director Fred Amiel (
Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan may refer to:*Barry Sullivan , a film and Broadway actor*Barry Sullivan , Irish born stage actor...
) each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields (
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
) in Paris.
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) is a MGM
melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
tic film which tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It stars
Lana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
,
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
,
Walter PidgeonWalter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor who lived most of his adult life in the United States.-Early life:...
,
Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
,
Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, the seventh son of a seventh son, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
, and
Gloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
.
The film was written by George Bradshaw and
Charles SchneeCharles Schnee gave up law to become a screenwriter in the mid-1940s, crafting scripts for the classic Westerns Red River and The Furies , the social melodrama They Live By Night , and the cynical Hollywood saga The Bad and the Beautiful , for which he won an Academy...
and directed by
Vincente MinnelliVincente Minnelli 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...
. It won
Academy AwardsThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for
Best Actress in a Supporting RolePerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Gloria Grahame),
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-WhiteThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(
Cedric GibbonsAustin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
,
Edward CarfagnoEdward Carfagno was an art director who established himself in the 1950s with his Oscar-winning work on such films as Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful , Joseph Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar and William Wyler's Ben-Hur...
,
Edwin B. WillisEdwin Booth Willis was an award-winning motion picture set designer and decorator. Willis worked exclusively at MGM studios for his entire career. During his career as a set designer Willis worked on over 600 separate productions...
,
F. Keogh GleasonFrancis Keogh Gleason was a resident set decorator at MGM studios for over 40 years. In that time he won 4 Academy Awards and was nominated an additional 3 times....
),
Best Cinematography, Black-and-WhiteThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture....
,
Best Costume Design, Black-and-WhiteThis Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies.- 1940s :Black-and-White*1948: Roger K. Furse – Hamlet** Irene Lentz – B...
and Best Writing, Screenplay. Douglas was nominated for
Best Actor in a Leading RolePerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
The Bad and the Beautiful holds the record for most Oscars won (five) by a movie that was not nominated for
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible...
.
In 2002 the United States
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress and is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books. The head...
deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
Plot
In Hollywood, screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (
Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
), movie star Georgia Lorrison (
Lana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
), and director Fred Amiel (
Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan may refer to:*Barry Sullivan , a film and Broadway actor*Barry Sullivan , Irish born stage actor...
) each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields (
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
) in Paris. Movie producer Harry Pebbel (
Walter PidgeonWalter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor who lived most of his adult life in the United States.-Early life:...
) gathers them in his office and begs them to help Shields out.
The backstory of their involvement with Shields unfolds. Shields is the son of a notorious old filmmaker who had been dumped by the industry. He was so unpopular that his son had to hire "extras" to attend his funeral. Shields is determined to make it in Hollywood by any means necessary.
In a flashback, Shields partners with aspiring director Amiel, whom he meets at his father's funeral. In a poker game, Shields intentionally loses money he does not have to film executive Pebbel so he can talk Pebbel into letting him work off the debt. Shields and Amiel learn their respective trades making low-budget films for him. Amiel decides he is ready to film a project he has been nursing along. Shields pitches it to the studio. He gets a large budget to produce the film, but has to betray Amiel by letting someone with an established reputation direct it.
Shields next encounters alcoholic small-time actress Lorrison, the daughter of a famous actor Shields admired. He builds up her confidence and gives her the leading role in one of his movies over everyone else's objections. When she falls in love with him, he lets her think that he feels the same way in order to get the performance he needs. After a smash premiere makes her a star overnight, she finds him with a beautiful bit player named Laila (
Elaine StewartElaine Stewart is an American actress and model.-Life:Stewart was born in Montclair, New Jersey....
). He drives Lorrison away, telling her that he will never allow anyone to have that much control over him.
Finally, Bartlow is a contented professor at a small college who has written a bestselling book. Shields wants to turn it into a film and have him write the script. Bartlow is not interested, but his shallow Southern belle wife, Rosemary (
Gloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
) is, so he agrees to do it for her sake. They go to Hollywood, where Shields is annoyed to find that her constant distractions are keeping her husband from his work. He gets his suave actor friend Victor "Gaucho" Ribera (
Gilbert RolandGilbert Roland was a Mexican-born naturalized United States citizen who starred in many films.He was born Luis Antonio Damaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father...
) to keep her occupied. Freed from interruption, Bartlow has no trouble finishing the script. Rosemary, however, runs off with Gaucho and they are killed in a plane crash. When Shields slips and reveals his involvement, Bartlow leaves too.
Shields then decides to direct a film himself, instead of just producing it. But he botches it. Everybody else does admirably, but the result is a mess. Shields' stubborn refusal to release it leads to his bankruptcy.
The story comes full circle to the beginning. When all three reject Shields' offer to work together again, Pebbel sarcastically agrees that Shields "ruined" their lives. They are all now at the top of their professions. As they leave, Pebbel is still talking to Shields. Out of his sight, the three eavesdrop on another phone while Shields describes his new idea and become more and more interested.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|
Lana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
|
Georgia Lorrison |
Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
|
Jonathan Shields |
| Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor who lived most of his adult life in the United States.-Early life:...
|
Harry Pebbel |
| Dick Powell Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
|
James Lee Bartlow |
| Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, the seventh son of a seventh son, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
|
Fred Amiel |
Gloria GrahameGloria Grahame was an American actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...
|
Rosemary Bartlow |
| Gilbert Roland Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born naturalized United States citizen who starred in many films.He was born Luis Antonio Damaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father...
|
Victor 'Gaucho' Ribera |
| Leo G. Carroll Leo Gratten Carroll was an English actor, best known for his roles in several Hitchcock films and The Man from U.N.C.L.E..-Life and career:...
|
Henry Whitfield, a British director |
| Vanessa Brown Vanessa Brown was an Austrian-American actress who was successful in radio, film, theater, and television...
|
Kay Amiel, Fred's wife |
| Paul Stewart Paul Stewart was an American character actor known for his tough, guttural voice. He frequently portrayed villains and mobsters throughout his lengthy career....
|
Syd Murphy |
Sammy WhiteSammy White was an American vaudeville song-and-dance comedian who appeared in a few films. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He appeared with Lew Clayton, as Clayton and White, in the Broadway show Schubert Gaieties of 1919.With his first wife, Eva Puck, White appeared in vaudeville as...
|
Gus, Lorrison's overly-emotional agent |
| Elaine Stewart Elaine Stewart is an American actress and model.-Life:Stewart was born in Montclair, New Jersey....
|
Lila |
| Ivan Triesault |
Von Ellstein |
There has been much debate as to which real-life Hollywood legends are represented by the film's characters. Jonathan Shields is thought to be a blending of
David O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick, born David Selznick , was one of the iconic Hollywood producers of the Golden Age. He is best known for producing the epic blockbuster Gone with the Wind which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture. Not only did Gone with the Wind gross the highest amount of money in the U.S...
,
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
and
Val LewtonVal Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, who is best known for a sequence of nine brooding horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s....
. Lewton's
Cat PeopleCat People is a horror film produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur. The writing is credited to DeWitt Bodeen, but Tourneur, composer Roy Webb, Lewton and his secretary all contributed to the script. The cinematographer was Tourneur's sometime collaborator Nicholas Musuraca...
is clearly the inspiration behind an early Shields-Amiel film. The Georgia Lorrison character is the daughter of a "Great Profile" actor like
John BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth Barrymore was an American actor, frequently called the greatest of his generation. He first gained fame as a stage actor, lauded for his portrayals of Hamlet and Richard III...
(
Diana BarrymoreDiana Barrymore was an American film and stage actress. She was the aunt of actress Drew Barrymore.- Early life :...
's career was in fact launched the same year as her father's death), but it can also be argued that Lorrison includes elements of Minnelli's ex-wife
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
.
Gilbert RolandGilbert Roland was a Mexican-born naturalized United States citizen who starred in many films.He was born Luis Antonio Damaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father...
's Gaucho may almost be seen as self-parody, as he had recently starred in a series of Cisco Kid pictures, though the character's name, Ribera, would seem to give a nod also to famed Hollywood seducer
Porfirio RubirosaPorfirio Rubirosa Ariza , was a Dominican diplomat, polo player and race car driver who competed in the 1950 and 1954 24 Hour of Le Mans, but was best known as an international playboy for his jet setting lifestyle and legendary prowess with women.Born to an upper middle-class...
. The director Henry Whitfield (
Leo G. CarrollLeo Gratten Carroll was an English actor, best known for his roles in several Hitchcock films and The Man from U.N.C.L.E..-Life and career:...
) is a "difficult" director modeled on
Alfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, and his assistant Miss March (
Kathleen FreemanKathleen Freeman was an American film, television, and stage actress. In a career that spanned more than fifty years, she portrayed tart maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors, almost invariably to comic effect.-Early life:Freeman was born in Chicago, Illinois...
) is modeled on Hitchcock's wife
Alma RevilleAlma Lucy, Lady Hitchcock was an assistant director, screenwriter and editor...
. The James Lee Barlow character may have been inspired by Paul Eliot Green, the University of North Carolina academic-turned-screenwriter of
The Cabin in the CottonThe Cabin in the Cotton is a 1932 American drama film directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay by Paul Green was based on a novel by Harry Harrison Kroll...
.