Dear Cinephiles,

How something bad can create something so beautiful? That is at the heart of one of my favorite Kirk Douglas’ movies, “The Bad and The Beautiful.” In the 1950s, when the studio system’s power started to fade, there were a group of films that – not coincidentally – started to do some analysis about the business – warts and all. Classic movies like “Sunset Boulevard,” “A Star is Born,” and “Singin’ in the Rain” were released during this time. “The Bad and The Beautiful” joined this group and one that I’m particularly fond of revisiting – not only for Kirk’s career defining performance – but because it was directed by one of the best directors of this era – Vincente Minnelli (husband of Judy Garland and father of Liza.)

“The Bad and The Beautiful” makes for compelling drama. It celebrates movie making but doesn’t shy away from showing you its ugly side – the devastating egos that built the business. It revolves around a film producer Jonathan Shields – who has made the career of many yet destroyed their personal lives – alienating everyone around him. When the movie begins, he’s gathered three of his biggest stars – a director, an actress and a screenwriter to convince to do one more project. The movie fluidly weaves in and out of flashbacks.

Throughout the years, there has been a lot of speculation about who are the characters in the film based on. The producer is allegedly famed studio head David O. Selznick. Some argue that the actress (played by Lana Turner) is Judy Garland. The director is probably a composite of Alfred Hitchcock, Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1953 and it won four. Gloria Grahame won Best Supporting Actress for a screen time of only 9 minutes and a half – the record for the shortest performance ever to win – until 1977 (when Beatrice Straight won for “Network” for a role that was only five minutes and forty seconds long.)

Kirk Douglas is so seductive and sexy in this – yet diabolical. The combination of talent in this movie is phenomenal. The script is crisp. The noir look of the film keeps us in suspense. This is a delicious viewing that is fun and poignant.

There are so many great lines and moments in this movie. Here’s the one I’m particularly fond of – Kirk Douglas saying:
“If you dream, DREAM BIG!”

I hope you’re having a good weekend.

Love,
Roger

The Bad and the Beautiful
Available to Rent on: Amazon Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies, FandangoNOW, Vudu, & Microsoft Store

Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Starring Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame, Gilbert Roland
118 minutes

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood’s top movie makers.