The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Charles Schnee (screenplay)
George Bradshaw (story)

Release Date:

9 February 1953 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

I took you out of the gutter . . . I can fling you back!

Plot:

An actress, a director, and a writer are asked to help revive the career of ruthless Hollywood studio bigwig Jonathan Shields. However, all three are reluctant because they have all been used and betrayed by him in the past.

Plot Keywords:

Director | Writer | Star | Actress | Hollywood

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Georgia Larisson
Kirk Douglas	...	Jonathan Shields
Walter Pidgeon	...	Harry Pebbel
Dick Powell	...	James Lee Bartlow
Barry Sullivan	...	Fred Amiel
Gloria Grahame	...	Rosemary Bartlow
Gilbert Roland	...	Victor 'Gaucho' Ribera
Leo G. Carroll	...	Henry Whitfield
Vanessa Brown	...	Kay Amiel
Paul Stewart	...	Syd Murphy
Sammy White	...	Gus
Elaine Stewart	...	Lila
Ivan Triesault	...	Von Ellstein
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jay Adler	...	Mr. Z - party guest (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews	...	Sheriff (uncredited)
Ben Astar	...	Joe, Party Guest (uncredited)
Barbara Billingsley	...	Evelyn Lucien, Costume Designer (uncredited)
John Bishop	...	Ferraday (uncredited)
Madge Blake	...	Mrs. Rosser (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford	...	Man Outside Club (uncredited)
Hadda Brooks	...	Piano player (uncredited)
Robert Burton	...	McDill (uncredited)
Francis X. Bushman	...	Eulogist (uncredited)
Louis Calhern	...	Recorded Voice of George Lorrison (voice) (uncredited)
Marietta Canty	...	Ida (uncredited)
Robert Carson	...	Casting Director (uncredited)
Janet Comerford	...	Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Jonathan Cott	...	Assistant Director (uncredited)
Lillian Culver	...	Real Estate Woman (uncredited)
Alexis Davidoff	...	Priest (uncredited)
Bob Davis	...	Assistant (uncredited)
Sandy Descher	...	Screaming Little Girl on "Cat Man" set (uncredited)
Phil Dunham	...	Pawn Broker (uncredited)
Steve Dunhill	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Assistant on Set (uncredited)
James Farrar	...	Publicity Man (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Joe's Friend at Party (uncredited)
Steve Forrest	...	Actor in Georgia's Screen Test (uncredited)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Miss March (uncredited)
Frank Gerstle	...	Gabby Agent at Party (uncredited)
Ned Glass	...	Wardrobe Man (uncredited)
Lisa Golm	...	Undetermined Minor Role (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Phyllis Graffeo	...	Leading Lady (uncredited)
A. Cameron Grant	...	Timmy, Assistant Director (uncredited)
William E. Greene	...	Hugh Shields in Portrait (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer	...	Studio Lighting Technician (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Stuart Holmes	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Ted Jordan	...	Assistant Director (uncredited)
Kurt Kasznar	...	Party guest (uncredited)
Joseph Keane	...	Assistant Director (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Mourner (uncredited)
Peggy King	...	Singer (uncredited)
Lucy Knoch	...	Blonde Dancing with Gaucho (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Preview Ticket Taker (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	'Far Away Mountain' Test Actor #2 (uncredited)
Paul Marion	...	Spanish Actor in Screen Test (uncredited)
Paul Maxey	...	Man talking to gabby agent at party (uncredited)
May McAvoy	...	Pebbel's secretary (uncredited)
Harold Miller	...	Mourner at Shields Funeral (uncredited)
Patrick J. Molyneaux	...	Studio Electrician (uncredited)
Roger Moore	...	Cigar Clerk (uncredited)
Ellanora Needles	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Richard Norris	...	Leading Man (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Waiter at Party (uncredited)
Christopher Olsen	...	Amiel's Boy (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley	...	Man Outside Club (uncredited)
Dorothy Patrick	...	Arlene (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Assistant Director (uncredited)
Paul Power	...	Theatre Manager (uncredited)
Kathy Qualen	...	Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Perry Sheehan	...	Pebbel's Secretary (uncredited)
George Sherwood	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Reginald Simpson	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Mabel Smaney	...	Heavy Woman (uncredited)
William Tannen	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Actor in Catman Suit (uncredited)
Dee Turnell	...	Linda Ronley (uncredited)
Kaaren Verne	...	Rosa (uncredited)
Ray Walker	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Harte Wayne	...	Judge (uncredited)
Larry Williams	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Butler (uncredited)
Douglas Yorke	...	Leading Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli

Writing credits
Charles Schnee		(screenplay)
George Bradshaw		(story)

Produced by
John Houseman	....	producer

Original Music by
David Raksin

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees

Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno		(as Edward Carfagno)
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose		(costumes: women)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerry Thorpe	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording supervisor

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Eric Alden	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Gus Bivona	....	musician: saxophone (uncredited)
Lawrence Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
David Raksin	....	conductor (uncredited)
David Raksin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Ruby Raksin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Alex Romero	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vidéo (2006) (France) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)  grateful for permission to use the Academy Award Statuette

Also Known As:

Memorial to a Bad Man (USA) (working title)
Tribute to a Badman (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #16017) | UK:PG | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows - 9641 Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Cameo: [T.E.B. Clarke]Barry Sullivan's assistant.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the director Von Ellstein and Shields are having their big spat on how a just-concluded scene should have been directed and the overall directorial style and vision for the picture, the cuts between the perspective views of their arguing show Shields alternately with tensed outstretched arms and then casually folded hands on the top step of the short ladder or whatever that was he was leaning on.

Quotes:

Georgia Lorrison: People who knew my father give me the extra work and a line to say every now and then. I drink what I want, I see who I want. Who knows. Someday, I may even get married, to a nice, upright, assistant's assistant.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Temptation

show biz can't satisfy anyone

One thing that I've always wondered is why no one looks at Hollywood more negatively than Hollywood itself. But whatever the reason, "The Bad and the Beautiful" pulls no punches in looking at its topic. The movie portrays some people explaining how they used to be friends of producer Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) but have since turned against him. There's the director whom Shields promised a directing job but betrayed him, the writer who lost his wife to Shields's actions, and the actress whom Shields drove to madness.

I thought that one of the most effective scenes in the movie was Kirk Douglas holding Lana Turner in his arms. Here he is, this overbearing, hostile character forced to almost coddle his gorgeous female star; it might be showing how he may seemingly have exalted her, but he remains in a higher position and is merely using her and sending her into insanity. And the scene of her driving the car while completely upset elaborates on this idea.

And then, there's the writer. He and his wife move from Virginia hoping to get really big in Hollywood...until tragedy strikes. It all goes to show the disaster inherent in any industry (of course, Douglas's character exacerbates any problem). But anyway, this is a formidable part of cinema history; a precursor to movies like "The Player". Also starring Dick Powell, Walter Pidgeon and Gloria Grahame (who won Best Supporting Actress).