Film Review
Despite its surface gentility and melodramatic restraint, there is
a deliciously cruel, almost vicious, underbelly to
The
Bad and the Beautiful, Vincente Minnelli's frighteningly astute
commentary on Hollywood in its golden era. This is not the only
major Hollywood production to lift the lid on the vagaries of Tinsel
Town - others notable examples include
Sunset Boulevard (1950),
Singin' in the Rain (1952) and
A Star Is Born (1954) - but it
is one of the most revealing, and it is not too hard to see who might
be the inspiration for the main protagonists. The episode
involving the cat people appears to identify Kirk Douglas's character
(Jonathan Shields) as the famous B-movie producer Val Lewton, although
other incidents in the film suggest that he is more closely modelled on
the producer David O. Selznick. The film won five Oscars in 1953,
in the categories of Best Supporting Actress (Gloria Grahame), Best Art
Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best
Screenplay. Kirk Douglas was also nominated for the Best Actor
Award, but lost out to Gary Cooper in
High Noon.
The Bad and the Beautiful
assembles a stunning cast, and each of the lead actors - Lana Turner,
Kirk Douglas, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan and Walter Pidgeon - turns in
a faultless performance, all well-served by an intelligent, compelling
and well-constructed screenplay. Minnelli's direction is at its
most elegant and inspired, subtly exposing the dual natures of each of
the protagonists as their conflicting desires and ambitions ferment
into a deadly cocktail, with explosive results. None of the
characters is entirely sympathetic - they are variously deluded,
egoistical and unforgiving - and it isn't long before the ugly side of
the dream factory begins to ram-raid its shiny façade.
Kirk Douglas's character may be the epitome of the unscrupulous,
underhand Hollywood film producer, but in the end he is the one we most
pity, the misunderstood star-maker who ends up being rejected and
despised by the very things he creates. Is it so unlikely that we
should see something of Vincente Minnelli himself in the spurned film
producer? In any event,
The
Bad and the Beautiful is one of Minnelli's most personal and
revealing films, and quite possibly Hollywood's most incisive and
damning exposé of itself in its glorious heyday.
© James Travers 2012
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Next Vincente Minnelli film:
Brigadoon (1954)
Film Synopsis
Film producer Harry Pebbel rounds up three people who owe their success
to his associate Jonathan Shields, on the pretext of persuading them to
work with Shields on his next film. They are film director Fred
Amiel, star actress Georgia Lorrison and screenwriter James Lee
Bartlow. All three were made famous by Shields, but they all bear
him a grudge as a result of a personal betrayal. It was Amiel who
gave Shields his first break as a producer, and they had a successful
time together making low budget B-movies. When they came to make
their first A-picture, Shields chose another director in place of
Amiel, causing the latter to walk away in disgust. Georgia
Lorrison was an unknown bit player before she met Shields, the first
studio executive to see she had star potential. But having made
Georgia into a star, Shields shattered her illusions by carrying on an
affair with another woman. James Lee Bartlow has most reason to
hate Shields. It was Shields who persuaded him to write a
screenplay adaptation of his bestselling novel. Aware that
Bartlow is being constantly distracted by his wife Rosemary, Shields
introduces the latter to the actor Gaucho, with tragic results...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.