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Simply Perfect

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I have no objections to this film, nor I have anything to praise, so I have the nothing to write about. I watched it because it's considered to be one of the best movies of its time and because it won five Academy Awards, out of which I can understand only Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, won by Gloria Grahame. For everything else, nothing really special. Nice and relaxed melodrama, perfect for resting the brain on a lazy Sunday afternoon.6/10

The Bad and the Beautiful may seem at first to be yet another Hollywood film about Hollywood, but that is far from the case. The movie is extremely well made. Kirk Douglas turns in a great performance as Johnathan Shields, a manipulative, broken man who unravels as the film progresses. The film's structure is also very unique, jumping back and forth between flashbacks and the present day as we hear 3 differing accounts of the type of person Shields is. The film is lit in quite a moody way, where the characters almost emit a soft glow and the borders of the screen fade into black. I found this to be very impressive and it helped to accentuate this dramatic tale. The music also stands out, especially compared to other films of the same time period (that weren't musicals). I think this does a great deal to elevate the movie from average to great.

In Hollywood, director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan), movie star Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner), and screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) in Paris. Movie producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) gathers them in his office and explains that Shields was calling them because he has a new film idea and he wants the three of them for the project.I suppose Vincente Minnelli may be known for musicals, such as "Meet Me in St. Louis". Today (2016) he is probably better known for his marriage to Judy Garland and being the father of Liza Minnelli more than for his own work. A shame, especially given this one.Look at this cast: Douglas, Turner, Pidgeon... and the way they interact. The movie was big in its day, at least in part because it was a guessing game who the characters were based on. Now, we know for certain that "Cat Men" is obviously "Cat People"... but that does not make Douglas a version of Val Lewton...

Who is Jonathan Shields? That is the story Vincente Minnelli drama is trying to tell. There is a Orson Welles 'Citizen Kane' feel to the film, as there are three stories told about Jonathan Shields through eschews the traditional linear, chronological narrative and tells Shield's story entirely in flashback using different points of view, many of them from people that Shield done wrong to. The movie starts in Hollywood, screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell), movie star Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner), and director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan) has been gather up by movie producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) to help Jonathan Shields (Kurt Douglas) with his newest movie, but each refuse, and tells Harry the reason why. The movie has a unreliable narrator to it, with each narrator recounts a different part of Shield's life, with each story partly overlapping follows a natural progression of events as Shields rises to fame. The movie is so like 'Kane', some critics are calling it 'Citizen Shields'. Each person's story is an act; so three people equal, three acts. The first narrator is the director that tells the story how Kurt Douglas launched his career with his help. The second act is told by the actress whom is the daughter of an also-failed father that become a strong and talented actress through Shields work. And the third act is taking a novelist and turning him into a credible and successful screenwriter. It's an amalgamation of so many stories that had been whirling around the industry for years. For some people, they believe Lana Turner's character is based on Diana Barrymore or Judy Garland. Kirk Douglas's Jonathan Shields is mixed with David O' Selznick, Darryl F. Zanuck & Val Lewton. Barry Sullivan's Fred Amiel on George Cukor of Gone to the Wind fame. For Dick Powell's character James Lee Bartlow, it's believe to be inspired by novelist Paul Eliot Green, William Faulkner or F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even the supporting cast might be based on real life characters such as supporting character Gilbert Roland whom play Gaucho might be a self-parody, but in my opinion I have a feeling it's based on Porfirio Rubirosa or better yet silent star Rudolph Valentino. Henry Whitfield (Leo G. Carroll) is mirroring Alfred Hitchcock. The three main actors (Turner, Powell, and Sullivan) are great in their roles. Everybody was outstanding in this film but Kirk Douglas stole the show. Kirk Douglas is great as the main role, playing the corrupt and amoral head of a major film studio in this Hollywood drama. For 1950's film, this movie has a lot of depth and comedy into it, that works. I was surprised to see the movie have women characters being alcoholic and sex addicts, rather than the charm roles they normally get in the films in those days. Supporting character Rosemary (Gloria Grahame) is one of those women characters. She was pretty funny in the role, but I don't agree that Gloria Grahame should have won the Oscar that year with her limited screen time,her ludicrous fake southern accent, as well, as the other actress who done better that year. Plenty of on-screen chemistry, tension and great casting make this film an outstanding drama. The only faults of the film are terms of its picture quality. We get a very nice, smooth looking transfer with much of the film grain and age related artifacts cleaned up. But there are moments where edge enhancement, shimmering and aliasing are so bad, you just can't help but get distracted away from the fine performances taking place underneath all that digital mess. When the image is free from these anomalies, contrast and black levels are superb. I also love the music. David Raksin, a marvelous composer as the film sports a jazzy and haunting tone similar to his later works in 'Laura'. Still this arrangement is over arranged and composer know his Jazz voicing but forgot a forceful melody line to add to it. Something like Cake decorations without the cake. Still, it's a cake worth eating. Check this movie out, for a great insight look at Hollywood.