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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The acting in this movie is really good.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I love this film! The frenetic pace of ambition told with explanation captivated my attention and made me obsessive about watching this story many times. The perverted nature of the love interest is fascinating as the story unfolds quickly and unrelentingly. The script in this movie is the winner and the lines are worth every minute of expression. George Peppard plays a Howard Hughes like character whose callous charm rivets the audience into submission as he hammers home one successful business into another. His personal life is haunted by never having had a mother growing up and a secret about an insane brother that motivates his obsessive perfectionism in business. Alan Ladd plays the "Max Sand" character who has helped raise Jonas Cord from childhood. Ladd's final movie leaves an indelible imprint here as his quiet masculinity pervades the storyline making the audience beg for more. The love story takes on several angles but is woven interestingly into a tangled web of intrigue and lust that meanders into a crowd pleasing conclusion. I highly recommend this movie not only for its script and depth of perspective into human character but also for its portrayal of early Hollywood and the machinations of a self made businessman who is hell bent on being first in several related businesses using capitalism as his tool for progress.

Harold Robbins' door-stopper of a novel "The Carpetbaggers" was a piece of trash and there was no way director Edward Dmytryk was going to make a silk purse out of that sow's ear while John Michael Hayes' screenplay certainly 'honored' Robbins' intentions. The central character of Jonas Cord was said to be based on Howard Hughes and given the material he had to work with, George Peppard is actually not at all bad. Of course, the movie itself is terrible, (how could it not be), but it's still ridiculously entertaining and it has a great cast; Alan Ladd, in what was to be his last role, Carroll Baker, Robert Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, (both excellent), Martha Hyer, Lew Ayres and Martin Balsam. It may not be quite a laugh a minute but it comes close.

"The Carpetbaggers" was seen as an adults-only movie upon its initial release (no doubt due to Carroll Baker's flamboyant outfits) but looks pretty tame by today's standards. A thinly-veiled account of Howard Hughes, the movie is actually a little better than you might expect it to be, despite the corny ending. George Peppard plays a ruthless chemical tycoon who insists on making a name for himself in cinema in the '20s and '30s.I understand that Carroll Baker's character is based on Jean Harlow. Interestingly enough, Baker played Harlow in a movie the following year. Like this movie, "Harlow" has had a reputation as being somewhat trashy (but I actually found it possible to take the movie seriously). This movie, meanwhile, cannot be considered any kind of masterpiece, but is worth seeing, if only once. I'll have to see Edward Dmytryk's other movies to fully understand his style.Also starring Alan Ladd (in his final role), Bob Cummings, Martha Hyer, Lew Ayres, Martin Balsam, Archie Moore, Leif Erickson and Charles Lane.

The "trash" comment above was not meant as an insult, but more a description of the style film. This was never intended as a subtle or Oscar-winning film, but instead deliberately focused on the salacious and seamy--providing a soap opera-like viewing experience.George Peppard stars as a Howard Hughes knockoff. The parallels are so many that the film is, in some ways, similar to CITIZEN KANE--as it is a veiled and slightly changed biography--dissimilar enough that it was above lawsuits for slander--but still awfully close to the real life of Hughes. Unlike KANE, the Carpetbaggers is NOT a great film, but is entertaining nonetheless.Like Hughes, Peppard's character was driven by a manic desire for success and relationships with others were, at best, problematic. His amoral outlook of "the ends justifies the means" and his workaholism generated little love for him by his employees and when it came to women, he was a complete failure--seeming to have no sexual desire and an aversion to intimacy. The bottom line is that money and power were his goals--period. The impact of this coldness was the best part of this film, but it also provided some of the seamier story elements. Unfortunately, this driven aspect of Peppard's character was totally undone by a silly and impossible to believe conclusion, since it just wasn't true to his character. Along the way for a VERY bumpy ride were Caroll Baker, Alan Ladd (in his last film) and Elizabeth Ashley (playing one of the few likable characters in the film).Overall, the film has little depth or lasting value, but LOTS of entertainment value as well as one of the better fight scenes in film (towards the very end). Not at all great, but also not bad either.