The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

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 | Hollywood | Actress

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Georgia Lorrison
Kirk Douglas	...	Jonathan Shields
Walter Pidgeon	...	Harry Pebbel
Dick Powell	...	James Lee Bartlow
Barry Sullivan	...	Fred Amiel
Gloria Grahame	...	Rosemary
Gilbert Roland	...	Victor 'Gaucho' Ribero
Leo G. Carroll	...	Henry Whitfield
Vanessa Brown	...	Kay Amiel
Paul Stewart	...	Syd
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)
Ralph Brooks	...	Mourner (uncredited)
Robert Burton	...	McDill (uncredited)
Francis X. Bushman	...	Eulogist (uncredited)
Louis Calhern	...	Georgia Lorrison's Father (voice) (uncredited)
Marietta Canty	...	Ida (uncredited)
Robert Carson	...	Casting Director (uncredited)
Janet Comerford	...	Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Jonathan Cott	...	Jonathan - 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. Green	...	Hugo Shields (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 at Party (uncredited)
Lucy Knoch	...	Blonde Dancing with Gaucho (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Preview Ticket Taker (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	'Far Away Mountain' Test Actor #2 (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	Party Guest (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)
Pat O'Malley	...	Man Outside Club (uncredited)
Christopher Olsen	...	Amiel's Boy (uncredited)
Dorothy Patrick	...	Arlene (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	Assistant Director (uncredited)
Paul Power	...	Theatre Manager (uncredited)
Kathy Qualen	...	Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
Jeff Richards	...	Studio Props Department Man (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)
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)
Wilson Wood	...	Man on Movie Set (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		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig

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

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

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 (as A.Arnold Gillespie)
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Eric Alden	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helen Rose	....	women's costumes designed by
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (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) (1952) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1953) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1954) (Finland) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS) (included in the "Hooray for Hollywood" series)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vidéo (2006) (France) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)  we are grateful to, for permission to use the Academy Award Statuette (as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #16017) | UK:PG (video rating) (1993) (2012) | Canada:PG (video rating) | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:14 (original rating) (1954) | UK:PG (tv rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This movie holds the record for most Academy Awards won by a film not nominated for Best Picture, with five.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The sound of the punch that is thrown at Jonathan Shields is noticeably early.

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 "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Alice in Wonderland/Stolen/Brooklyn's Finest (#2.9)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Temptation

a movie that embraces the Hollywood studio machine while putting a harsh criticism of it

That one line summary makes me sound like I'm calling the Bad and the Beautiful a case in 'tough love', where director Vincente Minnelli wags his finger at what happens to some people (cough, David O. Selznick, cough), while also showing too the joys of working in the business. But it's a business at its most booming time, coming out of the 40s where the producer was king, and the director had to vie for room at times to really get his vision in. Here the producer Jonathan Shields is played by Kirk Douglas as someone with big ideas at first- he even has an idea to help make a scary movie about cats even more frightening by not showing the cats (echoes of Val Lewton). Soon he rises the ranks and becomes big enough to really call the shots all he wants, but it also gets in the way of personal relationships, severs ties, and sometimes even makes him out to be monstrous (there's one shot I remember all the time where Douglas, in a big fit of anger against Lana Turner's character, seems like he's a whole foot taller with the ego almost manifested). The narrative of the film is a retelling by people who knew him, a sexy but soon disillusioned actress, a director who once worked with Shields but then got cut off from him, and a writer played by Dick Powell. Rashomon or Citizen Kane it is not in trying to reveal more grandiose and amazing things about human nature, but rather a supreme rumination on the good times and the bad times, possibly more of the latter. What's great about Douglas's portrayal is that through the stories from the three ex-friends and co-workers and lovers, he becomes a very well-rounded character. At the core, of course, is the producer who at the time had as more creative say than anyone else on the set. This brings some of the great scenes ever shown about movie-making, such as the moment when Amiel, the director, tries to put Jonathan in his place about how a scene should be shot, "in order to direct a picture you need humility". Another comes with the moment when Jonathan and his soon to be 'asistant to the producer' has to object out of just being stunned. But more than Douglas, it's also tremendous, memorable screen time for Lana Turner, perhaps in her most successful performance in just sheer acting terms (not necessarily just in presence or style like in other pictures), and for Dick Powell, who with this and Murder My Sweet has two defining roles outside of his usual niche. With many sweet camera moves, a script that crackles with the kind of scenes and dialog that makes one wish for the glory times of Hollywood's Golden Age, and at least four or five really excellent performances, The Bad and the Beautiful might not be as astounding and near-perfect as 8 1/2 or as funny as Bowfinger, but it ranks up there with the best movies about movie-making, and can make for some fine entertainment even for those who aren't really interested in how movies are made.