Movies About Movies, Movie-Making, and Movie-Makers
by lora-31 | created - 02 Feb 2011 | updated - 29 Jan 2013 | PublicHere is a list of most memorable (to me) films about movies, movie-making, and movie makers and actors. Does not pretend to be exhaustive in any way. Emphasis is made on Golden Age Hollywood.
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1. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,417
2. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
Passed | 118 min | Drama, Romance
An unscrupulous movie producer uses an actress, a director and a writer to achieve success.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell
Votes: 16,456
3. Fedora (1978)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Romance
Down-on-his-luck Hollywood producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler attempts to lure Fedora, a famous but reclusive film actress, out of retirement only to discover the horrible truth behind her success.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Marthe Keller, Hildegard Knef, José Ferrer
Votes: 5,184 | Gross: $2.20M
4. Paris When It Sizzles (1964)
Approved | 110 min | Comedy, Romance
The sprightly young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter helps him over his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, Grégoire Aslan, Raymond Bussières
Votes: 9,453
5. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Passed | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Hollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest
Votes: 28,515
6. In a Lonely Place (1950)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery
A potentially violent screenwriter is a murder suspect until his lovely neighbor clears him. However, she soon starts to have her doubts.
Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid
Votes: 35,247
7. Dreamboat (1952)
Approved | 83 min | Comedy
Thornton Sayre, a respected college professor, is plagued when his old movies are shown on TV and sets out with his daughter to stop it. However, his former co-star is the hostess of the TV show playing his films and she has other plans.
Director: Claude Binyon | Stars: Clifton Webb, Ginger Rogers, Anne Francis, Jeffrey Hunter
Votes: 958
8. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Passed | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono, Wesley Addy
Votes: 61,873 | Gross: $4.05M
9. Ed Wood (1994)
R | 127 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 183,966 | Gross: $5.89M
10. The Star (1952)
Passed | 89 min | Drama, Romance
A washed-up movie queen finds romance, but still desires a comeback.
Director: Stuart Heisler | Stars: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson
Votes: 4,144
11. On Our Merry Way (1948)
Approved | 107 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
Three short stories revolving around the topic of the daily question posed by the roving reporter to the readers of a daily newspaper.
Directors: Leslie Fenton, King Vidor, John Huston, George Stevens | Stars: Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, James Stewart, Henry Fonda
Votes: 846
12. The Carpetbaggers (1964)
Approved | 150 min | Drama, Romance
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
Director: Edward Dmytryk | Stars: George Peppard, Alan Ladd, Robert Cummings, Martha Hyer
Votes: 2,497 | Gross: $28.41M
13. The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)
Passed | 82 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An ice skater jeopardizes her marriage after she becomes a movie star.
Director: Reinhold Schünzel | Stars: Joan Crawford, James Stewart, Lew Ayres, Lewis Stone
Votes: 1,055
14. Living in Oblivion (1995)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
Director: Tom DiCillo | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck
Votes: 20,153 | Gross: $1.15M
15. The Artist (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.
Director: Michel Hazanavicius | Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Votes: 248,598 | Gross: $44.67M
16. Beloved Infidel (1959)
Not Rated | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
Toward the end of his life, F. Scott Fitzgerald is writing for Hollywood studios to be able to afford the cost of an asylum for his wife. He is also struggling against alcoholism. Into his life comes the famous gossip columnist.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Gregory Peck, Deborah Kerr, Eddie Albert, Philip Ober
Votes: 1,184
17. The Miracle of the Bells (1948)
Approved | 120 min | Drama
A press agent brings a dead actress home for burial. To promote her one film, he asks churches to ring bells for 3 days, hoping to get the studio head to release it.
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Alida Valli, Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 1,127
18. Souls for Sale (1923)
Passed | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.
Director: Rupert Hughes | Stars: Eleanor Boardman, Mae Busch, Barbara La Marr, Richard Dix
Votes: 1,106
19. The Oscar (1966)
Approved | 119 min | Drama
Snotty Hollywood actor becomes even more full of himself after he's nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Director: Russell Rouse | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker
Votes: 1,462
20. The Perils of Pauline (1947)
Passed | 96 min | Drama, Romance
The real life story of actress Pearl White during her rise to fame in silent serials.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Betty Hutton, John Lund, Billy De Wolfe, William Demarest
Votes: 1,252
21. The Party (1968)
Approved | 99 min | Comedy, Romance
A clerical mistake results in a bumbling Indian film star being invited to an exclusive Hollywood party instead of being fired.
Director: Blake Edwards | Stars: Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet, Natalia Borisova, Jean Carson
Votes: 43,717
22. My Geisha (1962)
Not Rated | 119 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An actress disguises herself as a geisha in order to land the lead role in her director husband's film version of 'Madam Butterfly'.
Director: Jack Cardiff | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Yves Montand, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Cummings
Votes: 1,597
23. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 282,872 | Gross: $11.99M
24. A Star Is Born (1954)
Passed | 154 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford
Votes: 19,673 | Gross: $14.93M
25. Bellissima (1951)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
A woman from the lower class desperately tries to get her daughter into the movies.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari, Tina Apicella, Gastone Renzelli
Votes: 5,387
26. Finger of Guilt (1956)
Approved | 95 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A married movie studio executive's life starts to unravel when he is stalked by a seductively beautiful woman he claims he does not know.
Directors: Joseph Losey, Alec C. Snowden | Stars: Richard Basehart, Mary Murphy, Constance Cummings, Roger Livesey
Votes: 661
27. Actors and Sin (1952)
Not Rated | 82 min | Comedy, Drama
Two-part story--the first is about a washed-up Broadway actor and his tough daughter, who is a bigger star than he is; the second is about a literary agent whose newest client--a ... See full summary »
Directors: Ben Hecht, Lee Garmes | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Eddie Albert, Marsha Hunt, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 204
28. The Falcon in Hollywood (1944)
Approved | 67 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The Falcon investigates the murder of an actor on a Hollywood backlot.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Veda Ann Borg, John Abbott
Votes: 942
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