Cheap The Bad and the Beautiful (DVD) (Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell) (Vincente Minnelli) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Bad and the Beautiful

MGM provides us with the best ensemble cast in Hollywood; Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas - Oscar Nominee, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame - Oscar Winner, Best Supporting Actress, Gilbert Roland & Leo G. Carroll, under the brilliant direction of Vincent Minnelli.

"The Bad (Kirk Douglas) And The Beautiful (Lana Turner)" winner of 4 Oscars in 1952. Best Supporting Actress - Gloria Grahame, Best Screenplay - Charles Schnee (Outstanding melodrama), Best Black & White Cinematography (Fantastic DVD transfer, clear & detailed) - Robert Surtee & Best Art Direction (the movie is primarily shot on Hollywood sets which are beautifully done).

Summary: About a steamy story of a ruthless 18 year rise & fall of a tyranical & manipulative Hollywood movie Tycoon Jonathan Shields (Douglas - Oscar Nominee). Told in a "flashback" from multiple perspectives ( from the point of view of 3 friends seduced & betrayed by him. The director (Sullivan), the Actress (Turner) & the Pultizer Prize winning writer (Powell) & his star struck wife (Grahame - Oscar). How he back stabbed, used, lied & double crossed them on the way to the top. On his way down needing their help & how Hollywood classic successes, failures & pay backs evolve.

Outstanding value, this 2 sided DVD Full Screen (before WideScreen)Black & White (Oscar Winner for Best Cinematography) presentation provides us with an OUTSTANDING DVD transfer of "The Bad And The Beautiful" (Side 1). All the many extras are on Side 2; A very informative chronological 90 minute Documentary / Biography "Lana Turner.... A Daughter's Memoir", Scoring Session Music Cues (nice addition), Theatrical Trailers & Production Notes. A very nice Hollywood package.

A great Hollywood film about Hollywood..
This is perhaps my favorite Hollywood movie about Hollywood. All the actors from the sublime Barry Sullivan, to the eurodite Dick Powell, to the glamorous Lana Turner, to the amazing Kirk Douglas, give teriffic performances. It's a shame that only Gloria Grahame received an oscar.

The film is about a Director (Sullivan) a movie star (Turner) and a writer (Powell). All three are gathered so that they can be asked to make a motion picture for a producer (Douglas) who's fallen on hard times. In turn, each describes his or her experience with Douglas' character while waiting for him to call. Even though Douglas made each of them a success in his or her field, each one was hurt by Douglas and had a falling out.

To me this film is analogous to boxing, one cannot become a sucess at it without receiving a bloody nose.

I love the way the film ends ambiguously. No need to wrap things up, let the audience decide.

Soapy, but entertaining
This is a slick and enjoyable wallow by Hollywood about Hollywood, which succeeds despite Lana Turner's performance (she was not a good actress and ended up trying much too hard as a result). Gloria Grahame specialized in creating vivid supporting characters but never got her full props -- if you're impressed with her work here, check her out as Ado Annie in Oklahoma or in any number of excellent films noirs, including her unforgettable role as Lee Marvin's girl in The Big Heat. Kirk Douglas was born to play nasty connivers; he could go over the top at times but in a movie like TBATB, that just adds to the fun. Also deserving of mention is the superb score by David Raksin, another of Hollywood's best who never got much recognition beyond Laura (the one score everyone knows). Raksin, unlike expat European classical musicians such as Korngold, Waxman, Herrmann et al. was a pure Hollywood product, cutting his teeth working on Charlie Chaplin shorts and helping to pioneer film scoring as an art form. Raksin's TBATB score perfectly sums up the emotional throughline of the story, and the gorgeous main theme stays with you long after the film's done.