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The Bad and the Beautiful

1952

Vincente Minnelli

Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell ...

8.1

14,070

Drama An egotistical producer, Jonathan Shields (Douglas), determined to prove himself the finest filmmaker of all, gladly steps all over those who helped him when he was starting out. Told from the perspective of three victims -- an actress (Turner), a writer (Powell), and a director (Sullivan) -- this picture captured five Oscars and also includes what many believe is Turner's finest performance ever.

	Author	Review
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"There does not emerge a clear picture of exactly how movies are made. It is a crowded and colorful picture, but it is choppy, episodic and vague."	NEU
United Kingdom	Philip French The Guardian	"Though directed with Minnelli's characteristic delicacy, this is essentially a producer's film, made by John Houseman (...) Houseman applies (...) intelligence and suavity to a ruthless Hollywood genius"	POS
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Empire	"Douglas' teeth-clenched, dimple-thrusting megalomaniac is among his best work, while the gossipy screenplay (...) is served wonderfully by Minnelli's lush melodramatics (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Noel Murray AV Club	"All the elements of 'The Bad And The Beautiful' are top-drawer (...) This is studio-system product at its juiciest and most sophisticated, full of insights into the mess behind the art."	POS
United States	Variety	"The screenplay of the George Bradshaw story is exceptionally well-written."	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Under Minnelli's direction it becomes a fascinating study of a man destroyed by the 50s success ethic (...) Douglas is surprisingly good (...) and is well supported by (...) Lana Turner and Dick Powell."	POS
United Kingdom	Cath Clarke Time Out	"It’s pretty close to film heaven (...) The script is full of delicious, on-the-money Hollywood satire (...) The dialogue is dynamite (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	IndieWire	"Within the context of its time, and for the quality of its writing and much of its acting, 'The Bad and the Beautiful' is a notable film."	POS

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