The Bad and the Beautiful

Starring:Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame, Gilbert Roland, Leo G. Carroll, Vanessa Brown, Paul Stewart, Sammy White, Elaine Stewart, Ivan Triesault, Madge Blake, Sarah Spencer, Frank J. Scannell, Frank Gerstle, Steve Forrest, May McAvoy, Kaaren Verne
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

In The Bad and the Beautiful, Kirk Douglas plays a tyrannical, manipulative producer fallen on hard times. To get back on his feet, he asks for help from three Hollywood giants whose careers he helped launch--a director (Barry Sullivan), an actress (Lana Turner), and a writer (Dick Powell). Unfortunately, they all hate him. Flashbacks explain why. Douglas had been close to all three at different points in his career: He and the director started out together making B-movies, he gave the wayward actress her first starring role, he turned the novelist into a successful screenwriter. Then in one way or another he stabbed each of them in the back, though not always deliberately. The script has a lot of backstage clichés, but Vincente Minnelli's sharp, energetic direction, the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, and the topnotch performances--particularly Douglas and Gloria Grahame, who won an Oscar for her sweet role as the writer's cheerful Southern wife--flesh out the clichés with cutting details and convincing bile. Caustic, starry-eyed, and slyly funny, The Bad and the Beautiful is a strange and skillful blend of "If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere" pluck and poisonous cynicism, one of the great movies about making movies. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

The Bad and the Beautiful.......2007-06-26

One of my favorite movies about Hollywood, this sharp, stylized melodrama gets top-flight treatment from director Minnelli. Featuring a powerhouse cast--Douglas, Turner, Dick Powell, Walter Pidgeon, Barry Sullivan, and a personal favorite, Gloria Grahame--this scathing look at the inner workings of Tinseltown is a Hollywood voyeur's dream. The intense, Oscar-winning "Bad" will keep you glued to the final credits.

Hollywood's finest effort to illustrate the Jekyll and Hyde quality of many of its most famous producers..........2006-12-18

These men knew their business, helped artists realize their talents, and made money for their studios, but many less powerful people were hurt or crushed along the way... The ensemble acting breathes life into this theme and makes an already realistic script seem that much more real...

From its opening shot to the final fadeout, "The Bad and the Beautiful" is a harvest of riches for movie fans who dote on behind-the-scenes atmosphere and all the other elements of the movie world...

The sound stages, the dressing rooms, the Beverly Hills mansions; the "B" pictures in the making, the screen tests, the sneak previews; the Hollywood funeral, the Hollywood party, the Hollywood premiere--all were on display in what is probably the most detailed study of the dream factory ever presented on film...

The film is filled with magnificent characters and set-pieces... Minnelli directed it with exact pacing, shading the scenes and developing the complicated stories and characters so that they neatly fitted into a fascinating puzzle... Technically, the picture is perfection; the dialog is compelling and the settings are particularly interesting to those who are curious about Hollywood studios and how they function... The music score by David Raksin is a masterpiece of its kind...

The casting is almost beyond questioning: Pigeon and Sullivan are exactly right as the producer and the director, and Dick Powell strikes the right key as the easy-going, pipe smoking writer...Lana Turner, then at the height of her glamorous appeal, clearly knew what she was about in painting a movie queen, and Gloria Grahame won an Oscar for her pretty but intelligent young wife...

For Kirk Douglas it was a tour de force acting... The role of Jonathan Shields is one of the most stimulating ever handed a Hollywood actor--not only as a distinguished, dramatic vehicle but as an opportunity to reveal the character of the kind of film producer actors know but do not love...

It could have been much better.......2006-10-11

`The Bad And The Beautiful' (1952) was directed by Vincente Minnelli between two of his greatest and best loved musicals `The Bandwagon' (1951) and `An American In Paris' (1953). He had directed other great films such as `Meet Me In St. Louis' (1944) and `Father Of The Bride' (1950) before attempting his dramatic take on the Hollywood Studio system. Making films about Hollywood was nothing new when Minnelli made `The Bad And the Beautiful'. Only a couple years earlier there was `All About Eve' (1950), `Sunset Boulevard' (1950) and `A Star Is Born' in 1937. This may be part of the reason why this film is not so highly regarded, however there are other reasons too.

The fact that `The Bad And The Beautiful' is regarded as film noir probably has more to do with the cast which featured: Lana Turner (The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946); Kirk Douglas (Out Of The Past, 1947); Dick Powell (Farewell My Lovely, 1944) Gloria Grahame (The Big Heat, 1953) all of whom had starred important noir pictures. Structurally the film is comprised of three flashbacks and uses voiceover frequently to tell its tale, which is all key noir techniques.

I think the film says more about Vincente Minnelli and the changes that were taking place in the worldwide film industry at the time. The studio system, which Minnelli was very a part of, was coming to an end and being replaced by Auteur theory. Films were moving away from studio sets towards location shooting with directors having a lot more control and authorship over their production. The three flashbacks in `The Bad And The Beautiful' I think represents the divisions in the studio system at the time of writer, actor and director battling with a producer and with any attempt to overstep that mark resulting in a rebuff or failure. Within six years the New Wave would abolish those ideas.

I think `The Bad And The Beautiful' had potential to be a great film but is let down by melodrama and some lacklustre acting, character development and direction. It also lacks some of the real grit and cynicism of `All About Eve' or `Sunset Boulevard'. However there are some great moments such as Lana Turner's automotive suicide attempt, which I believe to be the great sequence in the film, but overall I was a little disappointed because I was expecting a lot more. Yet overall I think it's worth seeing at least once.

Other films with similar themes worth seeing also include Nicholas Ray's `In A Lonely Place' (1950) and `Le Mepris' (1963) by Jean-Luc Godard. I think Minnelli will and should be remembered for his musicals, which are superb.

Climbing to the Top.......2006-09-16

The Bad and the Beautiful is a commentary on Hollywood. It is considered to be a film noir because it is told in flashback with voice over and it involves imperfect characters. However, there is more of an element of soap opera than there is of film noir outside of the stereotypical pieces.

Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) is a movie mogul, a producer who like most big businessmen stepped on as many people as he could to get where he wanted to be. First was a friend, a director (Barry Sullivan) who he teams up with to make B pictures. There are obvious parallels between him and Val Lewton. Next was a woman, the daughter of a great star who feels she will never live up to his reputation (Lana Turner). Shields helps her to become a major star, but with consequence. Last is a writer (Dick Powell), a man who lived happily with his southern belle wife (Gloria Grahame) at home and stumbled upon success. Shields brought him to Hollywood to be a screenwriter for him, but also got rid of his happy distractions.

The performances are wonderful. Douglas is in top form, a slimy, manipulative man who charms his audience to like him despite all he has done. His best scenes are those with Turner, who is questionable here. She begins playing a woman whose acting isn't up to par and it seems she feels she should play everything at that stage badly. Her lines seem artificial and forced, and instead of appearing innocent, she seems whiney and melodramatic. Later, when her character learns to act and is transformed by love, Turner is wonderful! She creates a peak of intensity in each scene that never becomes boring. Perhaps she did this for effect, as it is obvious Turner was a good actress, but it does not come across as obvious. Only a person who really thought about the part would understand, and most people will not do that. Powell plays his part in a deadpan, which some people will like and some people will not. As there are many people in the world like his character, it is certainly appropriate, but it is also hard to warm up to such a person. He is however in great contrast to Douglas and Grahame, the only Oscar winning performance in the film.

There are plenty of allusions to real life movie people, but not all of them are obvious. It is fun to try to guess who is playing who and how much of the story is truth.

Also included on this DVD is a documentary about Lana Turner. It features plenty of footage with her daughter Cheryl Crane including some strange reenactments about her childhood. Also interviewed are Jackie Cooper, Robert Stack, Evie Wynn Johnson, Del Armstrong, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Rose, and Juanita Moore. Clips from her first movies, Ziegfeld Girl, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Homecoming, The Bad and the Beautiful, The Merry Widow, Peyton Place, Imitation of Like, and Madame X are shown. It talks about her husbands, friends, life in films, and the impact her daughter had on her life. It isn't outstanding, but it is a sufficient look at the actress and a great supplement for the film.

minelli's take on hollywood is a stabbing with a butterknife.......2006-06-04

kirk douglas was still in his heel phase in vincente minellis overblown yet still entertaining take on hollywood. lana turner is misused, while barry sullivan, walter pidgeon, and dick powell give their to-be-expected adequate performances. gloria grahame won a supporting actress oscar for the type of show-off performance that embarrasses the academy years later. the movie is fun trash, but nothing near the masterpiece its adherents claim.

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: They're Wanted

Average customer rating:

Nicole Sheridan steams up the wild west.

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: They're Wanted
Starring: Raelyn Saalman , Ashlie Rhey , Steven Todd Lange , Geoffrey Hughes (II) , and Christopher Tichy
Director: Rick Sloane
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Nicole Sheridan steams up the wild west........2005-11-02

Another good, sexy, fun softcore romp from Retromedia. Nicole Sheridan and Beverly Lynne end up inheriting an old, western ghost town. But there's an evil landowner nearby who wants to scare her into selling it so that he can get his hands on its legendary lost silver mine. But the ghost of Calamity Kate helps fend him off.

Throughout this little adventure, we get six sex scenes. Four are boy/girl, one is girl/girl, and one is girl/girl/girl. The first four were excellent, the final two were okay, but could have been better. The lesbian three way should have been the highlight of the video, but it was one of the weaker scenes. Nicole was in four of the scenes, so this is a really good video for fans of her. Beverly is in two scenes. There were two other girls who were in the girl/girl scene, and they did a great job. Belinda Gavin (aka, Kylie Wyote) is also present, and is in one scene.

The other movie on the DVD, Bikini Academy, is barely worth mentioning. I sped through it on fast forward, and it looked really bad, with very little nudity and one very weak sex scene.

However, if you've enjoyed past Retromedia releases, or want something that gives you a lot of Nicole Sheridan, this is an easy recommendation.

The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful Pack (Beverly Hills, 90210 - The Complete First Season / Melrose Place - The Complete First Season)

Average customer rating:

LOVED IT
love they way they package it
90210/Melsore - 1st Seson
90210
Excellent!

The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful Pack (Beverly Hills, 90210 - The Complete First Season / Melrose Place - The Complete First Season)
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont , Jeffrey Melman , Paul Lazarus , Paul Wales , and David Rosenbloom
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000H7JCGO
Release Date: 2006-11-07

Amazon.com

Beverly Hills, 90210: The Complete First Season
Just as Fox's 21 Jump Street injected the cop drama with a dose of hip, Beverly Hills 90210 infused the primetime soap with youthful energy. Like Aaron Spelling's Dynasty, most characters don't lack for disposable income, except for middle-class twins Brandon

Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place creator
Darren Star reflects on the first seasons of both
shows in this Amazon-exclusive clip.
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(Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty, Heathers). Created by Darren Star (Melrose Place), the class-conscious concept scored an instant hit. In the two-part Tim Hunter-directed pilot, the teens have just arrived from Minneapolis. "Nobody knows me," Brenda tells Brandon on their first day at West Beverly High. "I can be anyone I want." The two soon befriend Steve (Ian Ziering), Kelly (Jennie Garth), Donna (Spelling's daughter, Tori), David (Brian Austin Green), and commuter student Andrea (Gabriel Carteris). Then there's Dylan (Luke Perry), who debuts in the second episode ("The Green Room"). A poetry-reading surfer with a shady past, he's the James Dean of the piece, and Brenda falls hard for his bad-boy charms. Guests include Debbie Gibson ("East Side Story") and Matthew Perry ("April is the Cruelest Month"), while recurring characters include understanding parents Cindy (Carol Potter) and Jim Walsh (James Eckhouse) and Peach Pit manager Nat (Joe E. Tata).

Beverly Hills, 90210 ran for 10 years. Though it would move away from issue-oriented episodes in the seasons to come--in the first, it takes on shoplifting, cheating, and date rape--without it, there would be no O.C., no Veronica Mars, etc. Just like the 1980s films of John Hughes (The Breakfast Club), it set the standard to which all others must be compared. As nice as it is to have the show on DVD, it should be noted that not all musical selections made the cut, i.e. "Music has been changed for this home entertainment version." Otherwise, this guilty pleasure remains as pleasurable as ever. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Melrose Place: The Complete First Season
It began as a spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210, but this summer replacement quickly established its own unique identity. The connection is creator Darren Star and the character of Jake (Grant Show), who had a fling with Kelly (Jennie Garth) on 90210. In the pilot, she stops by 4616 Melrose to pay a visit (and returns for two more episodes). Jake's neighbors comprise of Alison (Courtney Thorne-Smith), Rhonda (Vanessa Williams), Sandy (Amy Locane), Matt (Doug Savant), and married couple Michael (Thomas Calabro) and Jane (Josie Bissett). When Alison's roommate runs out on her, she takes in Billy (Andrew Shue) to cover the rent. Just as 90210 had the Peach Pit, the twentysomethings of Melrose gather at Shooters, where aspiring actress Sandy waits tables. Her roommate Rhonda teaches aerobics. Other professions include mechanic (Jake), receptionist (Alison), social worker (Matt), doctor (Michael), designer (Jane), and writer (Billy). Midway through the season, photographer Jo (Daphne Zuniga) and ad exec Amanda ("special guest" Heather Locklear) arrive to shake things up. What had been a program about work and life issues takes a darker turn as Michael gives in to temptation and Amanda sets out to ruin Alison's career--and her relationship with Billy.

Other troublemakers are waiting in the wings, like Michael's colleague Kimberly (Marcia Cross) and Jane's sister Sydney (Laura Leighton). Both return to stay in the second year. Melrose Place ran for seven increasingly soapy seasons and spawned the short-lived Models, Inc.. Afterwards, Thorne-Smith moved on to Ally McBeal and According to Jim, while Savant and Cross would eventually segue to Desperate Housewives. Other actors had a shorter stay at the infamous West Hollywood apartment complex-- notably, Locane, who makes her exit in the 13th episode ("Dreams Come True") and Williams, who makes hers in the 32nd (two-part season finale "Suspicious Minds"). --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE BEAUTIFUL PACK (Includes Beverly Hills 90210: the Complete First Season and Melrose Place: The Complete First Season) *

Customer Reviews:

LOVED IT.......2007-03-22

I'm so glad they finally put these two shows on DVD. Can't wait for season 2 for these shows.

love they way they package it.......2007-03-10

I just love that they package these together these are two of the greatest shows so glad to have them on dvd

90210/Melsore - 1st Seson.......2007-01-30

This is an awesome video for those who used to gather on Wednesday nights to watch these two series back to back. So great to see future stars in cameo rolls. Matthew Perry as a high school teenager. Get out the popcorn and settle in for a great weekend of fun.

90210.......2007-01-11

I'm so glad 90210 finally came to dvd. Can't wait for the next seasons!!

Excellent!.......2007-01-09

I've been waiting for this to come out on DVD for ages, and this package provides a great price on two great series (about $10 cheaper than buying each alone.)

Film Noir (The Postman Always Rings Twice/The Bad and the Beautiful/Dark Passage)

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Film Noir (The Postman Always Rings Twice/The Bad and the Beautiful/Dark Passage)
Starring: Humphrey Bogart , Lauren Bacall , Bruce Bennett , Agnes Moorehead , and Tom D'Andrea
Director: Delmer Daves , Tay Garnett , and Vincente Minnelli
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000765I0Y
Release Date: 2005-03-01

1950s Classics 6-Pack (Rebel Without a Cause / North by Northwest / Singin' in the Rain / The Bad and the Beautiful / Designing Woman / Ben-Hur)

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1950s Classics 6-Pack (Rebel Without a Cause / North by Northwest / Singin' in the Rain / The Bad and the Beautiful / Designing Woman / Ben-Hur)
Starring: Corey Allen , Jim Backus , Tom Bernard , Virginia Brissac , and Marietta Canty
Director: Nicholas Ray
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B000068GS4
Release Date: 2002-06-04

Description

This 6-DVD set includes Rebel Without a Cause, North by Northwest, Singin' in the Rain, The Bad and the Beautiful, Designing Woman, and Ben-Hur.

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White Wolves-Cry in the Wild II

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Das absolute Dekret der Liebe nach dem Römerbrief