The Bad and the Beautiful( 1952)

TV-MADramaRomance

73%

User
Score

I took you out of the gutter... I can fling you back!

Overview

Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.

Top Billed Cast

Kirk Douglas
Jonathan Shields
Lana Turner
Georgia Lorrison
Dick Powell
James Lee Bartlow
Barry Sullivan
Fred Amiel
Walter Pidgeon
Harry Pebbel
Gloria Grahame
Rosemary Bartlow
Gilbert Roland
Victor "Gaucho" Ribera
Paul Stewart
Syd Murphy
Vanessa Brown
Kay Amiel
Leo G. Carroll
Henry Whitfield
Elaine Stewart
Lila
Sammy White
Gus
Ivan Triesault
Von Ellstein
Lucy Knoch
Blonde Dancing with Gaucho (uncredited)
Jay Adler
Mr. Z (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews
Sheriff (uncredited)
Del Armstrong
Georgia's Makeup Artist (uncredited)
Ben Astar
Joe (Party Guest) (uncredited)
Barbara Billingsley
Evelyn Lucien (Costumer) (uncredited)
John Bishop
Ferraday (uncredited)
Madge Blake
Mrs. Rosser (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford
Man Outside the Club (uncredited)
Paul Bradley
Party Guest (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)
Beulah Christian
Party Guest (uncredited)
Janet Comerford
Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
James Conaty
Party Guest (uncredited)
Jonathan Cott
Assistant Director (uncredited)
Lillian Culver
Real Estate Woman (uncredited)
Alexis Davidoff
Priest (uncredited)
Bob Davis
Assistant (uncredited)
Sandy Descher
Little Girl Screaming on "Cat Man" Set (uncredited)
Helen Dickson
Symposium Guest (uncredited)
Phil Dunham
Pawnbroker (uncredited)
Steve Dunhill
Cameraman (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum
Assistant on Set (uncredited)
James Farrar
Publicity Man (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Joe's Friend at Party (uncredited)
Charles Fogel
Poker Player (uncredited)
George Ford
Club Patron (uncredited)
Steve Forrest
Actor in Georgia's Screen Test (uncredited)
Kathleen Freeman
Miss March (uncredited)
Rudy Germane
Party Guest (uncredited)
Frank Gerstle
Gabby Agent at the Party (uncredited)
Joe Gilbert
Party Guest (uncredited)
Ned Glass
Wardrobe Man (uncredited)
James Gonzalez
Party Guest (uncredited)
Phyllis Graffeo
Leading Lady (uncredited)
Herschel Graham
Party Guest (uncredited)
A. Cameron Grant
Assistant Director (uncredited)
Marion Gray
Symposium Guest (uncredited)
William E. Green
Hugo Shields (uncredited)
Dabbs Greer
Studio Lighting Technician (uncredited)
Robert Haines
Mourner (uncredited)
Sam Harris
Party Guest (uncredited)
Dick Johnstone
Mourner (uncredited)
Ted Jordan
Assistant Director (uncredited)
Joseph Keane
Assistant Director (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp
Mourner (uncredited)
Peggy King
Singer at Party (uncredited)
Mike Lally
Preview Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Louise Lane
Party Guest (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 the Party (uncredited)
May McAvoy
Pebbel's Secretary (uncredited)
Harold Miller
Mourner (uncredited)
Hans Moebus
Party Guest (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 the Club (uncredited)
Christopher Olsen
Amiel's Boy (uncredited)
Dorothy Patrick
Arlene (uncredited)
William Phillips
Assistant Director (uncredited)
Murray Pollack
Theatre Worker (uncredited)
Paul Power
Theatre Manager (uncredited)
Kathy Qualen
Bobby-Soxer (uncredited)
Anthony Redondo
Crew Member (uncredited)
Jeff Richards
Studio Props Department Man (uncredited)
Loretta Russell
Symposium Guest (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre
Waiter (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)
Norman Stevans
Theatre Worker (uncredited)
William Tannen
Reporter (uncredited)
Dee Turnell
Linda Ronley (uncredited)
Harry Tyler
Man (uncredited)
Kaaren Verne
Rosa (uncredited)
Ray Walker
Cameraman (uncredited)
Harte Wayne
Judge (uncredited)
Lawrence A. Williams
Poker Player (uncredited)
Eric Wilton
Butler (uncredited)
Wilson Wood
Man on Movie Set (uncredited)
Douglas Yorke
Leading Man (uncredited)
Helen Young
Georgia's Hair Stylist (uncredited)

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Review 2Discussion

A review by tmdb28039023

Written by tmdb28039023 on Tue Aug 30 2022

The Bad and the Beautiful is sort of like Old Hollywood’s Rashomon. Three characters appear before a fourth to tell a story about a fifth; the three stories are different but interrelated, and the moral of each is the same: studio chief Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) is a major a--hole and to know him is to hate him. Each tale is bookended by film producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) sarcastically condoling with the teller, pitying them for their blindness to the fact that Shields was a blessing in disguise. Without him, movie star Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner) was "a drunk and a tramp p...