Where to watch The Bad and the Beautiful online

Storyline

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.

Released

1952-12-25
Revenue

$3,373,000
Budget

$1,558,000
Runtime

1hr 58m
Genre

Drama, Romance
Status

Released
Language

English
7.8
Production

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Crew

Vincente Minnelli

Director

Charles Schnee

Screenplay

John Houseman

Producer

Keywords:

movie business rise and fall flashback hollywood black and white producer told in flashback driving in the rain motion picture studio

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Cast

Lana Turner

Georgia Lorrison

Kirk Douglas

Jonathan Shields

Walter Pidgeon

Harry Pebbel

Dick Powell

James Lee Bartlow

Barry Sullivan

Fred Amiel

Gloria Grahame

Rosemary Bartlow

Leo G. Carroll

Henry Whitfield

Gilbert Roland

Victor "Gaucho" Ribera

Paul Stewart

Syd Murphy

Vanessa Brown

Kay Amiel

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)

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for The Bad and the Beautiful

A Review by tmdb28039023 5

Written by tmdb28039023 on 2022-08-30

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; t... read more

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 playing bit parts, and he made a star of you ... For the last seven years, you've been in the top 10 in every popularity poll. Yes, Jonathan sure fouled you up." Screenwriter-turned-novelist James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) is told "Jonathan sure destroyed you. You came out of it with nothing. Nothing but a Pulitzer Prize novel and the highest salary of any writer in Hollywood." As for director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan), "[Shields] brushed you off his coattail, so you had to stand alone. And all you've got in the world is a wife, six kids, two Academy Awards and every stu-dio in town after you. Why, Jonathan ruined you!". In all three cases, however, especially the third, it would seem as if the complainer got to where they are now despite, rather than because of, Shields. Georgia and Bartlow he does help reach the summits of their respective trades — though it is worth noting that both were satisfied with their lots in life and had no interest in climbing to such heights in the first place —, which of course didn’t give him the right to crap all over their personal lives. And Amiel he screwed over on a profes-sional basis; used him and then kicked him to the curb. As it turns out, Pebbel’s intended irony is only half-true; Shields did foul Georgia up, destroyed Bartlow, and ruined Amiel one way or another. That they pulled themselves up by their boots traps and continued to be successful is more a testament to their determination than to Shields’s alleged Midas touch. To be sure, the film skimps a litte too much on Shields’s hubris. Yes, he naively assumes he can direct a movie himself and ends up bankrupting Shields Productions, but it is implied that he only failed because, for once, he wasn’t a bastard-coated bastard with bastard filling ("Jonathan the director was a new Jonathan. He was patience personified. He was tolerant, even-tempered, considerate and indulgent to his crew, his cast and his writer"). Moreover, Shields saves himself from well-deserved public scorn by shelving the movie instead of releasing it. Finally, even though it’s made clear that Shields needs Georgia, Bartlow, and Amiel more than they need him — as well as suggested that they might agree to work with him again, in spite of having every reason not to —, there’s no indication that Shields has changed for good. Right before biting off more than he can chew, Shields is given great advice: "To direct a picture, a man needs humility. Do you have humility, Mr. Shields?". Having his crony Pebbel rub it in people’s faces all Shields supposedly did for them while downplaying how he hurt them doesn’t go a long way to answer that question in the affirmative. All things considered, The Bad and the Beautiful is not unlike the film Shields drove to the ground;"beautifully" written, produced, photographed, etc., etc., but unsure of what it is that it wants to say about its subject matter. P.S. A decade later Godard made Le Mépris, wherein he practiced what he preached (in order to cri-ticize a movie, you have to make another movie); Jack Palance’s producer’s contentious relations-hips with his scriptwriter and director (legendary Austrian-American filmmaker Fritz Lang as himself; The Bad and the Beautiful includes a character possibly modeled after Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg, no less legendary or Austrian-American than Lang) parallels those of Shields’s; furthermore, Palance — dressed to the nines and hair carefully slicked back — looks to have styled himself after Douglas. The difference is that Le Mépris made no pretense that its antagonistic film producer was ever any-thing other than a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk , as opposed to The Bad and the Beautiful’s Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.

A Review by Geronimo1967 7

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2023-03-25

It all starts with poor old Walter Pidgeon ("Harry") assembling "Georgia" (Lana Turner), "Fred" (Barry Sullivan) and "Bartlow" (Dick Powell)... read more

It all starts with poor old Walter Pidgeon ("Harry") assembling "Georgia" (Lana Turner), "Fred" (Barry Sullivan) and "Bartlow" (Dick Powell) in his office so he can persuade then to write, direct and star in one last picture for their nemesis "Jonathan Shields" (Kirk Douglas). They loathe him - with a passion, and "Harry" knows he has his work cut out if he is convince them. His preferred method is to remind each of them, whilst introducing us to their characters and stories, of how they alighted on the visionary, enigmatic and profoundly selfish "Shields", and of how his selfishness and determination helped each of them to achieve success. Vincente Minnelli has assembled a strong cast to deliver really well on Charles Schnee's screenplay. The flashbacks deliver just about everything from betrayal, duplicity, passion - pretty much the whole gamut of human emotions and frailties as we gradually build a picture of a man about whom nothing is simple - and about whom it is possible to admire and detest in equal measure. By reminding them of just how they got to where they are now, "Harry" - who was put through the wringer a bit too by his boss - hopes to convince them to step up for one last hurrah! Can he? Should he? Should they? There is a really strong supporting cast here - including an effective Gilbert Roland ("Gaucho") and the briefest of appearances from Gloria Grahame as ("Rosemary"). Douglas is on super form - he conveys the ambitiousness and odiousness of the producer character effortlessly and at the same time gives us quite a vision of just how transitory and cut-throat Hollywood was. Turner, likewise, is on super form as the gal who will do what ever it takes to succeed - within reason - then when she starts to wear the real fur coats, then... What helps this stand out is the writing - it has a plausibility to it. You can readily imagine these scenarios being true (albeit gilded, somewhat) and it makes for two hours of cinema that simply flies by. Big screen if you can - it's well worth it.