Search - The Bad and the Beautiful on DVD

How to write a great film

B. Lafave | lakeland , fl | 12/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"pay attention budding young screenwriters to films such as this and others from decades past . how did they manage to write great film with mature themes for general audiences ? they made it too smart for people of a certain age to be interested but conveyed all the same stuff a current film would need an R to achieve . this would earn a PG today . if that . but it's so good and worldly and honest . what happened to film like this ? they don't write like this any more and they seldom act this good . CGI . cable television . titillation . there's enough blame to go around . thank god for TCM and NETFLIX though . hey , i'm not exempt . i love much modern film and most of what i listed above and often disparage . these old films and their days are but a lovely reminder of a different time . perhaps i prefer to visit this era because i wasn't born yet ? perhaps it was just better ? some of both i think ."

The Good And Bad About The Bad And Beautiful

Craig Connell | Lockport, NY USA | 01/20/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A bit of a soap opera, this film was divided into three segments as people recalled their experiences with "Jonathan Shields," played well by Kirk Douglas.



"Shields" was a guy interested in making movies and he used people to get to the top. Three of these people tell of their dealings with him, and none of them have too many good things to say.



I liked the first and third segments but didn't care for the middle one with Lana Turner simply because Turner became so melodramatic, too hysterical for me. Barry Sullivan was excellent in the first part and helped get me into the story. He was the director who got "screwed" by Douglas.



Turner was the unknown actress whom Douglas turned into a star while the last part dealt with the key screenwriter for Douglas, played by Dick Powell. I thought Powell was the best of the four main characters of the film but his segment was the shortest, unfortunately. As good as he was, his wife was equally as annoying. She was played by the normally entertaining and alluring Gloria Grahame, who was anything but that in this role. She sounded ludicrous with her fake southern accent. How she won an Academy Award for this role is mind- boggling.



Some classify this movie as film noir, but I dispute that. It's simply a straight drama with soapish overtones. It's well-written, however, and keeps one's interest all the way, so I am not knocking this movie. It has a good things going for it.

"