BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE

(December 1952, U.S.)

Legendary actor Kirk Douglas' portrayel of a heartless, cut-throut, backstabbing Hollywood producer can easily be compared to Larry Hagman's character of J.R. Ewing on CBS-TV's DALLAS. And just like J.R.'s character, you can't help but love the guy just a little. Sure, he'd eat his own children (if he had any) to get a movie made, but he does it with such charm, style and a big, beautiful smile on his face that you can't help but give in to all of his bullshit.

The structure of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL is interesting. In the beginning, we see three people in "the business" - a director (Barry Sullivan), an actress (Lana Turner) and a writer (Dick Powell), all of whom were once close friends of Douglas' character, Jonathan Shields. Now they not only hate his guts, but also refuse to work with him ever again. They each share their own stories of how they once loved and trusted this man and how he ultimately ripped all of their hearts out to get what he wanted. In the case of the writer, Shields' unscroupulous behavior even inadvertantly leads to the death of his (the writer's) wife in a plane crash. By the end of the film, the three of them hold their grounds and still refuse to work with him, but ultimately cannot help themselves and their curiousity in continuing to experience whatever motives and proposals Jonathan Shields continues to dish out at them. I suppose like many of us in real life, we eat a lot of shit and inexplicably come around asking for more.

Watching THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL recently has taught me something; Hollywood has ALWAYS been full of pimps and whores who'll do anything for the almighty dollar sign. The difference between now and then was that many Hollywood producers actually found the time to care about and love the movies they were backing. In the end, too, the movies they gave us were not only good ones (sometimes GREAT ones), but they went on to be cinematic classics. Today...well, in my opinion, most Hollywood producers don't have a fucking clue about film and are only in the business to get rich on the stupidity and gullibility of moviegoers. The real problem with that is that the films they give us today are total shit! That leads me to a very frightening question...fifty or sixty years from now, are all of these stupid 3-D remakes going to be deemed as classics? Are these stupid movies that guys like Will Ferrell make going to be considered classics?? Kill me now! Please, just fucking kill me right now!!!

Favorite line or dialogue:

Jonathan Shields: "Don't worry. Some of the best movies are made by people working together who hate each other's guts."