The Bad and the Beautiful(1952),Vincente Minnelli. Starring: Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell
It's Vincente Minnelli month at the BFI Southbank in London, with special showings of his films throughout May. He was the sort of director of the studio system whose films, admittedly, seem dated; though Meet Me in St. Louis is a perennial Christmas classic, his films do err on the side of sentiment and melodrama. Having said that, The Bad and the Beautiful stands out as something considerably different from Minnelli's other films. Alongside Sunset Boulevard (1950, Billy Wilder) which is arguably the better of the two, it is a within-the-system critique of the system, exposing the hypocrisy, greed, and corruption of the Dream Factory from the top to the bottom.
The film opens at an unknown man's funeral; as the mourners leave, Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) hands out wads of cash to each of them. We don't have time to feel too quizzical - it is quickly explained that Shields' father is so hated he must pay people to mourn. Kirk Douglas is impressive in his David O. Selznick-inspired role as a megalomaniacal movie producer who squeezes the life out of his directors, stars, lovers, and friends.Portraying screen sirens like Lana Turner and Elaine Stewart as unstable alcoholic floozies and conniving wannabes, the film captures not only the predatory but the preyed-upon. One of the best moments must be when Lana Turner arrives at Douglas' mansion to discover his betrayal; the long shadows of his grand staircase divide the floor as moonlight floods through the windows. Lana sweeps in wearing a decadently fur-trimmed dress and carrying a bottle of champagne, but her Hollywood dreams turn to dust in the doorway and she is shouted out of the house, sobbing. It is a quintessential Hollywood moment of melodrama, and in spite of the film’s harsh critique of it, The Bad and the Beautiful mimics this style so closely that it’s difficult not to get swept along in the magic. The romance of Hollywood seems something Minnelli seems to recognise too; the last few moments of the film do not linger on Jonathan Shields' heartlessness, but on his conniving charm. Like Hollywood itself, Shields' charm outlasts his misdeeds; he serves as the perfect metaphor for the whole corrupt and glamourous system. The characters in the film are still fascinated hangers-on in spite of the injury caused - much like the audience, they cannot shake the stars from their eyes.
