The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

A washed up producer (Kirk Douglas) tries to get his former friends to make another picture to revive his career. The three, a director (Barry Sullivan), star (Lana Turner), and screenwriter (Dick Powell), recount their story of how they fell out with him.

Nominated for six academy awards and winning five, Hollywood is a sucker for stories about Hollywood, and apparently so am I. The three stories do not overlap much and illustrate the extent Douglas’ Jonathan is willing to go to further his interests. The now successful three must ask themselves if they can put their feelings aside to now help their former mentor. 

Gloria Grahame won an Oscar nine and a half minutes of a fair southern accent. It would be the shortest screen time for an acting Oscar at the time ... I'm happy to say. Leo G. Carroll has a brief role as a difficult director and Barbara Billingsley makes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her appearance five years before becoming June Cleaver.

Many of the characters are thinly-veiled versions of real contemporary people. I will out David O. Selznick as a primary inspiration for our main character, but you can read the details for yourself. Selznick even contacted a lawyer to see if there were grounds to sue.

The Bad and the Beautiful is expert storytelling. The performances are excellent (Douglas uses his “angry Kirk” voice only once), the script is tight, and the story compelling. The film came highly recommended and I came to it very late. I should have believed it. AMRU 4.5.

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

Vagabond Frank (John Garfield) takes a job at a roadside diner and discovers that the old man’s wife is a hot young blond (Lana “Sweater” Turner). Initially they have a chilly relationship but it warms over time.

I’ve been ringing the “is similar to …” bell recently and Postman is similar enough to an earlier noir to land me in serious spoiler territory. I will avoid that, save to say the former is a better film.

I sometimes confuse the Johns, Garfield and Gilbert, but there really is no comparison. Gilbert was a matinee idol on a path to a great career when it was tragically cut short by heart trouble at age 38, while Garfield was a matinee idol on a path to a great career when it was tragically cut short by heart trouble at age 39. By which I mean, Gilbert was four inches taller.

I’ve crossed paths with Lana Turner a couple times but her only significant role was the bad version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). Sugar Daddy and diner owner is Cecil Kellaway, dependable character actor whenever an amiable older man is needed. Alan “Flintstone” Reed had a significant part. If you are curious what the voice actor for Fred Flintstone looks like, it’s exactly like Fred Flintstone.

Pretty good story, pretty good chemistry, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a pleasant enough movie. It is not the great Film-Noir it was made out to be, and the “based on a book” artifacts are readily apparent. Time passes without time passing, issues arise and quickly resolve that probably filled a chapter and don’t impact much the story at large. Oh, yea, and the nonsensical title. But these sins are forgivable and it’s a pretty good film. Just not the great noir I was led to believe. AMRU 3.5. No postmen were harmed in the viewing of this film.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

We know the story. Doctor Jekyll (Spencer Tracy) is experimenting in the true nature of man. The father of his hottie fiancee (Lana Turner) disapproves, but Jekyll can't help himself. Quite by accident he bumps into a low born cockney girl in the street (Ingrid Bergman) and falls deeply in lust. But he is a good man and mustn't allow base instincts take over. So he just kisses her. Nighty-night.

Well, where Jekyll must be a proper gentleman, good friend Hyde has no such requirements. Hyde coerces his concubine into being a kept woman and things slowly get out of hand. Again, you know the story. Tragedy for all.

For the most part, this was a remake of the famed 1931 version rather than the Stevenson work, and suffered the consequence of comparison. Tracy was eager to take the role but was embarrassed by it after fan reaction was rather harsh. Also, Bergman as a cockney barmaid? Hmmm. That's a bit of a stretch. Hotness allows one to get with many crimes and she did have it to spare.

There is one scene where a fevered Jekyll is struggling with his lust for the Bergman character and his duty to his fiancee. He is seen driving two horses, one dark and one white, with a manic expression on his face. Then the horses turn into Bergman and Turner, seemingly topless, with frantic, worried looks on their faces. How's that for slipping it by the sensors? This photo doesn't do it justice, but it's the best I could find.

 

This version was killed by the critics when it was released, but in fairness it's not bad. I haven't seen the Fredric March version yet, so I'll hold off final judgement, but it was definitely worth a look. AMRU 3.5.

 

One final comment about the media. I requested a set of disks from the library and when it was available, I didn't remember what it was or why I ordered it. I discovered that it was a four movie set, two of which were on my see list. This and House of Wax. With both movies, the DVD menu promised that the older version was on the flip side, but the set had Freaks and The Haunting instead. This matched the case, so I'm guessing someone bought the resale rights to the movies and didn't bother to change the menu.