Editing The Bad and the Beautiful

{{Short description|1952 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Bad and the Beautiful
| image          = The Bad and the Beautiful (1952 poster).jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Vincente Minnelli]]
| producer       = [[John Houseman]]
| based_on       = {{based_on| "Of Good and Evil"<br>1948 story in ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''|[[George Bradshaw (writer)|George Bradshaw]]}}
| screenplay     = [[Charles Schnee]]
| starring       = [[Lana Turner]]<br />[[Kirk Douglas]]<br />[[Walter Pidgeon]]<br />[[Dick Powell]]<br />[[Barry Sullivan (American actor)|Barry Sullivan]]<br />[[Gloria Grahame]]<br />[[Gilbert Roland]]<br>[[Leo G. Carroll]]<br>[[Vanessa Brown]]
| music          = [[David Raksin]]
| cinematography = [[Robert Surtees (cinematographer)|Robert L. Surtees]]
| editing        = [[Conrad A. Nervig]]
| distributor    = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Loew's Inc.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1952|12|25|Los Angeles|1953|01|15|New York City}}
| runtime        = 118 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = US$1,558,000<ref name="Mannix">{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>
| gross          = $3,373,000<ref name="Mannix"/>
}}
'''''The Bad and the Beautiful''''' is a 1952 American [[melodrama film]] that tells the story of a film producer who alienates everyone around him.  The film was directed by [[Vincente Minnelli]], written by [[George Bradshaw (writer)|George Bradshaw]] and [[Charles Schnee]], and stars [[Lana Turner]], [[Kirk Douglas]], [[Walter Pidgeon]], [[Dick Powell]], [[Barry Sullivan (American actor)|Barry Sullivan]], [[Gloria Grahame]] and [[Gilbert Roland]]. ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' won five [[Academy Awards]] out of six nominations in 1952 (including Gloria Grahame winning Best Supporting Actress), a record for the most awards for a movie that was not nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] or for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]].{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

In 2002, the United States [[Library of Congress]] deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Librarian of Congress Adds 25 Films to National Film Registry|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-02-176/librarian-of-congress-adds-25-films-to-national-film-registry/2002-12-17/|access-date=2020-09-16|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> The theme song, "The Bad and the Beautiful", penned by [[David Raksin]], became a [[jazz standard]] and has been cited as an example of an excellent movie theme.

''The Bad and the Beautiful'' was created by the same team that later worked on another film about the seedy film business, ''[[Two Weeks in Another Town]]'' (1962): director (Vincente Minnelli), producer (John Houseman), screenwriter (Charles Schnee), composer (David Raksin), male star (Kirk Douglas), and studio (MGM). Both films also feature performances of the song "[[Don't Blame Me (Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh song)|Don't Blame Me]]", by [[Leslie Uggams]] in ''Two Weeks'' and by [[Peggy King]] in ''The Bad and the Beautiful''. In one scene of ''Two Weeks in Another Town'', the cast watches clips from ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' in a screening room, presented as a film that Douglas's character in ''Two Weeks'', Jack Andrus, had starred in. ''Two Weeks'' is not a sequel, however, as the characters in the two stories are unrelated.

==Plot==
In [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], director Fred Amiel (Sullivan), [[movie star]] Georgia Lorrison (Turner), and [[screenwriter]] James Lee Bartlow (Powell) each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields (Douglas) in Paris. [[Movie producer]] Harry Pebbel (Pidgeon) gathers them in his office and explains that Shields has a new film idea and he wants the three of them for the project.  Shields cannot get financing on his own, but with their names attached, there would be no problem.  Pebbel asks the three to allow him to get Shields on the phone before they give their final answer.
[[File:Kirk Douglas in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[File:Dick Powell in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[File:Barry Sullivan in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[File:Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[File:Gilbert Roland in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[File:Elaine Stewart in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
As they await Shields' call, Pebbel assures the three that he understands why they refused to speak to Shields. Their involvement with Shields then unfolds in a series of flashbacks. Shields is the son of a notorious former studio head who had been dumped by the industry. The elder Shields was so unpopular that his son had to hire [[Extra (acting)|extras]] to attend his funeral.  Despite the ill feelings toward him because of his father, the younger Shields is determined to make it in Hollywood.

Shields partners with aspiring director Amiel, whom he meets at the funeral. Shields intentionally loses money he does not have in a [[poker]] game to film executive Pebbel so he can talk Pebbel into letting him work off the debt as a [[line producer]]. Shields and Amiel learn their respective trades making [[B movies]] for Pebbel. When one of their films becomes a hit, Amiel decides they are ready to take on a more significant project he has been nursing along, and Shields pitches it to the studio. Shields gets a $1 million budget to produce the film, but betrays Amiel by allowing someone with an established reputation to direct. The film's success allows Shields to start his own studio, and Pebbel goes to work for him. Amiel becomes an [[Academy Award for Best Director|Oscar-winning director]].

Shields next encounters [[alcoholic]] small-time actress Lorrison, the daughter of a famous actor Shields admired. He builds up her confidence and gives her the leading role in one of his movies over everyone else's objections. When she falls in love with him, he lets her think that he feels the same way so that she does not self-destruct and he gets the performance he needs. After the [[premiere]] makes her a star overnight, she finds him with a bit player named Lila. He tells her that he will never allow anyone to have that much control over him.  Crushed, Lorrison walks out on her contract. Rather than suing her, Shields lets her go to another studio. She becomes a top Hollywood star.

Finally, Bartlow is a contented professor at a small college who has written a bestselling book for which Shields has purchased the film rights. Shields wants Bartlow himself to write the script. Bartlow is not interested, but his shallow Southern belle wife Rosemary is, so he gives in. They go to Hollywood, where her constant distractions keep him from his work. Shields gets his suave actor friend Victor "Gaucho" Ribera to keep her occupied. Freed from interruption, Bartlow makes excellent progress on the script. Rosemary, however, runs away with Gaucho; they are killed in a plane crash. When the script is completed, Shields has the distraught Bartlow remain in Hollywood to help with the production, while Shields takes over directing duties.  A first-time director, Shields botches the job, which leads to his bankruptcy. Then Shields lets slip his part in Rosemary's involvement with Gaucho, so Bartlow walks out on him.  Bartlow goes on to write a novel based upon his wife (something Shields had encouraged him to do) and wins a [[Pulitzer Prize]].

After each flashback, Pebbel sarcastically agrees that Shields "ruined" their lives; each of the three is now at the top of their respective professions, thanks largely to Shields. At last, Shields's call comes through and Pebbel asks the three if they will work with Shields just one more time; all three say no. As they leave, Pebbel is still talking to Shields. The three eavesdrop on an [[extension (telephone)|extension phone]] as Shields describes his new idea; they become more and more interested.

==Cast==
* [[Lana Turner]] as Georgia Lorrison
* [[Kirk Douglas]] as Jonathan Shields
* [[Walter Pidgeon]] as Harry Pebbel
* [[Dick Powell]] as James Lee Bartlow
* [[Barry Sullivan (American actor)|Barry Sullivan]] as  Fred Amiel
* [[Gloria Grahame]] as Rosemary Bartlow
* [[Gilbert Roland]] as  Victor "Gaucho" Ribera
* [[Leo G. Carroll]] as Henry Whitfield
* [[Vanessa Brown]] as Kay Amiel
* [[Paul Stewart (actor)|Paul Stewart]] as  Syd
* [[Sammy White (actor)|Sammy White]] as Gus
* [[Elaine Stewart (actress)|Elaine Stewart]] as  Lila
* [[Ivan Triesault]] as Von Ellstein
* [[Lucy Knoch]] as blonde dancing with Gaucho (uncredited)
* [[Barbara Billingsley]] as Evelyn Lucien - costumer (uncredited)

==Production==
[[File:Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas in Bad and the Beautiful.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Lana Turner]] and [[Kirk Douglas]]]]
The film was based on a 1949 magazine story "Of Good and Evil" by [[George Bradshaw (writer)|George Bradshaw]], which was expanded into a longer version called ''Memorial to a Bad Man''. It concerned the will and testament of a New York theatre producer who tried to explain his bad behavior to three people he had hurt: a writer, actor and director. MGM bought the film rights and originally Dan Hartman was to produce it. Hartman left for Paramount.<ref>{{cite news|title=AVA GARDNER GETS ROLE WITH GABLE: Named for Metro's 'Lone Star,' Story of Texas Annexation Hartman Project Revived|first=Thomas F.|last=Brady|work=New York Times |date=23 Apr 1951|page= 21}}</ref>

[[Dore Schary]] offered the project to [[John Houseman]]; it was to be called ''Memo to a Bad Man''. Houseman decided to change the milieu from New York theatre to Hollywood because he felt after ''[[All About Eve]]'' that a Hollywood setting would have more novelty.<ref>{{cite news|title=Drama: Hal Wallis Signs 'Sheba' Star; Houseman Readies Two Stories for Screen|last=Schallert|first= Edwin|newspaper= Los Angeles Times|date=20 Apr 1951|page= B7}}</ref>

"I liked it", said Houseman. "I said, 'I'll do it, but not as a Broadway picture.' I was sick to death of Broadway pictures. I said, 'I wouldn't know how to add anything to the stuff that's been done, but if you'll let me do it as a Hollywood picture, I'd love to make it.'&nbsp;"<ref name="john">{{cite news|title=JOHN HOUSEMAN THE PRODUCER'S SIGNATURE INTERVIEW|author=Handzo, Stephen|work=Film Comment|location=New York|volume=11|issue=2 (Mar/Apr 1975)|pages=18–21}}</ref>

[[Clark Gable]] was originally attached to star; then [[Spencer Tracy]].<ref>{{cite news|title=MOVIELAND BRIEFS|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Oct 1, 1951|page=B10}}</ref> Eventually [[Kirk Douglas]] signed to play the lead. Vincente Minnelli was to direct.

"People who read the script asked me why I wanted to do it", said Vincente Minnelli. "It was against Hollywood, etc. I told them I didn't see the man as an unregenerate heel—first because we find out he has a weakness, which makes him human, and second, because he's tough on himself as he is on everyone else, which makes him honest. That's the complex, wonderful thing about human beings—whether they're in Hollywood, in the automobile business, or in neckties."<ref>{{cite news|title=Minnelli Film Work Reveals Him as Poet: Director Unassuming, However; Just Tells Them How He Wants It Done|last=Scheuer|first= Philip K.|newspaper= Los Angeles Times |date=30 Nov 1952|page= E3}}</ref>

Douglas later recalled being on set with [[Francis X. Bushman]], who had a small part as the paid eulogist of Hugo Shields. He says Bushman told him his career faded away because "at the height of his fame, he inadvertently offended the all-powerful Louis B. Mayer by keeping him waiting a few minutes. Mayer, in turn, banned him from MGM and blackballed him in the industry. This was his first time on the lot in 25 years. Bushman's story gave me some useful insight into the ruthless, selfish character I was playing—still another tough-guy antihero. I was doing well with these roles."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kirk-douglas/ive-made-about-90-feature-films-but-these-are-the-ones-im-proudest-of_b_6290742.html|website=Huffington Post|date=12 September 2014|first=Kirk|last=Douglas|title=I've Made About 90 Feature Films, but These Are the Ones I'm Proudest Of}}</ref>

An uncredited [[Lucy Knoch]] plays the blonde dancing with Gaucho; she is frequently assumed by modern audiences to be [[Kim Novak]] because of the resemblance.

===Relation to real-life personalities===
[[File:Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Lana Turner and Kirk Douglas]]
There has been much debate as to which real-life Hollywood legends are represented by the film's characters. At the time of the film's release, stories about its basis caused [[David O. Selznick]]—whose real life paralleled in some respects that of the "father-obsessed independent producer" Jonathan Shields—to have his lawyer view the film and determine whether it contained any [[libel]]ous material.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=190980%7C190968&name=Behind-the-Camera-The-Bad-and-the-Beautiful |title=Behind the Camera on The Bad and the Beautiful |last1=Miller |first1=Frank |date=2016 |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113145021/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=190980%7C190968&name=Behind-the-Camera-The-Bad-and-the-Beautiful |archive-date=2016-01-13|access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> Shields is thought to be a blending of Selznick, [[Orson Welles]] and [[Val Lewton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/bada.html |title=The Bad And The Beautiful (1952) |publisher=filmsite.org |author=Tim Dirks}}</ref> [[Dore Schary]], head of MGM at the time, said Shields was a combination of "[[David O. Selznick]] and as yet unknown [[David Merrick]]."<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/heydayautobiogra00scha/page/246 246]|first=Dore|last=Schary|title=Heyday|url=https://archive.org/details/heydayautobiogra00scha|url-access=registration|year=1979|publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=9780316772709}}</ref>

Lewton's ''[[Cat People (1942 film)|Cat People]]'' is clearly the inspiration behind the early Shields–Amiel film ''Doom of the Cat Men''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s428bad.html |title=The Bad and the Beautiful |publisher=DVD Savant |author=Glenn Erickson |author-link=Glenn Erickson |date=February 28, 2002 |access-date=July 13, 2009}}</ref>

The Georgia Lorrison character is the daughter of a "Great Profile" actor like [[John Barrymore]] ([[Diana Barrymore]]'s career was in fact launched the same year as her father's death), but it can also be argued that Lorrison includes elements of Minnelli's ex-wife [[Judy Garland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.spout.com/2007/08/15/star-making-as-fetish-the-bad-and-the-beautiful/ |title=Star-making as Fetish: The Bad and the Beautiful |publisher=blog.spout.com |author=Karina Longworth |author-link=Karina Longworth |date=August 15, 2007 |access-date=2007-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016210122/http://blog.spout.com/2007/08/15/star-making-as-fetish-the-bad-and-the-beautiful/ |archive-date=2007-10-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Gilbert Roland]]'s Gaucho may almost be seen as self-parody, as he had recently starred in a series of [[Cisco Kid]] pictures, though the character's name, Ribera, would seem to give a nod also to famed Hollywood seducer [[Porfirio Rubirosa]]. The casting of Roland as Gaucho may also be a reference to his long-term, real-life affair with actress [[Norma Talmadge]], then the wife of producer [[Joseph M. Schenck]], during the waning years of the [[silent film era]] and the early years of the [[talkies]].

The director Henry Whitfield ([[Leo G. Carroll]]) is a "difficult" director modeled on [[Alfred Hitchcock]], and his assistant Miss March ([[Kathleen Freeman]]) is modeled on Hitchcock's wife [[Alma Reville]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}   The other director, von Ellstein, may be modeled after [[Erich von Stroheim]] and [[Josef von Sternberg]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf98n4.html |title=New York State Writers Institute – Film Notes for ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' |author=Kevin Hagopian |access-date=January 11, 2018}}</ref>

The James Lee Bartlow character may have been inspired by [[Paul Eliot Green]],{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} the University of North Carolina academic-turned-screenwriter of ''[[The Cabin in the Cotton]]''. But Bartlow also resembles novelist [[William Faulkner]], who worked on many of Hollywood's best movies—and had an easier relationship with the industry than he did with his wife. She, like her movie counterpart, was a difficult, often-demanding ex-Southern belle.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://gardenandgun.com/feature/william-faulkners-hollywood-odyssey/| title = William Faulkner's Hollywood Odyssey – Garden & Gun}}</ref>

Houseman later said, "The producer was thought to be Selznick, and of course it largely is, but—well, is ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' Hearst? Yes, it is Hearst, but also Pulitzer and a lot of other legendary people. So it was Selznick, Zanuck, and all others. Just as the foreign director could be Stroheim or Fritz Lang. When you start to work in a legendary world, you get legendary figures."<ref name="john"/>

==Release==
The film was shot as ''Tribute to a Bad Man'' but the studio worried it would be mistaken for a western. The title was changed to ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' at the suggestion of MGM's head of publicity [[Howard Dietz]] who took it from [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]. Houseman admitted he thought it was a "dreadful title, it's a loathsome, cheap, vulgar, title" but then when the film became successful 
"it seemed like one of the greatest titles ever thought of. It's certainly been imitated enough: any time anybody's really hard up for a title, they just take two adjectives and string them together with an "and" in between."<ref name="john"/>

==Reception==
According to MGM records, the film earned $2,367,000 in the US and Canada and $1,006,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $484,000.<ref name="Mannix"/> On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds a rating of 80% from 49 reviews with the consensus: "[[Melodrama film|Melodrama]] at its most confident, ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' is an ode to moviemaking that offers unblinking insight into the ugly egos that have shaped Hollywood history."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_and_the_beautiful|title = The Bad and the Beautiful|website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

===Accolades===
At the [[25th Academy Awards|1953 ceremony]], actress [[Gloria Grahame]]'s performance as Rosemary Bartlow, which occupied only just 9 minutes and 32 seconds of screen time, was at the time [[List of Academy Award records|the shortest performance to ever win an Academy Award]], a record she held until the [[49th Academy Awards|1977 ceremony]] when [[Beatrice Straight]] won [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for ''[[Network (1976 film)|Network]]'' and set a new record of 5 minutes and 2 seconds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themovies.co.za/2015/01/29/top-list-thursday-oscar-winners-with-the-shortest-screen-time/ |title=Top List Thursday – Oscar winners with the shortest screen time |last=Cloete |first=Kervyn |date=2015-01-29 |website=themovies.co.za |publisher=The Movies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405134547/http://www.themovies.co.za/2015/01/29/top-list-thursday-oscar-winners-with-the-shortest-screen-time/ |archive-date=2015-04-05 |access-date=2016-01-18 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="6"| [[25th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Kirk Douglas]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="6"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1953 |title=The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 20, 2011 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093830/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/25th-winners.html |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Gloria Grahame]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| [[Charles Schnee]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction – Black-and-White]]
| Art Direction: [[Cedric Gibbons]] and [[Edward Carfagno]]; <br> Set Decoration: [[Edwin B. Willis]] and [[F. Keogh Gleason]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black-and-White]]
| [[Robert Surtees (cinematographer)|Robert Surtees]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design – Black-and-White]]
| [[Helen Rose]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[7th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film from any Source]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bafta.org/awards/search?search=The+Bad+and+the+Beautiful+ |title=The Bad and the Beautiful |publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards]] |access-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[5th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| [[Vincente Minnelli]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1950s/1952.aspx?value=1952 |title=5th Annual DGA Awards |publisher=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[10th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture]]
| [[Gilbert Roland]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/bad-and-the-beautiful-the/ |title=The Bad and the Beautiful |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
| Gloria Grahame
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1952|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|7th Place}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1952/ |title=1952 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Film Preservation Board]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Film Registry]]
| {{won|Inducted}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=December 16, 2015}}</ref>
|-
| [[14th Venice International Film Festival|Venice International Film Festival]]
| [[Golden Lion]]
| Vincente Minnelli
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[5th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Drama|Best Written American Drama]]
| Charles Schnee
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=December 5, 2012 |access-date=June 6, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

==Theme song==
[[File:Walter Pidgeon in The Bad and the Beautiful trailer.jpg|right|thumb|180px|{{center|Trailer image}}]]
[[David Raksin]] wrote the theme song "The Bad and the Beautiful" (originally called "Love is For the Very Young") for the film. Upon first hearing the song, Minnelli and Houseman nearly rejected it, but were convinced to keep it by [[Adolph Green]] and [[Betty Comden]].<ref name=raksinobit>{{cite news |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |date=2004-08-11 |title=David Raksin, The Composer of 'Laura', Is Dead at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/arts/david-raksin-the-composer-of-laura-is-dead-at-92.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2016-01-13 }}</ref> After the film's release, the song became a hit<ref name=tcm>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=190980%7C190968&name=Behind-the-Camera-The-Bad-and-the-Beautiful |title=Behind the Camera on The Bad and the Beautiful |last1=Miller |first1=Frank |date=2016 |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113145021/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=190980%7C190968&name=Behind-the-Camera-The-Bad-and-the-Beautiful |archive-date=2016-01-13|access-date=2016-01-13 |quote=As a result, he insisted that the love theme from The Bad and the Beautiful be released strictly as an instrumental. It became a hit[.]}}</ref> and a [[jazz standard]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-8/badandthebeautiful.htm|title=The Bad and the Beautiful|publisher=Jazzstandards.com|access-date=13 December 2012}}</ref> and has been widely covered.<ref name=phillips>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Phillips (critic)|date=2011-08-26 |title=Anatomy of a Great Movie Theme |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/08/26/anatomy-of-a-great-movie-theme/|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=2016-01-13 }}</ref>

A number of film music experts and composers, including [[Stephen Sondheim]], have highly praised the theme.<ref name=raksinobit /><ref name=phillips /> In a ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' article about the theme entitled "Anatomy of a Great Movie Theme", critic [[Michael Phillips (critic)|Michael Phillips]] wrote, "Its hypnotic way of combining dissonance with resolutions that never quite resolve when, or how, you expect them to, keeps a listener perpetually intrigued. The bittersweet quality proves elusive and addictive. It's perfect for the Douglas character, and for what Minnelli called the Hollywood-insider script's alternately 'affectionate and cynical' air."<ref name=phillips />

==Home media==
''The Bad and the Beautiful'' was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on February 5, 2002, as a Region 1 fullscreen DVD. It was released on Blu-ray from Warner Archive on November 19, 2019.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|The Bad and the Beautiful (film)}}
* {{IMDb title|0044391}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-bad-and-the-beautiful-am3510 ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' at AllMovie]
* {{TCMDb title|67941}}
* {{AFI film|50404}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC ''The Bad and the Beautiful''] essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the [[National Film Registry]], A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 42–463

{{Vincente Minnelli}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad And The Beautiful, The}}
[[Category:1952 films]]
[[Category:1952 drama films]]
[[Category:American drama films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films about actors]]
[[Category:Films about film directors and producers]]
[[Category:Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films set in studio lots]]
[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award–winning performance]]
[[Category:Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Vincente Minnelli]]
[[Category:Films scored by David Raksin]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:1950s melodrama films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s American films]]
[[Category:English-language drama films]]