Synopsis
Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.
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Cast
- Kirk DouglasJonathan Shields
- Lana TurnerGeorgia Lorrison
- Walter PidgeonHarry Pebbel
- Dick PowellJames Lee Bartlow
- Barry SullivanFred Amiel
- Gloria GrahameRosemary Bartlow
- Gilbert RolandVictor "Gaucho" Ribera
- Leo G. CarrollHenry Whitfield
- Vanessa BrownKay Amiel
- Paul StewartSyd Murphy
Recommendations
- 100
The Guardian
Hollywood here looks diabolically seductive. - 100
Time Out
Vincente Minnelli’s 1952 movie about the movies wears its golden-era confidence as big and bold as Kirk Douglas’s shoulder pads, and it’s pretty close to film heaven. - 100
San Francisco Chronicle
One of the most incisive and perceptive Hollywood films about Hollywood. - 91
The A.V. Club
This is studio-system product at its juiciest and most sophisticated, full of insights into the mess behind the art. - 88
LarsenOnFilm
All of these sequences have an unshowy effortlessness that represents the pinnacle of Hollywood glamour. - 80
Chicago Reader
Under Minnelli’s direction it becomes a fascinating study of a man destroyed by the 50s success ethic, left broke, alone, and slightly insane in the end. - 80
Empire
Douglas' teeth-clenched, dimple-thrusting megalomaniac is among his best work, while the gossipy screenplay (another Oscar winner) is served wonderfully by Minnelli's lush melodramatics. - 80
Variety
The screenplay of the George Bradshaw story is exceptionally well-written.
