The Bad and the Beautiful

Dir. Vincente Minnelli. 1952. 118 mins. 35mm. With Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Gloria Grahame, Walter Pidgeon. This nasty, excoriating takedown of Hollywood’s hypocrisies and vices finds Minnelli in Billy Wilder mode, utilizing a complex and witty flashback structure to tell the story of a tyrannical movie producer (Douglas) from the perspectives of the starlet, the director, and the screenwriter who detest him. Winner of five Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Grahame, Best Screenplay for Charles Schnee (Red River), and Best Black-and-White Cinematography for the great Robert Surtees, a triple Oscar winner whose credits would include Ben-Hur, The Graduate, and The Last Picture Show.

Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $7 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online. (Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

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