

The Bad and the Beautiful
I took you out of the gutter... I can fling you back!
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.
TMDB
7.3/10
314 votes
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Not rated yet
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $1.6M
- Box office
- $3.4M
- Language
- English
- movie business
- rise and fall
- flashback
- hollywood
- black and white
- told in flashback
Top billed cast
















Behind the camera
Where to watch
All optionsAvailability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.
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Release dates
United StatesUS
- Theatrical (limited)NRLos Angeles, California25 Dec 1952
- TheatricalNR15 Jan 1953
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalPG27 Feb 1953
ArgentinaAR
- Theatrical4 Aug 1953
AustriaAT
- Theatrical25 Sept 1953
BelgiumBE
- Theatrical26 Jun 1953
BrazilBR
- Theatrical9 Feb 1953
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical15 Nov 1954
FinlandFI
- TheatricalK-1612 Feb 1954
FranceFR
- TheatricalU8 Apr 1953
- TheatricalRe-release14 Feb 1990
- TheatricalRe-release24 Feb 2001
- TheatricalRe-release28 Jan 2009
GermanyDE
- Theatrical16West Germany1 Sept 1953
Hong KongHK
- Theatrical1 Jul 1954
ItalyIT
- Theatrical13 May 1953
Frequently asked questions
The Bad and the Beautiful was released on 25 December 1952.
Audience reviews
2- T5/10
tmdb28039023
8/30/2022
The Bad and the Beautiful is sort of like Old Hollywood’s Rashomon. Three characters appear before a fourth to tell a story about a fifth; the three stories are different but interrelated, and the moral of each is the same: studio chief Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) is a major a--hole and to know him is to hate him. Each tale is bookended by film producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon) sarcastically condoling wit…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
3/25/2023
It all starts with poor old Walter Pidgeon ("Harry") assembling "Georgia" (Lana Turner), "Fred" (Barry Sullivan) and "Bartlow" (Dick Powell) in his office so he can persuade then to write, direct and star in one last picture for their nemesis "Jonathan Shields" (Kirk Douglas). They loathe him - with a passion, and "Harry" knows he has his work cut out if he is convince them. His preferred method is to remind each of …
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