Watching all these old movies, I’ve gotten quite used to the
flashback melodrama: A crew of characters is brought to some mysterious set of
circumstances as the film itself peels back the layers like a stinky onion
slowly revealing how everyone got to this point holding certain feelings.
This movie is quite ingenious and extremely dramatic. It’s
about Kirk Douglas’ Shields, the son of a disgraced Hollywood exec, who uses
every ounce of ingenuity and gumption to make it in the film industry. He teams
up with an out-of-work director (Barry Sullivan). Their plan: Douglas uses his
remaining fortune to lose to a high-profile producer in a game of poker for the
sole purpose of working on films to pay off their debt.
Next he befriends Lana Turner’s Georgia Lorrison, the
enigmatic, explosive and drop-dead gorgeous small-time actress. He feigns love
to control her alcoholism and to evoke the dramatic performances he needs for
his films.
Then, on top of his game, Shields employs Southern novelist
James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell) to leavehis quaint southern home to take a stab
at screenwriting. Whilst in Hollywood, Bartlow is interrupted in his work by
his meddling wife. Shields hires a handsome actor to entertain the wife while
Bartlow works. The wife decides to run away with the actor and they perish in a
plane accident. Later, Shields lets it slip the true reason Bartlow’s wife was
in the plane.
The point is to get the three back to work with Shields and they
all deny the request and begin to leave. As the producer and Shields are
talking on the phone, all three – made rich and famous thanks to Shields –
eavesdrop on another line. We are led to believe that they accept the
arrangement.
It’s dramatic, edgy and won five Academy Awards.
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