86
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawHollywood here looks diabolically seductive.
- 100Time OutCath ClarkeTime OutCath ClarkeVincente 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.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOne of the most incisive and perceptive Hollywood films about Hollywood.
- 91The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThis is studio-system product at its juiciest and most sophisticated, full of insights into the mess behind the art.
- 88LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenLarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenAll of these sequences have an unshowy effortlessness that represents the pinnacle of Hollywood glamour.
- 80Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrUnder 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.
- 80EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonDouglas' 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.
- 80Rarely seen but frequently referenced in film studies lecture rooms, Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) is a twisted tale of the rise and fall of Kirk Douglas’ ruthless Hollywood producer Jonathan Shields and one of the greatest ‘movies about movies’ to ever come out of Hollywood.
- 50The New York TimesBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesBosley CrowtherIt is a crowded and colorful picture, but it is choppy, episodic and vague.