The Bad and the Beautiful

The Bad and the Beautiful is a 1952 MGM melodrama that tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and written by George Bradshaw and Charles Schnee.

In Hollywood, director Fred Amiel Barry Sullivan, movie star Georgia Lorrison Lana Turner, and screenwriter James Lee Bartlow Dick Powell each refuse to speak by phone to Jonathan Shields Kirk Douglas in Paris. Movie producer Harry Pebbel Walter Pidgeon gathers them in his office and explains that Shields was calling them because he has a new film idea and he wants the three of them for the project. Shields cannot get financing on his own, but with their names attached, there would be no problem. Pebbel asks the three to allow him to get Shields on the phone before they give their final answer.As they await Shields call, Pebbel assures the three that he understands why they refused to speak to Shields. The backstory of their involvement with Shields then unfolds in a series of flashbacks. Shields is the son of a notorious former studio head who had been dumped by the industry. The elder Shields was so unpopular that his son had to hire extras to attend his funeral. Despite the industrys ill feelings toward him because of his father, the younger Shields is determined to make it in Hollywood by any means necessary. ........

Source: Wikipedia