Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Bad and the Beautiful Blu-ray Movie Review

Here's how it was.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 18, 2019

Winner of five Academy Awards (but not nominated for Best Picture or Best Director) Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful is solid entertainment for aficionados of Hollywood's Golden Age. This winking melodrama, based on a 1949 magazine story by George Bradshaw, concerns struggling movie producer Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) and three former employees who hate him: director Fred Amiel (Barry Sullivan), actress Georgia Lorrison (Lana Turner), and screenwriter James Lee Bartlow (Dick Powell). Yet each owes their career to Shields so, at the request of fellow producer Harry Pebbel (Walter Pidgeon), an impromptu meeting is arranged to discuss his latest film pitch.

Though director Vincente Minnelli is remembered mainly for star-studded musicals like Meet Me in St. Louis and An American in Paris, The Bad and the Beautiful offers a different type of song-and-dance production. Its over-the-top characters are drawn with broad strokes and stare right at the front row while aiming for cheaper seats. The core story is unafraid to poke holes in an industry that, for several decades, hid behind a thick curtain of pageantry and glamour; yet unlike more courageous productions such as Sunset Boulevard, The Bad and the Beautiful rarely attempts to cut below the surface. (While we're making comparisons, I'd also liken it to Frank Oz's Bowfinger: perfectly enjoyable as an entertaining farce, but its teeth aren't quite sharp enough.) It has the look an feel of an ornery outsider production, but one whose soapy yuks were all approved by studio executives. Yet the performances are uniformly great, its flashback format doesn't feel like a gimmick, and David Raksin's outstanding original score -- including lead song "Don't Blame Me", which would reappear in Minnelli's like-minded Two Weeks in Another Town -- is one of his very best.

Warner Archive Collection's new Blu-ray edition plays firmly to the film's strengths, offering yet another top-tier A/V presentation including a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative. A trio of DVD-era bonus features are on board as well, including a feature-length Lana Turner documentary and a baker's dozen of audio cues from Raskin's excellent score; all are, in some way or another, technically more polished than their standard-definition counterparts.

The Bad and the Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, The Bad and the Beautiful looks, well, beautiful on Blu-ray. No surprises here -- Warner Archive Collection has given it the usual white-glove treatment sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original camera negative. The resulting 1080p transfer is as wonderful as expected with rich image detail and loads of natural film grain; it certainly has the shimmering, almost silvery appearance of nitrate stock, although I am not 100% sure of its origins. Textures and fine details are uniformly crisp, while the framing itself is very stable with no obvious signs of judder or wobble. Shadow detail and contrast levels are likewise strong with surprising depth during a handful of outdoor scenes. Yet perhaps the most striking facet of The Bad and the Beautiful's overall appearance is how clean the picture looks; WAC is frequently able to apply extensive cleanup to their 2K and 4K scans, and this is no different. Overall, a truly five-star effort that represents one of their best-looking Blu-rays this year.

The Bad and the Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio offers a dynamic listening experience that all but defies the film's age. Dialogue is extremely crisp and the excellent score by prolific composer David Raksin is balanced nicely. Overall, it's a great effort that, while not as immediately striking as the video presentation, has its share of strengths. Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature and all applicable extras. Unlike many recent WAC Blu-rays, these are formatted nicely and not in all caps. I'd love for this to be the standard, but it's as random as a coin flip.

The Bad and the Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Bad and the Beautiful is packaged in a standard keepcase with attractive poster-themed cover artwork. The on-disc extras are all ported over from Warner Bros.' excellent 2002 DVD, albeit with a few technical upgrades.

• Lana Turner: A Daughter's Memoir (86:28) - This feature-length documentary, originally made for TV in 2001, was directed by Carole Langer. Lana's daughter Cheryl Crane provides an in-depth and very revealing portrait of her mother, from her first big break in Hollywood to memories of family life and just about everything in-between. Lots of personal photos are included as well and, combined with the dense biographical narrative, makes this as engaging as the main feature. It's very bittersweet at times but well worth a watch for fans of the actress. A Daughter's Memoir also features narration by Robert Wagner as well as interview clips with Robert Stack, Evie Wynn Johnson, Jackie Cooper, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Rose, Juanita Moore, and others.

• Scoring Session Cues (13 clips, ~2:00 each) - These short instrumental cues from David Raksin's score are presented with raw recording bookends and include "Introduction", "Jonathan Calling", "Fred", "Eighteen Years Ago", "Oh Yes He Is", "The Letdown", "The Betrayal", "Georgia", "Almost Time", "Lonely Girl', "Fall From Grace", "James Lee's Narrative", and "The Spellbinder". Unlike their DVD counterparts (and much like the previous documentary), they're now given a nice bump to DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio -- a nice little touch.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:42) - This classic trailer is presented in 1080p with lossless audio; it's rough around the edges but in decent shape. Also available on Warner Archive's YouTube channel if you haven't seen it yet.

The Bad and the Beautiful Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the original "meta" films about Hollywood's Golden Age, The Bad and the Beautiful remains a well-acted and entertaining affair, but those with a deep knowledge of the era will likely find themselves wishing it had a sharper bite. But the fitfully enjoyable story, while somewhat inaccessible to outsiders, was clearly crafted with care...so if this sounds like your cup of tea, it probably is. Warner Archive's new Blu-ray, on the other hand, is an objectively strong effort with a nearly reference-level A/V presentation and the excellent bonus features from their parent company's 2002 DVD. This one's a no-brainer for established fans, but newcomers may want to try before they buy.