Prince of Serendip

The Bad and the Beautiful

(1952)

It's All About Eve in reverse: everybody knows Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas) is a selfish, manipulative bastard, but the irony is that his selfish manipulation leads to his victims' triumphs over their own weaknesses and fuels their successes. Like Eve (released 2 years earlier), this started as a play, and shows it; like Eve, it has all the subtlety of a starlet's bustline; like Eve, it's far more fun than it has any right to be.

Unlike Eve, it includes a delicious tribute to the first and best collaboration between producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur, Cat People.