Too much of everything

So much average

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Vincente Minnelli tries to go all hyper-modern in this widescreen adaptation of an Irwin Shaw novel, which I hope made more sense. Washed-up actor Kirk Douglas, all clenched teeth and dimple, is let out of the loony bin to rescue a faltering big-budget movie in Rome being directed by a manipulative, but somehow pitiable, Edward G. Robinson. Unsympathetic supporting characters abound: Douglas's awful ex-wife (Cyd Charisse, looking great and giving rather good shrew), Robinson's hysterical spouse (Claire Trevor, who is, for perhaps the only time in her life, dreadful), an insecure method actor (an OK George Hamilton), a starlet inexplicably drawn to Douglas (Daliah Levi, all bust). The histrionics, including a wild and wildly unbelievable Douglas-cracking-up-at-the-wheel car scene, are entertaining, but that the whole thing could somehow end happily is ludicrous. What's fun are the Rome trappings, with Douglas's fabulous car, the gowns, the locations, and some imaginative use of the wide screen. Also, some attractive old-Hollywood rumblings from composer David Raskin. Not one for the ages, but worth a look.

This is surprisingly dull and tedious, considering it was directed by Vincent Minnelli. Supposedly another expose about filmmaking, it is a sort-of sequel to "The Bad and the Beautiful," and there are even a few scenes shown from that much-better movie. There is little about movie making in "Two Weeks in Another Town," however, which is ostensibly about a movie being filmed in Rome (a center of movie making in the 1960's) but is mostly about ex-wives and girl friends. Most of the women are bitchy and interchangeable (Claire Trevor, Cyd Charisse), most of the men are cardboard characters (Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson) and some of the scenes are ridiculous, such as the one where a woman gets a slap in the face at a glamorous event. This movie gives us that cliché soliloquy from an actor playing an actor about the pain and loneliness of being an actor. So ironic, so theatrical, so moving! And then there's dull Dahlia Lavi. Some of us are old enough to recall Dahlia (who later changed the spelling to Daliah) gracing the covers of almost every magazine as Hollywood's most glamorous new discovery, only to quickly disappear. The movie also looks surprisingly trashy, with garish colors and vulgar sets, a child's idea of glamor.

Some screenplays are simply unfilmable, and even if they are filmable, become laughable because the acting simply becomes banal either through over-direction or misguided emotions by actors trying too hard. In the case of this supposed follow-up to "The Bad and the Beautiful", the first "B" in that title, certainly fits, not the second. It's an embarrassment on all levels with such talents as Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse, George Hamilton and especially Claire Trevor chewing up every word of the dialog. It's a major shame to have Trevor pretty much vomit every line she says as if she was getting revenge on Robinson for mistreating her in "Key Largo".The story is difficult to figure out from the very beginning with everybody ranting and raving at Kirk Douglas for being a has-been drunk actor, and the efforts director Robinson makes to get the movie completed. To make matters worse, a clip from "The Bad and the Beautiful" is used, showing how things went from an outstanding piece of art where everything came together, to this huge house of cards where a sudden gust of wind came along, making the entire deck impossible to put back together again. Luxurious photography can't hide the fact that what is actually present on the screen is probably one of the most confusing pieces of trash ever committed on celluloid. Even director Vincent Minnelli's final film, the major flop "A Matter of Time", outshines this one in spades.While film history resources indicate that rash editing lead to the film's failure, the script is also filled with massive inconsistencies, utilizing sudden psychotic mood swings in many scenes for pretty much every character. The film is practically impossible to get through, a sad example of so much talent tossed together in what really comes out to be a compost heap. The film also touches on the perverted, such as a scene where the aging Robinson appears to be being fondled by an Italian starlet (while harpy wife Trevor rants and raves like a patient from a nut house). The worst slap in the face comes for poor Trevor, playing one of the most hateful characters on-screen, only rivaled by the vile nasty rich wife that Eleanor Parker played in "An American Dream", another dreadful disaster made just a couple of years later. This one, however, could be called Vincent Minnelli's "An Italian Nightmare".

Next to TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL looks like an all-around masterpiece of subtle drama. Both take a cynical look at the behind-the-scenes backstabbing in Hollywood.The story gets off to a slow start and then continues to move at a snail's pace, especially through the early scenes where we're introduced to characters like EDWARD G. ROBINSON and his shrewish wife CLAIRE TREVOR. Robinson seems to be playing a thinly disguised version of Darryl F. Zanuck and Trevor seems to think she has to overdo the tirades in scene after scene so she can win another supporting Oscar like the one she snared for KEY LARGO. The school of overacting seems to be rampant here.Irwin Shaw was obviously cynical about his own treatment by the Hollywood studios and has concocted a melodrama that is even more bitter about studio politics than THE BIG KNIFE or THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL.It's strange that Vincente Minnelli would be the director chosen to bring this story to life, but suffice it to say that it's not one of his best directorial achievements. KIRK DOUGLAS does a decent job in the central role but most of the performances are absurdly over-the-top in a film wherein the script itself is the main problem.Sorry, can't work up any enthusiasm for this one.