base on a short story and memorial to a bad man and by george bradshaw it be originally publish in february of 1951 in the lady home journal and it be reportedly about legendary broadway producer jed harris . film producer john houseman and director vincent minnelli convince mgm production chief dore schary to switch the story to hollywood partly because the film all about eve have cover broadway territory so well just two year earlier . and with the movie industry in decline ( because of tv ) houseman think it be ripe for a story about a producer from the golden day face a new era . he also find a parallel between the multiple flashback and the most famous film he work on and citizen kane . hollywood excels at reveal story about it self and think of sunset blvd . ( make just two year earlier ) and singin in the rain ( make the same year a the bad and the beautiful ) and what price hollywood ( 1932 ) and show people ( 1928 ) and a star be bear ( 1937 and 1954 and 1976 ) and mostly recently robert altman the player ( 1992 ) . rumor speculate that ( now 92 year old ) kirk douglas character jonathan shield be loosely base on producer david o. selznick who own father lewis j. selznick be an early giant in the film industry . after the collapse of his father empire and bankruptcy and young david star his career over and from the bottom a a proof reader slowly work his way up to produce and win oscar for both gwtw and rebecca . lovely lana turner character georgia larisson be supposedly base on the now nearly forget diana barrymore try to make a name for herself away from her father and the legendary john barrymore . today her niece draw barrymore be do a fine job of carry on the family tradition . lana turner play an actor whose career start a a movie extra . turner start her own career a an extra in a star be bear ( 1937 ) . trivia represent lana turner think it would be nice if her own personal hairdresser helen young and make up man del armstrong appear in the film a themselves and they do . dick powell character james lee bartlow be say to be inspire by legendary southern writer f. scott fitzgerald and university of virginia graduate and later uv instructor william faulkner . and gloria grahame win an academy award for best support actress playing powell wife rosemary bartlow who be base on fiery southern belle zelda fitzgerald . barry sullivan character of the director be inspire by val lewton and the low budget horror film he and douglas make be obviously a rip off of the cat people . houseman and minnelli be consider a character actor from the studio support rank for the role of producer harry pebbel when walter pidgeon put in a bid for the role . when tell he seem too suave and debonair to play the seedy producer and he show up in minnelli office wear a crew cut wig and a poorly fit suit and they say that it . and he win the role . leo g. carroll brief appearance a a demand director be a thinly veiled reference to alfred hitchcock . when he first come to hollywood and hitchcock be under contract to producer david o. selznick for year . carroll have role in many hitchcock film of this era . the character play by kathleen freeman be base on alfred hitchcock wife and alma reville . the bad and the beautiful be the first of four film director vincent minnelli would make with kirk douglas and the others be the story of three love and two week in another town and lust for life .