well do tale of totally amoral hollywood producer jonathan shield ( kirk douglas ) . it all tell in flashback of how he make . and destroy . three people actress georgia lorrison ( lana turner ) and business associate fred amiel ( barry sullivan ) and writer james lee bartlow ( dick powell ) . purportedly this be an accurate portrayal of what hollywood be like at the time i have my doubt . it well direct with beautiful black and white cinematography but i do not think this be all factual ( however i do get a kick out of the obvious caricature of von stronheim ) . act varies powell be terrible i realize he do not have much to work with but he doesn not even try . sullivan be ok. turner be just superb one of her best performance . douglas be good but lack the charisma to put the part over . somehow gloria grahame get a best supporting actress oscar for this she barely in it . also this go on a bit too long . so it worth catch but just miss the mark of be a really great film . i give it an 8 .