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* * * * “The Bad and the Beautiful.”

MGM/UA. $29.95. 1952.

Mention Vincente Minnelli and people tend to think of swirling colors, swirling music and swirling skirts--not grimly satirical, black-and-white drama like “The Bad and the Beautiful.” Yet this slice of (Hollywood) life is among the director’s greatest works--and among the best incisive-yet-affectionate examinations of the movie industry’s dark side. The film is about seduction and manipulation, as personified by an ambitious, talented, selfish S.O.B. of a producer (Kirk Douglas); and about the sometimes melodramatic, sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic paroxysms of willingness, joy, doubt, guilt and resentment his string-pulling causes an actress, a writer and a director (Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan). Though its intensity falters toward the end, the film is mesmerizing. Among its many wonders: One of the most incredible stylized scenes ever filmed (Turner’s car ride), a flavorful supporting turn by Gloria Grahame, an extraordinarily intelligent script by Charles Schnee (the latter two won Oscars).