THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (US, 1967, Warren Sonbert)

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Comparison of opening title sequences from THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL by Warren Sonbert and Vincente Minnelli.

 

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, consisting of several edited-in-the-camera portraits of twosomes, tells us everything we need to know about couple-love, the tenderness, the silly horsing around, the compromises, the dead spots, the clinging to each other. It is a heartbreaking movie.” —Philip Lopate, Film Culture, 1983

One of the most profound themes coursing through Sonbert’s work is that of love between couples in all its pitfalls and perfect moments. To express this theme, Sonbert employed diverse cinematic strategies. These include in-camera editing (in THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL,1967), twin-screen effects (in two “lost” films -- CONNECTION and TED AND JESSICA -- also both from 1967), and montage sequences (beginning with TUXEDO THEATRE, 1969).

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL can be seen as Sonbert’s foremost experiment in negotiating the space between his hand-held camera and the protagonists in his field of vision. Editing in camera, Sonbert then assembled together the 100’ camera rolls into a series of mini-narratives.

Through elaborately choreographed camera movements, Sonbert dynamically captures each individual couple in unusually intimate, quotidian moments: reading and eating, playing music and dancing, cavorting and lovemaking, and whiling away the time.

Sonbert carefully chose the titles for his films, and no clearer reference to Hollywood is evident than with THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Sonbert’s own take on Vincent Minnelli’s 1952 movie of the same name. As if to further underscore his homage, Sonbert’s main title and credit sequences flashes on the screen in a manner similar to the opening of Minnelli’s film.

The MGM trailer for Minnelli’s THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL promotes a view of “the private lives of the famous and notorious.” Sonbert’s film, featuring Warhol’s superstar René Ricard and other beautiful people, takes place within the private world of New York City apartment buildings. In Minnelli’s movie, Jonathan Shields,the character played by Hollywood star Kirk Douglas, acts as an omnipotent Hollywood producer promising to fulfill the destiny of his fellow protagonists – a director, a screenwriter, and an actress. In Sonbert’s film, critic James Stoller observed that most of the couples had the feeling that “appearing in a Sonbert film was part of their manifest destiny and that something must have been lacking in their lives together until he came along to complete or sanctify their unions.”

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
(US, 1967)

Director: Warren Sonbert
Cast: Rene Ricard

  • 30 minutes
  • 16mm
  • Color
  • Sound
Distribution Format/s: DSL/Downloadable 1080p .mp4 file on server

Published By: Gartenberg Media Enterprises

Institutional Price: $250

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This digital version of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL is a 1080p transfer from 16mm materials.