as soon as i saw that last shot thanking the academy for letting them use oscar statuettes in the movie i knew it must had won a shitload of them. and i was right- it won 5 oscars. 2 things the academy loves: ass-kissing and movies about the industry. amazing film though.

Great Hollywood tale of a ruthlessly ambitious producer and the people he walks over on his route to the top before his inevitable decline. Kirk Douglas is on blazing form as Jonathan Shields, particularly impressive in his scenes opposite Lana Turner in the second of three long flashbacks from friends and lovers Shields trampled over to get his way. It stands comparison with Billy Wilder's similar dissection of studio Hollywood in "Sunset Boulevard" (though with less cynical venom) and rightly won a slew of Oscars.

Always amazes me how long that it takes to get that phone call from Paris ready. Oh, how technology has advanced.