Warner Archive / Released January 18, 2011 / Not Rated
The Pitch
In 1952, star Kirk Douglas, director Vincente Minnelli, producer John Houseman and screenwriter Charles Schnee teamed for what many consider the greatest drama ever made about Hollywood: The Bad and the Beautiful. Ten years later, they took another powerful insider’s look at the movie business, this time adapting a book by Irwin Shaw. Douglas portrays has-been screen idol Jack Andrus. Just out of a sanitarium, Jack grabs at a small role in a movie shot in Rome by a director (Edward G. Robinson) whose career is also on the skids. When the director falls ill, Jack takes over, realizing this is his last shot at personal and professional redemption. Trenchant, confrontational, intensified by Minnelli’s genius for color, Two Weeks in Another Town captures the passion of creative people facing the abyss.
The Review
A slightly camp, spiritual sequel to The Bad and The Beautiful, Minnelli’s Two Weeks In Another Town is a soap operatic look at filmmaking and reinvention. Douglas is great chewing scenery as actor Jack Andrus, who’s sudden opportunity might lead to his own redemption.
The film is far more dated than their previous effort, in no small part to the overwrought melodrama, but is a visually stunning example of both Minnelli’s use of Mise-en-scène and an emotionally driven color palate. Familiar faces include Edgar G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse and George Hamilton. The only extra is the theatrical trailer.
Overall, it’s a competent film shot beautifully in CinemaScope, though not a classic by any means. If nothing else, this film proves that lightning rarely strikes twice. From a cinegeek standpoint, I love The Bad and The Beautiful and I had wanted to see this film for years and although I did find it entertaining, it was hard not to be a bit disappointed.
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