If you stop and really think about the picture, it's one scalding indictment of celebrity life and phony stardom, the carving up of one's life by managers, agents, writers and whoever else can get their grubby hands on the one who's currently in the limelight. The picture, though often brilliantly filmed in lavish color, is cynical and dark, with twisted and duplicitous characters, and doesn't leave you feeling all that cheerful even with the manufactured happy ending.
That scene when director Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson) unloaded on his wife Clara (Claire Trevor) was really something wasn't it? If you're contemplating divorce you might want to borrow from the man's vocabulary describing his lawful wedded nightmare as a 'worn out, dried up, whining, meddling old hag'. I think that just about covers it, don't you think? Well good old Clara returned the favor at the post-film wrap pretty nicely, drove the old guy into a heart attack. Put these folks on the guest list for your next party, should be a smash.
Washed up actor Jack Andrus (Kirk Douglas) also has some interesting insights into the human condition as befits his also ran status - "Anybody can live with anybody", but the better one that frames the entire story is when he laments "How can a man go wrong and not know why"? Seems like everyone was going wrong here, as Jack's fling with Veronica What's the Difference (Dahlia Lavi) offered a measure of solace for the brief amount of time he put in finishing Kruger's picture.
Considering the principals involved, and I haven't even considered them all here, this had the makings of a stellar flick, and it wasn't all that bad really, but it will just leave you stunned, especially after Jack's thrill ride with ex-wife Carlotta (Cyd Charisse). One more character that lived up to Kruger's description of the fairer sex - "All women are just pure monster".
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