Here's the trailer for THE CARPETBAGGERS (1964). The film is such an outrageous mix of Hollywood melodrama, pop psychology and salacious sleaze that it's fun in a gruesome sort of way. It's an adaptation of a novel by Harold Robbins, which is one of the best-selling novels of all time, and the movie was also a huge hit (even though it's much less explicit ;-)). The characters are based on famous movie people of the '30s (eg Howard Hughes, Jean Harlow, Tom Mix and Joan Crawford).

What I like best about the movie (and the trailer) is the main title theme by Elmer Bernstein.

This was Alan Ladd's last movie. As a fan of his, I find his later movies very painful to watch, due to his tragically premature demise. Still, his performance in this one is pretty good. It makes one think that he could have become a competent character actor, rather than a slowly fading leading man, if depression and alcohol hadn't ruined him. There's a bit of dialogue in this film that I find very poignant:

Ladd: I just try to act out people's dreams.
Baker: Do you like it?
Ladd: Yes I do. It's fun.

AL often could make even the most clichéd lines sound credible and cool, but I never believed him less than when he says "It's fun."

No copyright abuse intended, but if the owners mind, the video will be deleted, of course.

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