Don't let the length of this epic film version of one of the most popular trashy novels scare you away from it. This grabs at the viewer's hormones and sinful desires of lust, power and greed and doesn't let go. Cinema never looked so pornographic as it did with the screen adaption of Harold Robbins' best seller, even dirtier than the same year's "Where Love Has Gone", also by Robbins. I've seen this listed on compilations of "worst" for years; worst film of 1964, worst actress (Carroll Baker) among them. Baker was so panned by critics after a few successes that in 1965, she was listed for at least three films. While not as wretched as all that, she does have the habit of braying most of her lines, making both Natalie Wood and Elizabeth Taylor seem subtle in comparison.The focus of the story is George Peppard's Jonas Cord, a carefree and rebellious young man whose tirade against his father leads the old man to his grave. That leaves the sultry baker a wealthy widow and free to try to get Peppard into her bed. As Nevada Smith, Alan Ladd has pretty much been a father figure to Peppard, equally a rebel, if now a tired one. Ladd goes onto silent western stardom, ironically marrying the much younger Baker who goes onto becoming a Jean Harlow type star, tying this in both with Baker's next film (where she did play Harlow) and a prequel, "Nevada Smith", with Steve McQueen as the younger Ladd. With all his new wealth and power, Peppard sets off to become the most powerful man in the country (if not the world), leading to the revelation of a truly miserable life before, and certainly much more miserable going forward. The obviousness of who Jonas Cord is becomes fairly obvious early on, with various references to the real life people utilized as well. This covers big business, the movie business, and in keeping true to the title, the obvious analogy that everything that Cord gets involved in is through infiltration, just like the northerners did in the south decades before. This is at its best when it deals with decadence and showing off the fun of sinful lives which usually brings on great unhappiness years later. It definitely makes great use out of its epic feel, never shirking on the overabundance of too much living and too little sense to really be able to handle it all. You'll enjoy the lengthy cast list that appears in the sky writing credits with Baker getting special billing. Such veteran actors as Lew Ayres and Robert Cummings also have major roles, with the young Elizabeth Ashley standing out as the flirtatious daughter of a business associate of Peppard's who ends up in a miserable marriage to him. Martin Balsam is excellent as a movie producer who pushes Peppard into the movie business, further complicating his life. Martha Hyer is the actress whom Jonas fires, infuriating Balsam. Why does this not all come together? It's just really a bit too much, in retrospect an analogy of the characters and perhaps why this was panned. Peppard is completely unsympathetic, and often, the other characters are "types", not real people. If Robbins is trying to expose the hypocrisy of Hollywood, he succeeds somewhat, but "Sunset Blvd." this isn't. Written and filmed long before the creation of the TV mini-series, something tells me that this would have been better that way rather than a huge novel edited down to a still long movie that never the less feels choppy.

I remember watching this film back in 1964 and ignoring every film with George Peppard and Caroll Baker after that. Now, watching it again in 2014, it's not as bad as I thought for 1964, but it seems outdated now. What this film tried to do was cash in on the sexual revolution taking place in the mid-1960s. And it did, turning a tremendous profit for the time. But I'm not sure the film works as well 50 years later. After the first half hour, I was going to call it tawdry potboiler, but I stuck with it, and it got better.First off, George Peppard's character comes on way too strong and way too fast at the beginning of the picture. Totally unrealistic to go from a playboy one minute to a wise businessman the next (and when I say in minutes, I literally mean that).Similarly, Caroll Baker's character (a gold digger) is too slutty too much of the time. It begins to wear like an adult cartoon character.But, once we get a bit beyond the opening scenes, the director's testosterone seems to have calmed down and the script evens out. I think they made a mistake not playing up the angle of what happened to Peppard's brother during their childhood. It becomes paramount at the end of the picture, yet it was passed over fairly quickly early in the film.George Peppard was very good here. The problems I mentioned about the beginning of the film seem like a directorial issue, not so much an acting issue. I may need to reexamine my previous feelings about Peppard as an actor.Alan Ladd probably has the best role in the picture. He died before the film was released, but, at age 50, he was maturing well as an actor.This film did not convince me about Carroll Baker as an actress. I was much more impressed with her in "Bridge To The Sun".Earlier in his career, Robert Cummings turned in some wonderful performances...particularly in films such as the comedy "The Devil And Miss Jones" and the drama "Saboteur" (directed by Hitchcock). Here I was disappointed in his role as an agent. He seemed a bit too flip for the part.Martha Hyer was, in my view, an underrated actress, although I was not particularly impressed here. Much better in "Some Came Running".I've seen Elizabeth Ashley in films and on stage, and this is not her best role, although she does better with it later in the film.Lew Ayres is very good here as a lawyer. Martin Balsam good, as always, as a studio head. Ralph Taeger awful as a pilot. Interesting to see boxer Archie Moore as a man servant. Leif Erickson's role was minor, and in my view not very impressive.And so, I give this a rather mixed review. I'm glad I saw it again, as opposed to when I was a kid, but I wouldn't want to watch it a third time.

This is an impressive movie that scores big in every way. The direction, cinematography and acting are superb, making this sprawling epic a true Hollywood classic.The all-star cast makes the most of complex, well-defined characters and sharp, witty dialog. The sets are lavish, colorful, and decadent. The cinematography delivers gorgeous eye-candy with an abundance of vivid, beautifully composed shots. Edward Dmytryk's direction is exemplary and the storyline of power, corruption, and redemption is an engrossing saga with some nice plot twists and a happy ending.George Peppard gives a scintillating performance as a ruthless tycoon (inspired by Howard Hughes), fully inhabiting the role and expertly navigating the complex motivations of a powerful young man relentlessly driven by his inner demons. The rest of the cast weaves a rich tapestry of supporting relationships with convincing performances all round. This is a terrific movie reminiscent of Citizen Kane and not to be missed.

This is the most successful of all the Harold Robbins adaptations (Though for my money "The Adventurers" is the most fun). Made at at a time when the movie industry was trying to shake off the strictures of the production code, "The Carpetbaggers" has an odd feel to it as director Demytryk and screenwriter Hayes struggle to bring some of Robbins sexed-up material to the screen. Thus we are subject to scenes where the lead characters walk off screen while we get to stare at an empty set as they cavort verbally.What makes this film work is the casting and the performances. Carol Baker drawls out her Jean Harlow-like lines spilling out of Edith Head gowns and looking great. Elizabeth Ashley is a standout as the one "good" character in the piece - the long suffering wife of the Howard Hughes surrogate Jonas Cord.As Jonas Cord, George Peppard starts out a little weakly, but as the film goes on and he becomes more and more soulless the performance starts to work - with his malevolent yet dead stare making an impact. Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings and a very tired-looking Alan Ladd are also fine in their roles.This is a great example of a 1960's best-seller adaptation. The direction, though stolid moves the story along and the great set design,photography and costumes are evocative of the period of the story (pre WWII). The one element that I found unforgivable was the rather abrupt happy ending which is true to neither the spirit of the Harold Robbins novel nor the 149 minutes of film which came before it.