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Showbiz Drama

A type of drama generally portraying the life of a fictional or real show-business figure (or figures.) These ultimately melancholy films expose the underbelly of the entertainment industry, often emphasizing the unglamorous aspects of stardom. Often the protagonists must sacrifice ideals, morals and freedom to attain success in a business shown as totalitarian, artificial, backstabbing, hypocritical and greedy. Many of these films originated around the time of the Hollywood Studio system, offering writers and filmmakers' chances to bite the hand that fed them. The Bad and the Beautiful, A Star is Born, The Big Knife and Sunset Boulevard were all downbeat, cynical films about the pressures of Hollywood. During the post-war era, as the studio systems started crumbling, these dramas moved to Europe, where 8 1/2 and Contempt skewered the film business with equal fervor. Film isn't the only entertainment form denounced under this style. Theatre (All That Jazz, Funny Girl), music (The Rose, What's Love Got to Do With It?), television (Network), stand-up comedy (Lenny) and even nude modeling (Star 80) have all undergone examination.

Major Works
Rating
Year
 Title
 
 Director
  9 Stars 1997 Boogie Nights   Paul Thomas Anderson
  9 Stars 1994 Ed Wood   Tim Burton
  9 Stars 1950 Sunset Blvd.   Billy Wilder
  9 Stars 1937 A Star is Born   William Wellman
  9 Stars 1950 All About Eve   Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  8 Stars 1986 'Round Midnight   Bertrand Tavernier
  8 Stars 1973 Day for Night   François Truffaut
  8 Stars 1980 The Stunt Man   Richard Rush
  8 Stars 1954 A Star is Born   George Cukor
  8 Stars 1937 Stage Door   Gregory La Cava
  8 Stars 1981 Mephisto   István Szabó
  8 Stars 1960 The Entertainer   Tony Richardson
  8 Stars 1963 Contempt   Jean-Luc Godard
  8 Stars 1979 All That Jazz   Bob Fosse
  7 Stars 1994 Swimming with Sharks   George Huang
    7 Stars 1975 L'Important c'est d'aimer   Andrzej Zulawski
  7 Stars 1952 The Star   Stuart Heisler
    7 Stars 1978 Fedora   Billy Wilder
  7 Stars 1952 Limelight   Charles Chaplin
  7 Stars 1974 Lenny   Bob Fosse
  7 Stars 1980 Fame   Alan Parker
  7 Stars 1957 A Face in the Crowd   Elia Kazan
  7 Stars 1988 Bird   Clint Eastwood
  7 Stars 1954 The Barefoot Contessa   Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  7 Stars 1952 The Bad and the Beautiful   Vincente Minnelli
  6 Stars 1999 Man on the Moon   Milos Forman
  6 Stars 1983 Star 80   Bob Fosse
  6 Stars 1982 Frances   Graeme Clifford
  6 Stars 1975 The Day of the Locust   John Schlesinger
  6 Stars 1955 The Big Knife   Robert Aldrich
  5 Stars 1999 RKO 281   Benjamin Ross
    5 Stars 1999 Sugar Town   Allison Anders
  5 Stars 1997 The Tango Lesson   Sally Potter
    5 Stars 1984 La Femme Publique   Andrzej Zulawski
    5 Stars 1932 What Price Hollywood?   George Cukor
    5 Stars 1962 Two Weeks in Another Town   Vincente Minnelli
  5 Stars 1968 Star!   Robert Wise
  5 Stars 1979 The Rose   Mark Rydell
    5 Stars 1987 Good Morning, Babylon   Paolo Taviani
  5 Stars 1991 The Doors   Oliver Stone
  4 Stars 1997 Stand-Ins   Harvey Keith
    4 Stars 1997 Rossini   Helmut Dietl
    4 Stars 1995 Half-Cocked   Suki Hawley
  4 Stars 1993 What's Love Got to Do with it?   Brian Gibson
  4 Stars 1967 Valley of the Dolls   Mark Robson
    4 Stars 1987 A Man in Love   Diane Kurys
  4 Stars 1976 The Last Tycoon   Elia Kazan
    4 Stars 1970 Alex in Wonderland   Paul Mazursky
  3 Stars 1976 A Star is Born   Frank Pierson
 
 
 
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