The Carpetbaggers (1964) User Reviews

"You've Become Your Father."

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 27 November 2006]

On one of the Star Trek feature films Spock refers to Jacqueline Susann and Harold Robbins from his vantage point in the future as the 'old masters' of 20th century earth literature. Is that a frightening prospect or what?

One of the earliest of master Robbins works to get to the silver screen was The Carpetbaggers. It's a novel about a young industrialist whose like a tornado in his business and personal life, destroying everything in the path of Jonas Cord, Jr.

George Peppard is the younger Cord, based on Howard Hughes as you will know within the first 15 minutes of the film. Peppard is singlemindedly determined to outdo his father, Leif Erickson in every way conceivable. Erickson dies at the beginning of the film leaving an industrial empire to Peppard who rules it 24/7.

There's also a young wife Erickson left, Rina Marlowe played by Carroll Baker. Think of Baby Doll grown up a bit and you have Carroll as Rina.

The novel was an immense bestseller in its day and had a pre-existing audience so there was no way it was going to flop commercially. Knowing that is what attracted a very good cast of players to support Peppard and Baker who give some really good performances. My favorite is Robert Cummings as the sly actor's agent who doublebangs Peppard in a business deal and then attempts some blackmail. He is truly a slimeball.

Of course you can't talk about The Carpetbaggers without talking about Alan Ladd. He plays Peppard's friend and confidante Nevada Smith, a cowboy who Erickson takes on to mentor young Peppard. And he does very well in the part.

Alan Ladd's wife Sue Carol was his agent and managed his career. Or mismanaged it in one sense. She never let him gracefully transition into good character parts like Nevada Smith as so many of his contemporaries did. She insisted that he had to be the leading man as he was in his big box office days at Paramount. It's too bad Ladd didn't live to see the good reviews he got even from critics who trashed The Carpetbaggers.

How good was it? Well if it was bad, I doubt a Nevada Smith movie would have ever been made.

Ironically Ladd was also in a cast with Robert Cummings and Lew Ayres both of whom transitioned into character roles and got work the rest of their lives.

The Carpetbaggers is trashy, no doubt about it. But it gets a good production from a good cast, a mixture of old and new Hollywood of the period.

Dressing Without Salad

[excalibur107 · 6/10 · 27 August 2018]

Howard Hughes? Not really. George Peppard sketches a character without ever inhabit him. It's all effect. Carroll Baker, the brilliant Baby Doll, surrenders to the marketing demands and she revisits her aggressively sexual creature with more sparkle but less depth. Alan Ladd is the one that touches personal buttons and he is wonderful. Edward Dmytryck doesn't find a real center to Harold Robbins melodrama. Elizabeth Ashley's character exemplifies what I'm trying to say. Her journey is quite simply, absurd. She loves him and she hates him in a surprisingly unpredictable pattern. Absurd to such point that's not even entertaining but irritating. - As a side note, I had the experience to watch this movie on TCM with 5 twentysomethings - They laughed and laughed as if it was a hysterical comedy - I asked them what was so funny and their replay was, everything.

Elizabeth Ashley' best line in the movie

[hchevrette · 7/10 · 14 September 2006]

I'd heard of this movie, but had never gotten around to watching it... I was impressed by the quality of the script in some scenes and then let down in others... Interesting characters, though stereotypical. The pretty blonds, the cowboy, the drunks, the agents but one character stands out, and that is the wife of power hungry industrialist, Monica Wintrop. You think she'll flake but she keeps on going and in the end well... I won't spoil it for you! I think she has the best line in the movie. Here it goes: When her husband asks if she's pregnant: "It happens, you know, look at all the people in China!... Besides, accidents happen mostly in the home."

Fictional and Fabulous

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 18 July 2020]

Like Charles Foster Kane, Jonas Cord is far more dashing and virile than the fellow this film carefully avoids claiming he was actually based on.

Harold Robbins' trashy 1961 bestseller cashing in on the late fifties fascination with the Roaring Twenties erupted into this Technicolor nonsense with a once in a lifetime cast (it was the debut of Elizabeth Ashley and the posthumous swansong of Alan Ladd). George Peppard is a much more rugged adventurer than the man it's not based on (who's actual story just continued to get weirder and weirder for another ten years after this version abruptly ends).

A TYCOON'S LIFE IN EPIC PROPORTIONS

[Kelt Smith · 7/10 · 20 October 2000]

Based on the best seller by Harold Robbins, this tale of ruthless tycoon Jonas Cord Jr. is no doubt the apparent life story of Howard Hughes. Though the raunchy sexual escapades in the novel have been all but dropped, this was considered very adult and daring at the time of its initial release in 1964. George Peppard plays Jonas Cord Jr. In the first opening scenes, we're treated to a young carefree Jonas with little on his mind except sex and thrills. This soon changes when his father dies of a sudden heart attack and leaves Jr. his vast holdings. Jonas takes dad's ample assets and sets his sights on multiplying everything in as quickly and as calculatingly a manner as possible. He also thinks nothing of toying with his late father's sexy young widow, Rina played by Carroll Baker. He buys her out and sends her packing. Alan Ladd is longtime mentor & friend Nevada who watches these shenanigans from the sidelines and cleans up the mess. Elizabeth Ashley is wonderful as Monica, whom Jonas marries, only to neglect when he tires of her desire to become a mother. Robert Cummings is very effective as a slimy agent, and the always outstanding Martin Balsam is equally as good as a Harry Cohn like studio head. Martha Hyer, who usually plays cool well bred blondes, is surprisingly convincing as call girl Jennie Denton. Small parts are very well played by Leif Erickson, Audrey Totter, and Lew Ayres. Great musical score by Elmer Bernstein, and terrific photography by Joseph MacDonald. This movie is like having a television mini series rolled into a 2& half hour movie.

Leaves one (carpet)begging for more.

[Poseidon-3 · 30 August 2004]

When a film is based on a Harold Robbin's novel, it's pretty clear that the story isn't going to be about Amish furniture building or love among the hollyhocks. His brand of fiction is usually racy, tawdry and more than a little tasteless, yet readers lap it up, page after page, book after book and moviegoers have lapped at several films based on his work. Unfortunately, since it was 1964, not all the dirt hits the screen this time around. Peppard is the ne'er do well son of a chemical company president who, when his father drops dead in mid tongue-lashing, proceeds to boss everyone around and acquire, acquire, acquire! He doesn't just accumulate businesses and wealth, he also likes to collect women, starting with his own step-mother (Baker) a girl he dated prior to her defection to his father. He marries a sassy young flapper (Ashley), but soon enough is neglecting her, turning her into a clinging nag. He becomes involved in the aeronautics industry and the movie business as well, all the time burning out the men and women around him who do most of the dirty work. Eventually, it takes a wake up call or two to make him see what he's become, but it may be too late for him to change. Peppard gives a very one-note performance. He is great at the forceful, demanding and cold-hearted aspects of the character, but offers no warmth or buried kindness that can allow the audience to care what happens to him. (As the film progresses, he is outfitted with ridiculously made up eyebrows that give him an extra-fiendish look!) Ashley is extremely attractive in a variety of Edith Head concoctions and is the epitome of patience as she lives through Peppard's humiliations. Baker also looks smashing in a wide array of Head's silk robes and slinky evening dresses. Both women have incredibly distinct voices and deliver quite a few amusing and/or suggestive lines of dialogue in their own special way. Several solid and professional actors give decent portrayals as well. Erickson is appropriately tough and overbearing as Peppard's father, Ayres is low-key, but effective, as Peppard's put-upon attorney and Cummings is deliciously slick and sneaky as an opportunistic talent agent. Other good work comes from Ladd as a friendly father figure with a past, Balsam as a cocky studio head, Hyer as a hooker-turned-movie star and Totter as a kindly prostitute. The whole film is lavishly appointed, beautifully scored and full of eye-popping sets, costumes, cars and furnishings. What's ostensibly bad about the film (the tacky storyline, the tart, suggestive dialogue, the unbelievability of the situations) now makes it that much better for an audience that delights in flashy, showy Hollywood cheese. If it had been made only a couple of years later, it could have really been a whopping piece of sexploitation. As it stands, it's more of a tease than anything, but it holds definite rewards for those in the mood. Ladd (who clearly shows the ravages of drink and drugs in this film) would be dead of an overdose within a year. Ashley (who later married Peppard in real life) soon gave up her promising start for about 5 years and never really regained her momentum entirely.

Watch for Alan Ladd.

[movieswithgreg · 7/10 · 25 August 2018]

If you don't know who Alan Ladd is, then disregard the rest of this review.

Without Ladd, this is a fun, early 60s splashy scandalous colorful morality tale with pricey production values.

With Ladd, it's a study of old hollywood historical roman a clefs surrounding Howard Hughes and the early days of moving pictures. Ladd, a hollywood legend who the fans loved, but who critics usually dismissed, and whose star had faded to a dim glow by now, plays a role he's too old for, but works it beyond his historical acting abilities, and gives this big hit of its time the only soul it has.

This movie is doubly good if you love movies and know a bit about hollywood history.

Extremely well-made and interesting "trash"

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 May 2007]

The "trash" comment above was not meant as an insult, but more a description of the style film. This was never intended as a subtle or Oscar-winning film, but instead deliberately focused on the salacious and seamy--providing a soap opera-like viewing experience.

George Peppard stars as a Howard Hughes knockoff. The parallels are so many that the film is, in some ways, similar to CITIZEN KANE--as it is a veiled and slightly changed biography--dissimilar enough that it was above lawsuits for slander--but still awfully close to the real life of Hughes. Unlike KANE, the Carpetbaggers is NOT a great film, but is entertaining nonetheless.

Like Hughes, Peppard's character was driven by a manic desire for success and relationships with others were, at best, problematic. His amoral outlook of "the ends justifies the means" and his workaholism generated little love for him by his employees and when it came to women, he was a complete failure--seeming to have no sexual desire and an aversion to intimacy. The bottom line is that money and power were his goals--period. The impact of this coldness was the best part of this film, but it also provided some of the seamier story elements. Unfortunately, this driven aspect of Peppard's character was totally undone by a silly and impossible to believe conclusion, since it just wasn't true to his character. Along the way for a VERY bumpy ride were Caroll Baker, Alan Ladd (in his last film) and Elizabeth Ashley (playing one of the few likable characters in the film).

Overall, the film has little depth or lasting value, but LOTS of entertainment value as well as one of the better fight scenes in film (towards the very end). Not at all great, but also not bad either.

A man capable of doing everything... except happiness

[luisguillermoc3 · 9/10 · 20 May 2010]

Film within film. A success story written by a man who was orphaned as a child, spent a long time between streets and orphanages... until he became a millionaire selling sugar. After losing his fortune, he went to Hollywood where, challenging a director of Universal, decided to write a novel: "Not as a Stranger", which describes her experiences in the orphanage, and soon became a hit record sales. In this follow two dozen works, most successful and made into films, excelling "The Carpetbaggers" by his strong narrative and the construction of characters that give a precise account of this strange, fascinating, complex and yet deplorable world power. Harold Robbins is his name.

In this glittering film version, made by Edward Dmytryk with all the required solvency a project of this type: Luxury rooms, precise alignment of 30' years, splendid music, full color photography and a cast of renowned, the race to the dazzling economic power of a man who reminds us, inaccurate but intentionally, extremely well-known Howard Hughes, is captured with a vigor is maintained from beginning to end, and a handful of characters that imposes an effective framework for a class marked by careerism, opportunism, the compulsive desire for money and their ability to trample on anyone to get away with such with it.

The most significant in this environment is that Dmytryk, insurance and Robbins, reveal a fair appreciation of their characters and give them the best arguments to explain their actions, to understand their false starts and we get to see them as what they really are: extremely fragile beings, working to do and get hurt, and capable of doing everything, absolutely everything... except happiness.

George Peppard, recreates with great destination for a man with a personality, in principle, enviable: defined, direct, with clear objectives, always ready to take the reins firmly and take the consequences of their actions. But that also bears its inevitable and heavy shadow: passes over anyone, without ambassy gets rid of one who serves or fails to serve, is male chauvinist and promiscuous, and has a lust for power that knows no bounds: "get master of the world "should be among its purposes. And it endorses the deal: Baker, Ladd, Ashley, Cummings.. unobjectionable.

This is a brilliant film that overwhelms us and impacts.

George Peppard playing himself...as usual!

[gilligan1965 · 7/10 · 16 June 2015]

As with "The Blue Max" and other movies starring George Peppard, this is him playing himself as the pompous and arrogant man he was.

There's no doubt that Peppard was a great actor at one time; but, the characters he played make you want to like him 'almost' as much as you want to hate him. This movie is no exception.

Peppard plays a 'rich-kid' who revels in the fact that his dad suddenly dies and leaves everything to him.

He immediately takes charge of all of his dad's business affairs (and, other affairs), and...there are many unexpected and monumental things that take place by an overly ambitious and arrogant inherited son who always thought that his dad was never the businessman whom he believed himself to be.

This is a good movie.

Oh what a glorious piece of smut.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 22 March 2017]

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.

RARE FACTS - Good Film/Disapointing DVD

[filmkr · 9/10 · 16 June 2003]

Back in 1963 I had the rare pleasure to attend a "sneak prevue" of CARPETBAGGERS at the Chicago Theatre long before its regular release. (In THOSE days a sneak REALLY was just that! No name of picture announced in advance!) This was the completed work print with splices at every scene (though fades and dissolves WERE included). Marks were at the beginning of every shot to sync sound & picture, and the sound track was run in sync from 35mm mag. Several differences occured in final release prints. The version I saw: Then George Peppard comes to the house after his dad has died and goes up to Caroll Bakers bedroom, when he walks into her dressing area, the scene cuts to Carrol sitting at a chair in front of a mirror, with nothing on. In the Release Prints, the shots holds on the master scene of the bedroom and we only hear them talk till they come back out, Carroll finishing putting on robe. Irronically, a number of film magazines of the day actually printed a shot of Carroll suggestively in the chair (though more was shown on film) in full color. When Carroll is dancing on the chandellear in Paris, there was a clear shot of her nude on top, angain not in Release Prints. I believe there was one more altered scene, but this was a LONG time ago! However, the ending that is now on DVD (and was seen a number of years ago when AMC aired it widescreen) IS the version shown at the sneak. But... it seemed SO abrupt with that "THE END" title coming up so fast and the quick fade out, that with the Release Prints the scene was frozen and a voice-over (like the one at the beginning) extended it out a bit and helped remove the abrupt ending. So what happened to that ending??? Also, while the DVD looks quite good (consistant with the IB Technicolor release prints), there are NO extras. Not even the well done teaser or regular trailers (of which the regular trailer even appeared on AMC years ago). By the way, I have always enjoyed the movie a great deal. Good Holloywood sleeze stuff wraped up in bright Technicolr packaging.

Not quite a laugh a minute but it comes close.

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 24 August 2016]

Harold Robbins' door-stopper of a novel "The Carpetbaggers" was a piece of trash and there was no way director Edward Dmytryk was going to make a silk purse out of that sow's ear while John Michael Hayes' screenplay certainly 'honored' Robbins' intentions. The central character of Jonas Cord was said to be based on Howard Hughes and given the material he had to work with, George Peppard is actually not at all bad. Of course, the movie itself is terrible, (how could it not be), but it's still ridiculously entertaining and it has a great cast; Alan Ladd, in what was to be his last role, Carroll Baker, Robert Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, (both excellent), Martha Hyer, Lew Ayres and Martin Balsam. It may not be quite a laugh a minute but it comes close.

So Bad, It's Bad

[mackjay2 · 2/10 · 26 December 2020]

Two-and-one-half hours of talk, and generally dull film-making. The very nice, red bi-plane in the opening scene is misleading, as it suggests we're in for more excitement than this movie ever delivers. In the cast, younger stars lack on-screen charisma and chemistry. Alan Ladd is wooden as he ever was, while fellow veterans Martin Balsam, Bob Cummings and sadly wasted Audrey Totter offer the best performances. That's not saying much, though, when the script and dialog are as awful as this. This is a big soap-opera that never achieves the coveted "So Bad It's Good" designation--it's just bad.

A pattern for JR and co.

[dbdumonteil · 1 July 2002]

The wealthy family saga has always been an audience's favorite:think "giant" (1956) or "written on the wind"(same year) or "home from the hill"(1960,which featured George Peppard too).The genre became essentially a TV show afterwards,the likes of "Dallas" and "Dynasty".Today,it has almost died down.

"The carpetbaggers" is very unlikely story of a tycoon who pushes the others out of his way and whose heart of stone nobody can break.Add the de rigueur childhood trauma -which,as anyone past infancy should know,explains everything!Around him , a bevy of beautiful women :Caroll Baker,as his attractive mother-in-law(!)Martha Hyer as a would be actress,and Elizabeth Ashley as his deceived wife .Alan Ladd plays a movie star down on his luck ,because of the coming of the talkies.It's his swansong and his last scene with Peppard is impressive.So impressive we could do without the implausible mushy epilogue which follows.

George Peppard is extremely good and it's his performance that saves the movie from tediousness.As for Edward Dmytryk,his best works("the Caine mutiny" "the young lions") were behind him and what came next would be disastrous(notably the western "Shalako" with Brigitte Bardot and Sean Connery)

Trashy fun Hughes biopic

[dave13-1 · 7/10 · 26 July 2009]

Normally miscast in romantic roles, the icy George Peppard is perfect here as a cynical empire building cad, loosely based on the late Howard Hughes. Every Harold Robbins bad-behavior-amidst-superficial-luxury touch comes through intact here, as we track Peppard's scandalous rise to riches. The characters are the usual stereotypes. Carroll Baker, never much of an actress but well cast here, looks good as a sexpot actress Rena Marlowe (Jean Harlowe) and Elisabeth Ashley shines as the inevitable Good Girl Wronged. The result is fairly entertaining, but now somewhat dated trashy fun. It's no classic, but it's good looking, expensively produced and filled with old-time movie greats like Alan Ladd, Lew Ayers and Robert Cummings.

Exposé of Hollywood is one of the tawdriest--but also one of the most entertaining

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 7 July 2007]

Adaptation of Harold Robbins' bestseller, about an egomaniacal Howard Hughes-like tycoon into airplanes, making movies and womanizing, comes to the screen without too much timidity; however, this "adult entertainment" is full of grown-ups acting like spoiled children (it isn't so much a Tinsel Town wallow as it is a bubbling cauldron of reckless immaturity), resulting in a camp melodrama that you can't tear yourself away from. George Peppard is the stony-faced tyrant who runs (and sometimes ruins) the lives of everyone in his path, and his plastic-formula panic is nearly funny; Elizabeth Ashley is the good girl he marries; Alan Ladd (in his final bow) is a faded cowboy star; Carroll Baker and Martha Hyer are lookalike starlets; Robert Cummings is a smarmy agent; Martin Balsam is a studio mogul on his way out. The whole tatty enterprise smacks of artificiality, with ugly sets and ridiculous character brawls, and yet one watches nearly hypnotized by the scandal sheet-styled, B-movie glamor. **1/2 from ****

The Carpetbaggers

[henry8-3 · 6/10 · 21 February 2021]

Peppard inherits his father's empire and steps on everyone to get more power and money taking on airlines and the film industry.

Totally trashy but fun sub epic soap opera nonsense a la Dallas, Dynasty etc. Peppard is impressive as the megalomaniac at the heart of the story, but the film is stronger because of a strong support cast incl Ladd, Ayres, Balsam and Cummings. It is unrelenting and you so want Peppard to come unstuck, but for that reason it remains compelling.

Alan Ladd rocks

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 11 September 2022]

Sometimes you can pinpoint a theme to a year of filmmaking. In 1963, oddly enough, the theme was sibling incest. In 1964, the theme seemed to be heartless cads with beautiful women in their beds. Youngblood Hawke, The Carpetbaggers, The Empty Canvas, and Of Human Bondage all follow that pattern. I think we have Paul Newman to thank for the influx. He personified the bad boy with Daddy issues, without a conscience, and the women flocked to him. But since he could only be in so many movies at one time, other actors had to fill in.

To see George Peppard in a tailor-made Paul Newman role, check out The Carpetbaggers. He's despicable through and through, treating everyone in his life like less worthy of his time and feelings than yesterday's garbage. He badgers his father with insults until he drops dead of a heart attack, he treats women like prostitutes, buys everyone and everything in sight, and even turns on his nearest and dearest friends. Based on the bestselling (and incredibly nasty) novel that created a fictional version of Howard Hughes, the protagonist in The Carpetbaggers corners the market on air travel and Hollywood. While it's fun to see the stunning cars of the 1920s and the beautiful gowns, it's a little jarring to see every woman sporting a 1960s haircut while they're in them. Still, this movie is as soapy and melodramatic as it gets. It's a cross between Citizen Kane and The Young Philadelphians, with all the sex-crazed mania of the 1960s.

Carroll Baker plays Rina Marlowe, an obvious stereotype of Jean Harlow - whom she portrayed in the following year's biopic! Nearly everything out her mouth is downright filthy, and quite frankly some of it is disgusting. She wears a see-through black negligee, throws herself at George more times than I can count, and admits she likes to be treated rough. If you like seeing real-life romances on screen, you'll be more interested in George's other love interest: Elizabeth Ashley, whom he married after this movie.

Alan Ladd, Bob Cummings, Lew Ayres, Elizabeth Ashley, and Martin Balsam make up the supporting cast. Lew has a subtle, overlooked role, but he's very believable as a faithful employee who gets more tired and disgusted through the years. Bob is great as a slippery, self-serving theatrical agent. Martin is a silent film director who gets treated rudely (big surprise) by George. Everyone knows about the casting couch, so why would George throw a hissy fit and break expensive film equipment right in the middle of a take just because he knows Martin's sleeping with the lead actress? They don't have the relationship they had in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

This movie marks the last appearance of Alan Ladd, who tragically died before the film's release of an accidental overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills. I'd never really been a fan of his, but I absolutely loved him in The Carpetbaggers. It's the best performance he ever gave, playing a real life cowboy who finds fame and fortune playing one in silent pictures. He has heart and a past we're dying to explore (hence the prequel Nevada Smith released two years later), and it's very cute to see him playing an old cowboy movie star. He also shows he's not too old to tackle a love scene or two, and an extremely exciting fistfight - which is my favorite part of the movie.

Most of this film is very soapy and banks on the sensational, but a few scenes are wracked with real tension, like the battle of the wits with Martin Balsam and Bob Cummings's cunning negotiations. If you've never seen a George Peppard movie, hold off on it, though. You'll absolutely hate him forever. He's so heartless, cruel, and unconscionable, it's almost hard to watch. But if you're just in the market to see Carroll Baker's body or Alan Ladd's last movie, you'll be a very happy camper.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The opening credits and first few minutes show a wobbly camera as an airplane's POV, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sexual content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

George Peppard: The Carpetbaggers Made Peppard a Great Star

[adventure-21903 · 10/10 · 7 November 2019]

MGM had George Peppsrd under exclusive contract in this 1960s. The studio managed his work and big blockbusters such as "How the West Was Wo"n, and loaned out to Paramount for ""Breakfast at Tiffany's", and this film the Carpetbaggers which was a worldwide smash hit.

Peppard via MGM's great PR Department carefully groomed Peppard.

I liked Ralph Taeger and wished he became a big star but he quit the business.

George Peppard hit a home run with this movie which established him as a Start of the First rank. Alan Ladd returned to Paramount in a supporting role his last before his untimely death, I fell in love with Elizabeth Ashley in this movie but so did Peppard who divorced his wife and married Liz Ashley.

Paramount had Stella Stevens under contract but Stella was bypassed for this movie in. Favor Carroll Baker This was sunrise casting as Ms. Baker had played Peppard's mother in "How The West Was Won"

This movie is great entertainment,

This movie was directed by Edward Dmytyk who directed Susan Hayward an Clark Gable in a great movie "Soldier of Fortune"

Peppard with the starring in big hit movies and groomed by MGM was due to burst out as a superstar ; this movie did it.

scandalous to corny

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 20 December 2011]

"The Carpetbaggers" was seen as an adults-only movie upon its initial release (no doubt due to Carroll Baker's flamboyant outfits) but looks pretty tame by today's standards. A thinly-veiled account of Howard Hughes, the movie is actually a little better than you might expect it to be, despite the corny ending. George Peppard plays a ruthless chemical tycoon who insists on making a name for himself in cinema in the '20s and '30s.

I understand that Carroll Baker's character is based on Jean Harlow. Interestingly enough, Baker played Harlow in a movie the following year. Like this movie, "Harlow" has had a reputation as being somewhat trashy (but I actually found it possible to take the movie seriously). This movie, meanwhile, cannot be considered any kind of masterpiece, but is worth seeing, if only once. I'll have to see Edward Dmytryk's other movies to fully understand his style.

Also starring Alan Ladd (in his final role), Bob Cummings, Martha Hyer, Lew Ayres, Martin Balsam, Archie Moore, Leif Erickson and Charles Lane.

Waaaay over the top!

[JasparLamarCrabb · 4/10 · 23 December 2005]

Why anyone would bother to tell the Howard Hughes story and change all the names is anyone's guess, but here it is. THE CARPETBAGGERS is way over the top entertainment that somehow manages to skirt campiness despite casting George Peppard in the lead role. Never the most imaginative actor, Peppard is in virtually every scene and your tolerance for him will dictate how much fun you have watching this potboiler. The A-list supporting cast includes Lew Ayres, Alan Ladd, Martha Hyer, Elizabeth Ashley, and Martin Balsam. Carroll Baker appears briefly as Peppard's insanely too young stepmother and Bob Cummings is great as a shifty PR man. B-movie legend Audrey Totter has a great bit as a hooker who sets Peppard on the right road after a booze soaked binge. THE CARPETBAGGERS is directed by the hack Edward Dmytryk from the novel by Harold Robbins --- a match made in schlock heaven if ever there was one!

Good film, George Peppard plays Jonas very well

[gallivant · 9/10 · 18 January 2002]

This was shown on TV last night, I had read the book by Harold Robbins a few years which I liked immensely.

Excellent acting by George Peppard as Jonas and worth watching if you get the chance.

High-Budget "Exploit" Fun Film

[shepardjessica-1 · 7/10 · 17 May 2005]

This loosely based "Howard Hughes" tale, full of corruption and the American Dream with wonderful, almost Soap-Opera acting techniques actually plays, because it is well cast. Carroll Baker, beautiful and gorgeous playing the party girl, Rina, who is selfish and proud of it, to George Peppard (finally appropriately cast after 5 year of miscasting) playing Alex Cord (tough, messed-up, good businessman, the new Anti-Hero), Alan Ladd on his last little legs (good actor), and Elizabeth Ashley (wonderful actress (Happiness) who never got a break) playing Peppard's smart, rich, flame (who in real life was actually married to George Peppard) before Martha Hyer comes sliding in.

Great American melodrama (ten years after it was popular in American and everywhere) playing out the string. Best performance = Carroll Baker. A 7 out of 10 (mostly for over-the-topness). If you like this, check out THE Oscar (actually worse; but great characters) dying in a bog while they complain about their wardrobe. A pastiche of the 60's that I saw when I was 12 and never got it...until I was 18 (a million ice-ages ago). Music is terrible. Directing is non-existent. Great extras and Nevada locales and some interesting bad "good" fight scene (in between love quarrels and money debates)...the river flows. Give it a chance. It's it's own real world that keeps a pace screaming until the end (when the music gets really loud) and you realize something or whatever. Give it a shot!

Like a car accident... you don't want to look, but...

[jbacks3 · 1/10 · 14 March 2010]

This thinly veiled account of Howard Hughes' life comes off as pulp trash. Daring for 1964 meant back nudity, allusions to abortions and pornography. You get all that here, plus the dubious benefit of innumerable historical anachronisms: cars that don't match the era (a nagging peeve of mine I'll admit) and the ubiquitous 1960's hairdos (which insidiously infected even the most prestigious productions like Doctor Zhivago). George Peppard's career was riding high at this point (and would continue through The Blue Max before personal demons and TV consumed him)--- he does here what he does best: being a good looking cold calculating bastard. Oddly, arguably the best thing about the film is the presence of Alan Ladd--- only 50 here--- who plays a cowboy star whose career is on the wane. Sadly, he looks as terrible as the way his life, liver and mental condition were going at the time. Bob Cummings does fine work as a conniving slimeball agent and Carol Lynley looks appropriately fetching. Icy Martha Hyer looks stiffly beautiful as always. Still, it just doesn't work, despite the moderately upbeat ending. This is what passed as "Adult Entertainment" in the early 60's folks. I still wonder why the then-very much alive (even though wearing Kleenex boxes for shoes) Mr. Hughes didn't sue. Hearst arguably came off better in Citizen Kane... at least that was a classic.