The Carpetbaggers (1964) on Netflix
Jonas Cord Jr. inherits an explosives company and becomes one of America's richest men. He builds an aviation empire, ruins a rival, and marries the rival's daughter Monica, who wants a home.
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- Netflix2.5/5
- IMDb6.5/102,747 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes33%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jonas Cord Jr. becomes one of America's richest men, inheriting an explosives company from his late father, Jonas Cord Sr. He buys the company's stock and pays off Rina Marlowe, his father's young widow. Cord turns to aviation, and his fortune expands. He destroys a business rival named Winthrop, and then seduces and marries Winthrop's daughter Monica. Monica desires a settled home and children.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Carpetbaggers (1964)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Joseph E. Levine haggled with chief censor Geoffrey Shurlock over a nude scene and got the go-ahead to film Carroll Baker in the nude, even though he had agreed the film would abide by the Production Code.
- Elmer Bernstein's theme for the film was recorded by jazz organist Jimmy Smith in an arrangement by Lalo Schifrin; that version accompanied the titles of the BBC 2 finance programme The Money Programme and introduced the BBC's coverage of the Budget in 1987.
- Joan Collins wrote in her 1978 autobiography Past Imperfect that she had a firm offer to play Rina Marlowe but had to decline because she was pregnant; Carroll Baker took the part, loosely based on Jean Harlow, whom Baker later played in Paramount's 1965 Harlow biopic.
- Carroll Baker's nude scene was cut from the American release; the Screen Actors Guild contract prohibited nudity at the time, and Baker denied that the scene was a publicity gimmick.
- Sonny Tufts was a candidate to play Nevada Smith in The Carpetbaggers but lost the part to Alan Ladd.
- Because Alan Ladd died before The Carpetbaggers was released, Steve McQueen played his role of Nevada Smith instead in the 1966 prequel Nevada Smith.
