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The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully. The film is a landmark of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, venturing further than most films of the period with its heated sexual embraces, innuendo, and sadism between men and women, much like the novel, where author Dawn Sova asserts "there is sex and/or sadism every 17 pages". Plot Jonas Cord Jr. becomes one of America's richest men in the early twentieth century, inheriting an explosives company from his late father, Jonas Cord Sr. Cord buys up all the company stock and pays off his father's young widow, Rina Marlowe. Cord becomes an aviation pioneer and his wealth grows. He destroys a business rival named Winthrop, then seduces and marries the man's daughter Monica, only to abandon her when she wants to settle down and have a home and children. Monica hangs on for years, aware of Cord's troubled youth, hoping he'll come back to her. In order to force the divorce, Cord reconnects with his stepmother Rina and begins an affair with her. Crushed, Monica gives Cord his divorce, then discovers she is pregnant with his child. After the birth, Jonas visits her, demanding to know if he is the father. Monica tells him to leave her and their newborn daughter alone. Meanwhile, former Cord company stockholder Nevada Smith finds work in western films, becoming a popular cowboy hero. Rina persuades Cord to finance Nevada's project, a script about his former outlaw life, in which he will star. This gives Cord an interest in the second-rate studio that produces Nevada's films, plus creative control over the resulting movie. The film becomes successful despite Cord's constant interference. Rina becomes a big star; her career blossoms while Nevada's declines. To spite Cord, Rina marries Nevada, now considered a has-been. Rina dies in a drunken car crash and Cord's studio is sold out from under him by Dan Pierce, a renegade employee loyal to the old management. After an alcoholic binge, Cord returns to the studio and builds up a film career for the studio's new discovery, Jennie Denton. Denton and Cord begin an affair and become engaged. With news of the engagement, Dan Pierce tries to blackmail Jennie with a copy of a pornographic film she made in her youth. Jennie confesses to Cord, who laughs, saying he knows all about her past and that he made her a star in order to have her services all to himself. With her dream of love shattered, Jennie runs out devastated. Seeing the wreckage of both their lives, Nevada Smith confronts Cord and the two end up in a vicious fist-fight. During the brawl, Nevada forces Cord to confront the mess he has made of his own life and those around him. A contrite Cord returns to Monica and begs her to take him back. Monica, who has always loved him, forgives him and they embrace. Cast George Peppard as Jonas Cord Alan Ladd as Nevada Smith Carroll Baker as Rina Marlowe Bob Cummings as Dan Pierce Martha Hyer as Jennie Denton Elizabeth Ashley as Monica Winthrop Lew Ayres as "Mac" McAllister Martin Balsam as Bernard B. Norman Ralph Taeger as Buzz Dalton Archie Moore as Jedediah Leif Erickson as Jonas Cord Sr. Arthur Franz as Morrissey, airplane designer at Jonas' company Tom Tully as Amos Winthrop, Monica's father and Jonas' business rival Audrey Totter as middle-aged prostitute attending to Jonas' week-long drinking binge Anthony Warde as Moroni, president of Pioneer National Trust Company of Los Angeles Charles Lane as Eugene Denby, Jonas Cord Sr.'s secretary Tom Lowell as David Woolf, Bernard Norman's nephew and assistant John Conte as Ed Ellis, director of Rina's film at Norman Studio Vaughn Taylor as doctor certifying the death of Jonas Cord Sr. Francesca Bellini as Cynthia Randall, Norman's mistress and star at Norman Studio Victoria Jean as Jo Ann, daughter of Jonas and Monica Production Producer Joseph E. Levine initially claimed he would disregard the Production Code in making his adaptation of Robbins' book. However, when he struck a production deal with Paramount Pictures in 1963, there was no question that the movie would abide by the Code, though he engaged in extensive negotiations with Production Code Administration to get as much salacious content as he could into the film. After haggling with chief censor Geoffrey Shurlock over a nude scene in the script, Levine gave the greenlight to filming it with Caroll Baker in the nude. The nude scene was used for publicity purposes, but only appeared in the European release; an alternate version where Baker is wearing a robe was used in the North American version. John Michael Hayes signed to write the script in June 1962. (Soon after, Embassy signed him to adapt Where Love Has Gone.) Sonny Tufts was a candidate to play Nevada Smith, losing out to Alan Ladd. When Ladd signed to play Nevada Smith, it was also announced that Paramount and Levine would make a prequel about Smith's adventures called Nevada Smith. Joan Collins, in her autobiography, Past Imperfect (1978), says she had a firm offer to play Rina Marlowe but had to decline because of pregnancy. Robert Cummings was cast as an agent. His wife said "years ago Alfred Hitchcock told him he'd made a great villain with that baby face. It's a wonderful change of pace." Filming started on June 4, 1963. Nude scene Carroll Baker had a highly publicized nude scene, shot on a closed set. A 1964 New York Times article quoted Baker defending her appearing in the nude. Speaking of her character, Baker said: “She is alone in front of her dressing table. She has just stepped out of the bath and she is the kind of character to whom it would not occur to put on a robe. Doing the scene in the nude was my idea and I think it was a mistake not to show it.” Though not in the American release, the nude scene received wide-spread publicity and made the film notorious. The Screen Actors Guild contract prohibited nudity at the time. Baker denied that the nude scene was a publicity gimmick. Release and reception The Carpetbaggers premiered in Denver, Colorado on April 9, 1964, and went on to be a large commercial success. It grossed $28,409,547 at the domestic box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 1964. Variety reported that the film earned $13 million in domestic rentals. The film grossed $40,000,000 in worldwide box office receipts, against a $3 million budget. Reviews Bosley Crowther of The New York Times panned the film as "a sickly sour distillation of Harold Robbins's big-selling novel", with.... Discover the Ashley Ladd popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ashley Ladd books.