Warner Brothers Pictures’ purchase of screen rights for the 1922 novel, The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was announced in the 13 May 1922 Camera. The 8 Jul 1922 Exhibitors Trade Review noted that Sam and Jack L. Warner intended to produce the film. That same day, Camera claimed that principal photography was scheduled to begin the following week. However, a production chart in the 15 Jul 1922 issue stated that preparations were still underway at Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, CA, where lead actress Marie Prevost was engaged in another project, Heroes of the Street (1922, see entry). The 18 Jul 1922 Film Daily confirmed that Prevost’s next assignment was The Beautiful and Damned under the direction of E. Mason Hopper.
       The start of production was reported in the 29 Jul 1922 Moving Picture World. Cast members included Mary Jane Sanderson (5 Aug 1922 Camera), Allen Percy, and Jimmy Morrison (16 Sep 1922 Exhibitors Trade Review). The latter publication credited Sidney Franklin as director, although the 2 Sep 1922 Camera had already confirmed that William A. Seiter had replaced Hopper.
       According to the 9 Sep 1922 Film Daily, Warner Bros. sent a large float on a cross-country tour from New York City to California, bearing the image of the seven source novels that were the basis for the company’s upcoming releases, including The Beautiful and Damned. The float, designed by Eddie Bonns and manned by an unidentified studio publicist, was scheduled to visit “every Mayor and Governor along the route.” The publicist carried a letter of introduction from Will H. Hays, chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of American (MPPDA), and New York City Mayor John Francis Hylan. Bonns left Warner Bros. soon after, as stated in the 4 Nov 1922 Motion Picture News, and was replaced by Lon Young and Louis Marangella, both of whom developed the advertising campaign for The Beautiful and Damned, along with several other releases.
       The 21 Oct 1922 Camera credited E. B. Dupar and Max Dupont as cameramen on the film. Weeks later, the Jan 1923 AmCin listed Frank B. Good in place of Dupont.
       Conflicting reports concerning the close of production appeared in the 14 Oct 1922 Motion Picture News, which announced the completion of principal photography, and the 27 Oct 1922 Film Daily, which claimed that co-star Louise Fazenda was still in the process of playing her final scenes.
       The Beautiful and Damned was released on 1 Jan 1923, preceded by an opening at the Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, on 27 Nov 1922, and a two-week engagement at the Strand Theatre in New York City, beginning the week of 10 Dec 1922. As stated in the 23 Dec 1922 Motion Picture News, cast members Marie Prevost, Kenneth Harlan, Harry Meyres, Louise Fazenda, Tully Marshall, Cleo Ridgeley, Emmett King, Walter Long, Clarence Burton, Parker McHugh, Kathleen Key, and George Kuwa attended the Los Angeles event, along with director William A. Seiter and writer Olga Printzlau.
       While reviews were mostly favorable, several critics complained that the film version softened the sad ending of the source novel, allowing the protagonists to have a moral epiphany and retain their beauty after being rescued from the brink of financial ruin. Although some attributed the changes to censorship, the 23 Dec 1922 Motion Picture News suggested that the decision was likely motivated by commercial concerns. This opinion was possibly confirmed by the 3 Feb 1923 Moving Picture World, which reported record box-office proceeds from the film’s Boston, MA, debut at the Beacon Theatre.
       The 16 Aug 1922 Film Daily listed several states’ rights exchanges handling the release, including Second National Pictures Corp. of Chicago, IL; Finkelstein and Ruben, serving Minnesota and the Dakotas: R. H. Lieber of Indiana; A. H Blank, serving Iowa and Nebraska; A. M. Fabian of northern New Jersey; Tri-State Film Exchange of Wisconsin; Independent Film Corp., serving Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Washington, D.C.; Franklin Film Corp. of Boston; Skirboll Brothers of Cleveland, OH; Kwality Pictures, serving the western U.S. and Alaska; S. & O. Pictures, serving California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii; First National Exchange of Pittsburgh, PA; and Standard Productions, serving Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and the Carolinas.