Born to Be Bad (1950)
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58% of users liked it
(232 ratings)
One of the most oft-revived of the pre-Technicolor Nicholas Ray efforts, Born to Be Bad offers us the spectacle of Joan Fontaine portraying a character described as "a cross between Lucrezia Borgia and Peg O' My Heart". For the benefit of her wealthy husband Zachary Scott and his… More One of the most oft-revived of the pre-Technicolor Nicholas Ray efforts, Born to Be Bad offers us the spectacle of Joan Fontaine portraying a character described as "a cross between Lucrezia Borgia and Peg O' My Heart". For the benefit of her wealthy husband Zachary Scott and his family, Fontaine adopts a facade of wide-eyed sweetness. Bored with her hubby, she inaugurates a romance with novelist Robert Ryan. All her carefully crafted calculations come acropper when both men discover that she's a bitch among bitches. She might have gotten away with all her machinations, but the censors said uh-uh. Originally slated for filming in 1946, with Henry Fonda scheduled to play the Robert Ryan part, Born to Bad was cancelled, then resurfaced as Bed as Roses in 1948, this time with Barbara Bel Geddes in the Fontaine role. RKO head Howard Hughes' decision to replace Bel Geddes with the more bankable Fontaine was one of the reasons that producer Dore Schary left RKO in favor of MGM. Based on Anne Parrish's novel All Kneeling, Born to be Bad is so overheated at times that it threatens to lapse into self-parody; though this never happens, the film was the basis for one of TV star Carol Burnett's funniest and most devastating movie takeoffs, Raised to be Rotten. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Nicholas Ray
- Genres
- Drama
PG,
- In Theaters
- Aug 27, 1950 Wide
- Studio
- Odeon Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
This is a lively, vicious, and daring film.
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Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Lively romantic melodrama with a creative use of architecture.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ray's interest in the psychological state of his protagonist and its relationship to visual style makes the film mesmerizing.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Trashy but stylishly entertaining melodrama.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
No Featured Audience Ratings Found…
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Cast
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Joan Fontaine
as Christabel Caine
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Robert Ryan
as Nick
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Zachary Scott
as Curtis
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Joan Leslie
as Donna
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Mel Ferrer
as Gobby
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Harold Vermilyea
as John Caine
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Virginia Farmer
as Aunt Clara
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Kathleen Howard
as Mrs. Bolton
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Dick Ryan
as Arthur
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Bess Flowers
as Mrs. Worthington
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Joy Hallward
as Mrs. Porter
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Hazel Boyne
as Committee Woman
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Irving Bacon
as Jewelry Salesman
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Gordon Oliver
as Lawyer
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Barry Brooks
as Man
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Ann Burr
as Schoolgirl
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Jack Chefe
as Man
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Donald Dillaway
as Photographer
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Sam Harris
as Old Man at Ball
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Bobby Johnson
as Kenneth
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Peggy Leon
as Caine's Secretary
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Sam Lufkin
as Taxi Driver
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John Mitchum
as Guest
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Al Murphy
as Man
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Frank Arnold
as Man at Art Gallery
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Ray Johnson
as Guest
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Homer Dickenson
as Art Gallery Attendant
