Born to Be Bad (1934)

Boring

Am I Missing Something?

Absolutely brilliant

A Disappointing Continuation

I didn't like the abrupt finish! The movie runs only 59 minutes on the Fox DVD. Not exactly good value for the money! I actually bought this 2005 Fox DVD in Australia and it cost me $21.00.Was it worth the money? Yes, just! Although you would think that a rich film-maker like 20th Century Fox would have thrown in a few extras - especially as the movie ends with this unexpected fade-out rather quite suddenly and very abruptly. But right up to it's somewhat abrupt and disappointing finish, "Born To Be Bad" (presumably the title is supposed to refer to the Loretta Young character) is very well acted, particularly by the leads, Loretta Young and Cary Grant - and also by the young boy whom I've not heard of before! (His name, according to the Fox DVD is Henry Travers! Perhaps giving people wrong or defective names is some sort of new publicity ploy that Fox have dreamed up to give their DVD releases greater mileage with critics and pressmen. It's a novel idea, I'll admit, but I don't like it and have no wish to encourage it).Anyway, according to the Fox DVD, the director was someone called Lowell Sheerman. Never heard of him either! But I do know Lowell Sherman - a top director, in my opinion. Brilliant in fact! I think this was his second last film as a director. The only later title I have for him is "Night Life of the Gods" (1935).But getting back to the movie, I'd say again that under Lowell Sherman's brilliant direction, both Young and Grant never gave better performances. That fact alone makes "Born to be Bad" worth seeing.

When you see this film, it soon becomes obvious that this is a so-called "Pre-Code" movie--one made before the strengthened Production Code was enforced later in 1934. This new code was enacted because of rampant sex, violence and crudities in films up until that time. The new code made films more boring in some ways, but they also made the films a lot more family-friendly--and this was needed. Examples of some of the excesses before this time were nudity in Biblical epics (such as in the original BEN HUR) and kids' films (one of the Tarzan films has a 2 minute long nude swimming scene).So what is so Pre-Code about this film? Well, it begins with sweet Loretta Young playing a high-priced prostitute! She has an illegitimate child who is an amoral terror and Loretta lets him drink, skip school and run wild. On one of the kid's "adventures", he swings from the back of a truck into the path of a dairy truck. Mom convinces the kid to lie about the accident and claims he's badly injured. However, in court the dairy brings out film of the kid taken after the accident of him romping about with no evidence of the "serious injury". As a result of this obvious perjury, the court sends the case to family court and the little juvenile delinquent is taken from his mom's custody. This is NOT a case of the evil social workers or courts--Loretta is bad and the child was raised horribly by his trampy mother. Loretta Young, the bastion of purity playing this sort of woman?! Yep.Once the kid is in custody of the child protective services, Cary Grant (who owns the dairy) agrees to intervene and takes the kid home to raise him right. However, Loretta sees the kid as a possession and tries to steal the kid back--thinking nothing of the kid's welfare. Interestingly, the boy now has decided that he doesn't want to go back--maybe his mom is unfit. So, when this fails, she insinuates herself into Grant's home and stays a while--while she connives how to win at any cost. She is just bad....real bad...antisocial personality bad.Loretta's shyster lawyer helps her come up with a scheme. Although Grant is married, she will claim that he forced himself on her--thereby blackmailing him into giving her both the kid and a boatload of cash. And, because Grant is such a nice guy, he is a serious risk to succumb to her evil wicked yechy ways! Will she win and destroy sweet Grant or will he wake up and face that she is a soul-less she-devil? Tune in for yourself to find out what happens next. Just remember that it's a Pre-Code film and in such a movie ANYTHING can happen and good doesn't necessarily triumph over evil. And, mothers like Loretta are portrayed as being capable of eating their young!! Overall, it's a very fast-paced and enjoyable film that will most likely shock most audiences today because of its odd moral compass and less than likable characters. For lovers of Pre-Code films, it has plenty to shock you and offers quite a few odd surprises. The only serious negative is Grant's wife. She's just too ridiculously good to be real--no woman is THAT understanding without having a brain injury!! Plus, the changes you see in Loretta late in the film just aren't consistent with the type of character she'd been through most of the film. Still, it's entertaining and fun and worth a look."You're an ill-bred little tramp....You are a common little beast and I intend to tell you..." They just don't make dialog like this any more!!

Letty (Loretta Young) is a tramp. Early in the film she is established as a classy, attractive girl who appreciates fine things. The viewer is then given a shock when she suddenly changes in demeanor. I was impressed with the way Loretta Young was able to go from "nice" to "naughty" in one scene, giving away her character's true nature beyond a doubt. For nearly the full length of the movie we see Letty trying to cheat her way through life, convinced it is the only way to survive.Audiences of 1934 may have been looking for escapism in motion pictures, but I do not believe they could have found Loretta Young's character appealing. Pregnant at 15, she was taken in by a kind book store owner, but as she reached her early 20's she had taught herself and her son to win at any cost. In doing so, she becomes an escort to prominent men while her son, Mickey (Jackie Kelk), learns to be "street-wise" at a very early age. You could easily imagine Mickey ending up in prison. Having a lawyer offer advice on how to commit a new scam was a nice touch. Surely no one could feel sorry for Letty losing her son as an unfit mother. Loretta played that "unfit" part perfectly.Cary Grant really blended into the background in Born To Be Bad. His star was rising, but virtually any lead actor could have played Mal Trevor. Jackie Kelk was slightly older than his character, Mickey, at the time the movie was made. I found Mickey's change of heart to be a bit too easy, but as others have commented the movie is a bit short. Maybe with more time to show the supporting characters develop the movie would have made more sense. The only characters that really had any depth were Letty and Mickey.

I want to comment on that the romance was there...I just want ed to say that I thought the ending would be better, but she just leaves.. I think eventually in the future if this was a true story that she would stay with him... Like if they made a sequel to this that she would come back and be with him in the end with Mickey...With saying that.. I pretty much liked the rest of the movie.. I think that Cary Grant is very gorgeous in his younger years in this movie.. and Loretta Young is just as beautiful as she is in The Bishops wife (Which Cary Grant plays her guardian angel also in which he falls in love with her)... The movie is a lesson to stay strong and tough....and lie... to get out of unbeatable predicaments.