Born to Be Bad

If you've enjoyed Joan Fontaine's endearing performances in REBECCA or SUSPICION, check out this movie for an entirely different turn of character.

Joan plays Christabel, a woman with nice curves who's got all the angles, too. She's a classic manipulator, and the fun of the movie is watching her try to keep up her false appearances as she runs recklessly through the lives around her -- society friends, sick relatives, a thin-mustached rich playboy, and the rugged novelist guy who sees through her and loves her still.

The performance is one of shifting eyes, deceptive wheels turning inside the lovely Christabel's head, trying to recall which lie she told to whom. Fontaine retains a sense of mystery about her, because you keep wondering to what end is all this manipulation, anyway -- does Christabel even know? A consummate liar, she also remains a bit sympathetic through it all: you get the sense of someone who has played so many contradictory roles that she's kind of a lost soul.

As for the story itself, it's pretty good; and the supporting characters are merely okay. But really, they're just pins set up for Christabel to upset. Sit back and watch her go.

So, if you're like me and wanted to reach out and protect Joan in her Hitchcock movies, try BORN TO BE BAD. She's just as lovely (those doe-eyes will make you want to believe her) -- only hold onto your heart, and your wallet.

Director Nicholas Ray managed to take his revenge on RKO's Howard Hughes with this real life "Citizen Kane". Hughes was obsessively pursuing Joan Fontaine whose post WWII career was going nowhere. Like Hearst's intervention in Marion Davies' career, Hughes got Fontaine the lead in Ray's "Born To Be Bad" and then meddled in the production to insure that the film became a promotional vehicle for her.

Whatever Ray may have thought of this it was not a complete disaster. Although the 32 year- old Fontaine is not credible in the role of a young business school student, if you suspend disbelief about the age factor, her performance is the equal of Anne Baxter's in "All About Eve". The same thing could be said of Davies; while her career was mismanaged by Hearst's inappropriate casting, her talent was still able to shine through.

Although not given final cut, Ray somehow was able to turn "Born To Be Bad" into a self- parodying melodrama that reflected much of the Hughes-Fontaine relationship. Even making Fontaine's mark (wealthy Curtis Carey-played by Zachary Scott) into a Hughes look- alike, complete with pencil mustache and a passion for flying.

Unlike Orsen Welles, Ray made a lot of women's pictures, a quality "Citizen Kane" does not share with "Born To Be Bad". Fontaine plays master manipulator Christabel Caine (not Kane), not quite a sociopath but a woman with little sign of a conscience. Unlike most of these women's pictures, it is the men who she has trouble fooling with her innocent act. Cunning gay artist Gobby (Mel Ferrer)) finds her a kindred spirit and novelist Nick (Robert Ryan) is turned on by her greed and lack of moral/ethical boundaries.

Ray has Fontaine play the character in a nice self-parodying style that actually makes her somewhat sympathetic to the viewer, at least for those who can take a guilty pleasure watching her turn on the charm. Unlike her sister, the eternally earthy Olivia deHavilland, age made Fontaine brittle and well suited to villainess roles. With cute little smiles and feigned reaction shots Fontaine keeps the film vicious for its entire length.

Like Ray's "Johnny Guitar", this is a film about two women, one good and one bad (there is no subtlety), who vie for the same man. It is a battle of Joans, as Donna is played by gorgeous Joan Leslie ("Sgt. York"). Donna is a publishing house editor, postwar America was still adjusting to the vocational progress women had made during the war. But the evil Christabel explicitly rejects career opportunities (one can't imagine her contributing to the war effort) in favor of setting herself up for life by landing a rich husband she can set up for a lucrative divorce settlement.

Leslie and Ferrer are especially good in the film. Leslie gives the only restrained performance, which is more powerful because it contrasts so sharply with the overplayed performances Ray gets from the rest of his cast.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed BORN TO BE BAD (1950). The plot, about a woman who infiltrates a circle of friends and destroys their relationships, suggests a lot of melodrama. But the movie is buoyed by an excellent cast of characters and a script that sparkles with wit.

There is drama, to be sure, but there's some nice humor that comes from the characters and their relationships with one another. Nothing gets so serious that somebody pulls a gun or commits suicide or anything. There are no shrill histrionics. The movie is a little racy for Hayes Code fare, but it's not terribly dark or gritty. It's a rather pleasant tale about a selfish woman who only hurts herself in the end.

Robert Ryan is great as the cynical, rough-edged author. Mel Ferrer is great as the witty painter. Joan Fontaine is lovely as always as the maneater who conceals her scheming behind a façade of sweet innocence. This is a sexier, sneakier Joan Fontaine than viewers may be accustomed to. Joan Leslie, still only twenty-five, is fine in her adult role, after years of playing ingenues. Zachary Scott rounds out the principal cast as Leslie's rich fiancé.

Nicholas Ray deftly handles the directing duties, in both the busy party scenes and the noir-ish love scenes.

The movie isn't very deep or compelling, but it is very watchable thanks to the terrific performances and some wonderfully witty lines. Robert Ryan steals the show.

Made in 1950, this little gem was no doubt overshadowed by All About Eve (1950), the movie that made Anne Baxter and which also won six Academy Awards. The latter is, of course, a longer and more complex narrative, but both are fine movies. This was Nicholas Ray's sixth directorial effort, after Knock On Any Door (1949), In A Lonely Place (1950) and a few others.

No awards for Born To Be Bad though, but both stories have essentially the same theme: how a scheming woman sets out to get what she wants, and at any cost. Well, that theme has been done many times of course, but this (and Eve) stand out.

The narrative is straightforward: Christabel (Joan Fontaine) arrives on the social scene in San Francisco to make a name for herself. She latches onto Curtis Carey (Zachary Scott), the fiancée of her cousin Donna (Joan Leslie), succeeds in disrupting their marriage plans and then persuades Curtis to marry her. And, all the while she's in love with Nick Bradley (Robert Ryan) who is, in one sense, just as ruthless as she: an ambitious author determined to get recognition. Nick -- poor fool -- loves Christabel but also sees her for what she is. But, as you know, you can't fool all the people all the time; so eventually, Christabel gets her comeuppance for stealing Curtis from Donna while playing around with Nick at the same time...

In and around all of this pot-boiling is Gobby (the always effective Mel Ferrer), the artist who watches the foibles of humankind with cynical, but not unkind, objectivity (the role is, of course, the one that puts the viewer...er...in the picture).

The cast is uniformly excellent, although I have rarely liked Joan Fontaine (her sister, Olivia de Havilland was the better of the two, I think) as an actress. Having said that, I must say, however, that she excels in the role of the scheming femme fatale – she is truly hateful, and does it well. Robert Ryan is always good (at least in the movies of this era) and plays the hungry author like a wolf tearing at lambs; Zachary Scott is well cast as the duped husband. Joan Leslie is adequate but outshone by the duplicity of the role Joan Fontaine played to the hilt.

The most effective actor, however, is Mel Ferrer who verbally jousts with everybody, and delivers some of the most effective lines in the movie – although Robert Ryan has his fair share of wicked one liners also (e.g. in reference to Christabel, Nick muses to himself, "If she played her cards right, she could win me!" Towards the finale, he says to her: "I love you so much I wish I liked you!"). See this movie for the dialog, if nothing else. You won't be disappointed... promise.

So, why didn't this film get the recognition it deserved? Well, it came from RKO studios, which, at that time, was owned by Howard Hughes, a multi-millionaire who wasn't much liked by any of the Hollywood moguls. Hence, at a guess, I'd say favorable distribution and advertising throughout USA was probably lacking...

After years of watching films and studying their art for my own pleasure, I've decided that some of the most interesting and least appreciated movies are those released under the RKO logo. Born to be Bad is a prime example. Made in 1948-49 (not released until '50) under the aegis of Howard Hughes while he was alternately pursuing and manipulating Joan Fontaine, this movie has a unique, non -studio look. Very little location work was done, but doesn't it feel like San Francisco (more than Vertigo!). Literate script, intelligent casting, stylish sets and costumes (New York designer Hattie Carnegie for Fontaine, RKO in-house man Michael Woulfe for Joan Leslie) add up to an engrossing, adult 90 minutes. Speaking of adult; there's been some comments here about the Mel Ferrer character: "Is he or isn't he gay?" IS THERE ANY DOUBT? And check out one scene, unbelievably adult for 1950 Hollywood: When Fontaine returns home after a torrid sexual encounter with Robert Ryan, she quickly takes a hot bath before husband Zachary Scott returns home. Scent of another man? Pretty hot stuff in retrospect. Check this movie out when you get the opportunity!