Bad Sister

The Bad Sister (1931)

** (out of 4)

This melodrama from Universal focuses on the Madison family. Father (Charles Winninger) doesn't know how to say no to his oldest daughter Marianne (Sidney Fox) and this continues when she brings home Valentine (Humphrey Bogart), a man promising to bring a factory to their small town but we all know something isn't right. Well, everyone but the Madison family.

THE BAD SISTER has pretty much been forgotten to time, which is a little strange since it features a few legends in the cast. If anyone discusses the movie today it's because it features the screen debut of future legend Bette Davis. Being able to see Davis and Bogart together, a few years before THE PETRIFIED FOREST, will be enough of a reason for film buffs to check this out but sadly the overall film isn't all that memorable.

Obviously this here was meant to be a morality tale but my problem with it is that it's just 100% melodrama without any bite. The film never even attempts to do anything really dramatic as we're basically treated to some bad characters who have nothing taught to them and in the end the screenplay lets them off the hook. I'm really not sure what the point of the movie was but the story isn't all that compelling and it certainly struggles to hold your attention through the 64-minute running time.

Winninger is good in the role of the father and I'd argue that Zasu Pitts adds some entertainment even though her role as the maid isn't all that great. Sidney Fox turns in good performance as the title sister but the screenplay doesn't do her character any favors. Davis is good in her role as well even though you can tell that there's a fire in her that isn't able to come out in a role like this. It's a bit strange to see Bogart in a role like this but it's still fun to watch him.

THE BAD SISTER was photographed by Karl Freund who of course is best remembered for directing THE MUMMY for Universal the following year. The film itself isn't all that memorable but there were several legends in training here and that alone makes it worth seeing.

I enjoyed this movie! It was intriguing to see Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart 3rd and 4th in the billing order. But what fun to see Bogie as a suave smiling dapper con man who whisks the airhead "bad sister" off her feet. And poor Bette Davis, whom I almost did not recognize in her first scenes in the film. So interesting to see how the costumes helped to create the two sisters characters. Bette Davis in drab prints that made her appear very frumpy. And that younger brother!!! Oh my what a pest!! It really is a complicated story with some sad , some glad, and a bit of silliness here and there. A soap opera in a way, but a also a time capsule of simpler times. I agree with others who said the end comes rather abruptly. I had more ideas of what might have happened if it was longer, so was left feeling a bit unfulfilled. I thought it was well made overall. You can see the remnants of the silent film era in its style with a caption inserted in the middle to help us figure out the plot. And lots of long stares with the eyes expressing so much.

It's easy to call "The Bad Sister" badly dated, because it is. Instead of a timeless piece of Americana based on Booth Tarkington's novel, it's a mediocre, poorly scripted and always obvious romantic drama. Corny is too corny a term to apply, and what we're left with is very fine work by ZaZu Pitts as the comic relief family maid, and Charles Winninger almost holding the creaky plot together as the warm and fuzzy family patriarch.

Casting of Sidney Fox in the title role and Bette Davis as her shy, too good to be true sister is disastrous, as any current viewer via hindsight senses that the roles needed to be reversed, even if it meant halting production midway and reshooting. Bette could have run with the conceited, self-centered "bad girl" role and Sidney would have been just fine in the nothing role of the sister.

Humphrey Bogart is solid as the transparently conniving romantic bad guy and the other supporting male roles are way too wimpy to believe. Every plot twist is beyond predictable, and the ridiculous, rushed happy ending doesn't fit at all. Perhaps that ending was a reshoot -I like to think the original ending would be evil Sidney burnt at the stake.

Pre-Coder about a rotten young woman (Sidney Fox), who's so spoiled and selfish she doesn't care who she steps on, including her own family. It's an unremarkable melodrama about an unlikable character that I wouldn't even have bothered watching were it not for the fact that this is the film debut of Bette Davis. Bette plays Fox's homely but kind sister who's in love with Fox's boyfriend. When Fox dumps him for another man, it opens a door for the beau to look at Bette in a different light.

It's an unimpressive debut for Bette, showing none of her later acting talent or personality. For her part, Sidney Fox does a fine job playing the worst kind of brat. Also featuring Humphrey Bogart in one of his earliest roles, playing -- you guessed it -- a bad guy. The scene stealer of the picture is child actor David Durand as Fox and Davis' younger brother. He freely speaks his mind and has all of the movie's decent lines. The rest of the cast includes ZaSu Pitts, Bert Roach, Slim Summerville, Conrad Nagel, and Charles Winninger. Worth a look for Bette and Bogie completists or anyone who digs these old timey morality plays.

Bette's first picture is a by the numbers affair. She seems a bit stiff at times as if she's still getting use to the camera, an unease that would vanish quickly. It's not hard to see why she was referred to as the little brown wren when she debuted. Her hairstyle and wardrobe are dowdy, even more so when you consider she's playing the younger "good" sister. Universal never did understand her appeal so it's fortunate that she didn't remain there long.

A word or two about the title, Sidney Fox the bad sister of the title, is more foolish and naive then really bad in the fashion that Bette would one day make the word mean. Fox was getting the big push from Universal but she makes little impact in the lead. Humphrey Bogart also just starting out is slender and attractive and even though his character has a bit more depth it's still a stock one. A good supporting cast, including Charles Winninger and ZaSu Pitts, helps but this is worth seeing only as a document of Davis's first film and early Bogie.