(1950)
"Baby-faced savage in a jungle of intrigue!"
What a great movie poster! That's almost enough, right there. Why see the film?
But, no, really you should see it - if you can find it. My husband and I were flipping channels recently, and happened upon this film just as it was beginning. Neither of us had seen it before...and within minutes we wished we'd known about it beforehand, and had recorded it (I don't like to record a movie after it's already started). "Born To Be Bad" is basically a really bad variation on the classic Bette Davis film "All About Eve", without the theater background, and it is not a good movie. It's a really bad film in fact, but bad in a great way. It's a cheesy 1950's B-film, hilarious without intending to be - the best kind of classic camp.
"Born To Be Bad" has a surprisingly stellar cast, including Joan Fontaine (in the lead as the conniving Christabel Caine), Zachary Scott, Robert Ryan (at his hunky bad-guy best), Joan Leslie, and Mel Ferrer. The story centers around Christabel Caine, who seems innocent on the outside...but is pure opportunistic bitch on the inside.
That's about all the plot line you need.
Joan Fontaine is her usual melodramatic self, complete with her signature eyebrow antics - her left eyebrow always seemed to have a mind of its own - also apparent in her performances in films such as "Rebecca", "Suspicion" and well, every film she was ever in, come to think of it), but her role in "Born to Be Bad" suits her mannerisms well. She makes a great little sweet-faced bitch. The dialogue is completely over-the-top, and coupled with the melodramatic mannerisms of most of the cast (Robert Ryan and Joan Fontaine's scenes together are some of the best), makes for a very entertaining camp film.
Nicolas Ray (who 5 years later directed the classic "Rebel Without A Cause") has created a total bomb, a classic of camp film that is worthy viewing for lovers of the genre.
