Four Eyed Monsters
Advertisement
Sign in
Username   Password         Forgot password?
Wanna join? Tour Spout | Sign up
Born to Be Bad
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement
Directed by Lowell Sherman
Loretta Young, who became known almost exclusively for playing sweet, wholesome roles, is kind of a shocker in this romantic drama as Letty Strong, an unwed mother who survives by living life as a grifter and the next thing to a prostitute -- all for the good of her son Mickey (Jackie Kelk), who, not yet 10 years old, is turning into a street hustler every bit as devious and untrustworthy as she is. Then, one day, he's skating on the street and gets hit by a milk truck, which happens to be driven by Malcolm Trevor (Cary Grant), the owner of the dairy, who was spot-checking his operation. Letty and Mickey try to take Malcolm for a hefty sum in court until their case is blown out of the water, but Malcolm also finds himself appalled by the kind of life that Letty is setting up for the boy. He gets her to agree to let Mickey move in with him and his wife Alice ($Marion Burns), at their estate outside the city. And after some extremely rough patches, Mickey begins to see that there's more to being a boy -- or becoming a man -- than what you can steal or cheat off the next guy. But Letty isn't about to let her son get away that easily, or let Malcolm get away with taking him from her, even if he is right. She tries to wreck Malcolm's home and marriage, all to get her son back and take revenge on him in the process. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
[More]
All Movie Guide Logo
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
is neutral about it.
Loretta Young turns in one of the finest acting jobs of her career in this unfairly neglected drama, which is also a fine showcase for the early range of Cary Grant and a pretty startling movie in general. Born To Be Bad was released by Fox just in time to be initially rejected by the Hays Office for its "low moral tone." And it got released despite a plot line that puts an amoral heroine, played by Young -- devious, greedy, sexually promiscuous -- at the center of the story, and a story that doesn't leave "good" a lot of room for victory. In other words, it's quite a bit more realistic than many of the dramas that followed over the next several decades. Young's Letty Strong is a woman who is prepared to hurt and destroy anyone or anything that stands in the way of what she wants -- even her own young son (Jackie Kelk), born when she was teenager, when she feels he's betrayed her. Cary Grant is unexpectedly restrained, with few of the mannerisms that became his trademark as a comic actor in the years that followed. And the story still finds room for some humor and laughter, even amid a surprisingly cold-hearted drama, in which an unwed mother seems to sink lower and lower in life and drag those around her down as well. The one familiar figure in this movie who is acting in a familiar way is Henry Travers, the kindly bookstore owner who is -- until Grant's Malcolm Trevor comes along -- the one decent adult in Letty's life, and it's startling to see him work as well as he does in this surprisingly frank and gritty drama. The movie will prove a revelation to Young's fans and detractors alike, and on seeing it this reviewer found himself saddened that she didn't get to flex her acting muscles more often in films and roles like this. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

Community ratings

mavens
Spout mavens
are neutral about it.
most people
Most people
lost interest.

Other opinions

wonga
wonga
is neutral about it.
digitalconquest
digitalconquest
is neutral about it.
konec
konec
lost interest.