Born to be Bad

Well done soap opera aided by Nicholas Ray/Robert Ryan /Joan Fontaine
I have noticed that most reviews of Nicholas Ray's works usually don't mention this film. Perhaps people expect and want a film that shows Ray's distinctive style of film making. Screenplay is well written, acting very good, direction as usual competent Ray. Ryan able to successfully interpret the writer role. His scenes with Fontaine project the requisite sexual chemistry to make their interactions fascinating. One wonders whether they had something going on behind the scenes.

The drama is not as intense as it could have been, but the story is nevertheless engrossing. Fontaine's portrayal of the venal central character was subtle enough to make her scenes more interesting than they could have been in the hands of another actress. Some reviewers have stated that the story wasn't convincing because nobody in real life could ever be bamboozled by Fontaine's character. I beg to differ, because I have met a number of people in my day who were narcissistic in the same manner...

Citizen Hughes
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 give final cut, Ray somehow was able to turn "Born To Be Bad" into a self- parodying melodrama that reflected much of the...

Designing Woman
BORN TO BE BAD is a movie about a designing woman who manages to disrupt the lives of those around her for her own personal gain. Joan Fontaine is the star and she is backed by a strong supporting cast which includes Robert Ryan, Joan Leslie, Zachary Scott and Mel Ferrer. Director Nicholas Ray is known especially for his direction of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.

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