Born to Be Bad (1950) - full review!
Who does 33 year old Joan Fontaine think she's fooling, playing a business college student? Other than that incredulity, and the fact that others are so easily manipulated by her seemingly inconsequential acts and words, she plays a conniving bitch to rival Anne Baxter's title character in that year's All About Eve (1950), though Fontaine's cute little smiles and feigned (yet knowing) look-asides will wear on most viewers as the movie progresses. There is lots of great dialogue, mostly one-liners by Robert Ryan's character like "I love you so much I wish I liked you", but there is absolutely no subtlety.
Directed by Nicholas Ray, with an adaptation by Charles Schnee and a screenplay by Edith Sommer from an Anne Parrish novel with additional dialogue provided by George Oppenheimer (The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942)) and Robert Soderberg, this less than credible though highly watchable drama features Fontaine as Christabel, the niece of publisher John Caine (Harold Vermilyea), who comes to live with Caine's employee Donna Foster (Joan Leslie) while going to business college in San Francisco. She proceeds to ruin Donna's engagement to the family wealthy Curtis Carey (Zachary Scott) by planting seeds of doubt that his fiancée is a gold-digger. Meanwhile, Christabel is irresistibly drawn to writer come author Nick Bradley (Ryan!) - the two have an illicit affair while she disposes of Donna (who leaves for London) and simultaneously hooks Curtis for herself. Mel Ferrer plays Gobby, a non-judgmental third party witness to the goings-on, a painter who manages to hobnob with these wealthy persons as their friend despite his lack of financial means; he oozes just enough charm to have them pay his way into their group. Christabel had grown up living modestly with her Aunt Clara (Virginia Farmer), Caine's sister. Bess Flowers plays an untypical, credited role, Mrs. Worthington; Kathleen Howard plays a philanthropist, Mrs. Bolton. Irving Bacon plays a jewelry salesman.
Of course, after Christabel has Curtis, or at least his money, she avoids him until Nick comes back in town ... but he's a stand-up guy who refuses to fool around with a married woman! Obviously she's found out in time for a contrived happy ending.
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