Born to be Bad

Born to be Bad

Director: Nicholas Ray Cast: Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
, Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott
, Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
, Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie
Nicholas Ray
Born to be Bad

Born to be Bad

Director: Nicholas Ray Cast: Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine
, Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott
, Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
, Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie
Nicholas Ray

DVD (Full Frame)

$17.99 
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Overview

One of the most oft-revived of the pre-Technicolor Nicholas Ray efforts, Born to Be Bad offers us the spectacle of Joan Fontaine portraying a character described as "a cross between Lucrezia Borgia and Peg O' My Heart." For the benefit of her wealthy husband Zachary Scott and his family, Fontaine adopts a facade of wide-eyed sweetness. Bored with her hubby, she inaugurates a romance with novelist Robert Ryan. All her carefully crafted calculations come acropper when both men discover that she's a bitch among bitches. She might have gotten away with all her machinations, but the censors said uh-uh. Originally slated for filming in 1946, with Henry Fonda scheduled to play the Robert Ryan part, Born to Bad was cancelled, then resurfaced as Bed as Roses in 1948, this time with Barbara Bel Geddes in the Fontaine role. RKO head Howard Hughes' decision to replace Bel Geddes with the more bankable Fontaine was one of the reasons that producer Dore Schary left RKO in favor of MGM. Based on Anne Parrish's novel All Kneeling, Born to be Bad is so overheated at times that it threatens to lapse into self-parody; though this never happens, the film was the basis for one of TV star Carol Burnett's funniest and most devastating movie takeoffs, Raised to be Rotten.

Product Details

Release Date: 08/21/2012
UPC: 0883316574881
Original Release: 1950
Source: Warner Archives
Region Code: A
Presentation: [Full Frame]
Sound: [monaural]
Language: English
Time: 1:30:00
Sales rank: 28,120

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Joan Fontaine Christabel Caine Carey
Zachary Scott Curtis Carey
Robert Ryan Nick Bradley,Arthur
Joan Leslie Donna Foster
Mel Ferrer Gabriel 'Gobby' Broome
Harold Vermilyea John Caine
Virginia Farmer Aunt Clara Caine
Kathleen Howard Mrs. Bolton
Bess Flowers Mrs. Worthington
Joy Hallward Mrs. Porter
Hazel Boyne Committee Woman
Irving Bacon Jewelry Salesman
Gordon Oliver Lawyer
Sam Lufkin Taxi Driver
Bobby Johnson Kenneth,Guest
Peggy Leon Caine's Secretary
John Mitchum Guest
Jack Chefe Man
Frank Arnold Man at Art Gallery
Barry Brooks Man
Ann Burr Schoolgirl
Major Harris Old Man at Ball
Homer Dickinson Art Gallery Attendant
James Conaty Charity Ball Guest
Donald Dillaway Photographer,Photographer
Helen Crozier Ann
Herbert Evans Charity Ball Guest
Edward Biby Charity Ball Guest
Lulu Mae Bohrman Charity Ball Guest
Morgan Brown Waiter
Friedrich Hollaender Composer

Technical Credits
Nicholas Ray Director
Robert Sparks Producer
Edith R. Sommer Screenwriter
Charles Schnee Screenwriter
George Oppenheimer Screenwriter
Sid Rogell Executive Producer
Phil Brigandi Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Clem Portman Sound Effects
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