Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

robert-temple-1 This is an important film noir in the Nicholas Ray canon. He made it just after his classic IN A LONELY PLACE (1950, see my review), in the same year. Joan Fontaine plays a narcissistic schemer who steals another woman's man, marrying him for his money, but still wants to keep her lover on the side, played by Robert Ryan. The film is based on a novel by Anne Parrish called ALL KNEELING, and has no connection whatever with the film BORN TO BE BAD of 1934, starring Cary Grant and Loretta Young. Joan Leslie plays Donna, the pleasant, smiling young woman who is in love with Zachary Scott. The unscrupulous, smiling, ingratiating Fontaine (whose sweetness is completely false) steals Scott's affections, breaking Leslie's heart. Scott is very wealthy and for a while Fontaine thinks she has pulled off something wonderful, but she soon admits to being unhappy and turns back to her former lover, Robert Ryan. Ryan is magnificent in his part. Nicholas Ray makes the film much more effective than it might have been by inserting lingering close-ups of the faces of Fontaine and of Ryan at key moments in the film (watch for them, they are classic shots), where the hidden emotions of the characters are revealed when nobody is looking at them. Fontaine's gloating expressions and smiles of triumph to herself are particularly revealing. This was Ray's clever visual substitute for the voice over interior monologue, and frankly it is a marvellously sophisticated and successful device. Young aspiring film makers should all study that particular technique, which has rarely been surpassed from what we see here. Words are not always necessary when you have actors as brilliant as Ryan and Fontaine who 'get' it and are not afraid to show it. Ryan's facial close-up in the latter part of the film when he suddenly realizes something disturbing about Fontaine during an amorous encounter with her is, frankly, a terrifying emotional moment. Mel Ferrer plays a supporting role, but he is rather annoying and does not do a particularly good job. However, it is easy to ignore him and concentrate on the main story and characters. This film is not a comfortable or pleasant one, as Fontaine's character is so disturbing. It is remarkably similar to the character of Eve played by Anne Baxter in ALL ABOUT EVE (1950) in the very same year. I do not know the relative production dates of the two films, but I wonder if one of the actresses could have influenced the other. Anne Baxter's schemer is the more powerful and subtle of the two. For people interested in film noir, this is one of the numerous 'must-sees'.

seymourblack-1 This entertaining but over-the-top melodrama is based on Anne Parrish's novel called "All Kneeling" and features a malicious woman whose lust for wealth and power is so strong that she doesn't care who she hurts as she strives to achieve her selfish ambitions. Christabel Carey (Joan Fontaine) leaves a number of casualties in her wake and is certainly not the type of woman to see the error of her ways. In fact, by the end of the story, it becomes very clear that the reason that she acts as she does, is simply because she's hard-wired to do so.When his niece, Christabel, is due to attend Business School in San Francisco, publisher John Caine (Harold Vermilyea) arranges for her to live with his assistant Donna Foster (Joan Leslie). Christabel is a small town girl who was brought up by her aunt Clara (Virginia Farmer) and gives the impression of being rather innocent and demure. Christabel soon gets to know Donna's fiancé, Curtis Carey (Zachary Scott), her artist friend Gabriel "Gobby" Broome (Mel Ferrer) and Nick Bradbury (Robert Ryan), a novelist who's under contract to John Caine's firm.Christabel is powerfully attracted to Nick and his feelings for her are just as passionate but she also recognises that Curtis' considerable wealth could enable her to leave her modest background behind forever. In order to achieve her aim, Christabel tricks Curtis into suspecting that Donna is only interested in him for his money and his lack of trust in his fiancée soon leads to the end of their engagement. Shortly after the break-up, Curtis and Christabel get married and Nick, who recognises her for the duplicitous gold-digger that she is, leaves for Boston.Christabel revels in her newly found wealth and social status and immerses herself in charity work. Her commitment to this leaves little time for her and Curtis to develop the more intimate side of their relationship and Christabel's continuing interest in seeing Nick only makes matters even more complicated. Bigger problems follow when the extent of her scheming and her cruelty to Aunt Clara are fully recognised but typically, this doesn't lead to any form of contrition from Christabel."Born To Be Bad" has a great title, some amusing dialogue and a lively pace. Joan Fontaine lacks credibility in her role as it's impossible to ignore that she looks too old for the part she's playing. Robert Ryan, on the other hand, is convincing as "no-nonsense Nick" who knows precisely how two-faced Christabel is, but still finds her irresistible. Joan Leslie and Mel Ferrer are particularly good in their roles and the remainder of the cast also provide creditable performances.

dougdoepke Unscrupulous Christabel uses her wiles to break up her cousin's engagement to a wealthy man so she can marry him herself.Considering the talent involved, the movie's a disappointment. The plot turns on the scheming Christabel and her ability to attract men. The trouble is Fontaine looks more like a wallflower than a temptress since neither costuming nor make-up has done her rather plain looks any favors. Thus, having her out-compete the vibrant, young Donna (Leslie) for Curtis's (Scott) affections, becomes a real stretch. Then too, Fontaine underplays the role, perhaps to a fault, such that it can't be her winning personality that gets the men. So what we're left with in the movie's middle is a credibility gap where there should be a compelling presence. At the same time, the results suggest any one of a hundred Hollywood directors could have helmed the workman-like production. Looks to me like cult director Ray found nothing to engage his formidable talents and simply went through the motions. I suspect he took the script on assignment, viewing the project mainly as a vehicle for its celebrity-star.On the other hand, is the colorful array of male cast members— a commanding Robert Ryan, a shrewd Mel Ferrer, and a sympathetic Zachary Scott (for once). In fact, Ryan's dark features and towering masculinity as Nick almost blot out Fontaine's recessive presence in their scenes together. As Christabel's secret lover, he's totally believable even when she isn't. Add to them, the lovely young Leslie, who shows an impressive range as both trusting soul and wronged woman, and the movie does have its compensations, including a well-calculated ending.Nonetheless, the film as a whole fails to gel, suggesting that Fontaine the actress is much better at playing the innocent rather than the wanton.

st-shot Joan Fontaine as proper and delicate country girl Cristobal tramples all before her in Nick Ray's noir that takes place in a a better part of town Born to Bad. It's like the title says and Miss Fontaine does not disappoint. Cristobal has come to the big city to visit but wouldn't you know it shows up a day early, just in time for the party that evening. She captivates and quickly finds herself in the arms of a promising writer but soon sets her sights on roomie Donna's wealthy boyfriend.Ray's opening scene in a hallway of a chic Manhattan walk-up is frenetic and energizing. Longer than wider with people entering offstage via rooms he quickly establishes players, touching it up with telling incidentals like the first indication Cristobal is in the building.. His pace complements Cristobals rise as she rushes to the top and races around trying to control everyone and everything. Fontaine's feigned sincerity accented by her conciliatory beauty is enraging, frustrating and fascinating to watch. She's one classy noir fatale that get's results and doesn't even pack a rod; so much it takes the likes of Robert Ryan to set things straight with her. A supporting set of doormats: Zachary Scott as the weakling husband, Joan Leslie the betrayed ex and Virginia Farmer as befuddled Aunt Clara fall prey while Mel Ferrer as a moocher artist who knows his place and thus on to Cristobal round out this well acted benign noir among the smart set with an off beat fatale as deceptively hard boiled as the best of them.