Bad Sister

Bette's first picture is a by the numbers affair. She seems a bit stiff at times as if she's still getting use to the camera, an unease that would vanish quickly. It's not hard to see why she was referred to as the little brown wren when she debuted. Her hairstyle and wardrobe are dowdy, even more so when you consider she's playing the younger "good" sister. Universal never did understand her appeal so it's fortunate that she didn't remain there long.

A word or two about the title, Sidney Fox the bad sister of the title, is more foolish and naive then really bad in the fashion that Bette would one day make the word mean. Fox was getting the big push from Universal but she makes little impact in the lead. Humphrey Bogart also just starting out is slender and attractive and even though his character has a bit more depth it's still a stock one. A good supporting cast, including Charles Winninger and ZaSu Pitts, helps but this is worth seeing only as a document of Davis's first film and early Bogie.

It's easy to call "The Bad Sister" badly dated, because it is. Instead of a timeless piece of Americana based on Booth Tarkington's novel, it's a mediocre, poorly scripted and always obvious romantic drama. Corny is too corny a term to apply, and what we're left with is very fine work by ZaZu Pitts as the comic relief family maid, and Charles Winninger almost holding the creaky plot together as the warm and fuzzy family patriarch.

Casting of Sidney Fox in the title role and Bette Davis as her shy, too good to be true sister is disastrous, as any current viewer via hindsight senses that the roles needed to be reversed, even if it meant halting production midway and reshooting. Bette could have run with the conceited, self-centered "bad girl" role and Sidney would have been just fine in the nothing role of the sister.

Humphrey Bogart is solid as the transparently conniving romantic bad guy and the other supporting male roles are way too wimpy to believe. Every plot twist is beyond predictable, and the ridiculous, rushed happy ending doesn't fit at all. Perhaps that ending was a reshoot -I like to think the original ending would be evil Sidney burnt at the stake.

Not bad at all ,but the main interest of the movie is to see Davis in her first ,and bogart in one of his firsts the story and the way it's developed is very old fashion and the characters are very simplified. the cinematic aspect is not new and the story demoded and to say the truth frankly boring

The Bad Sister (1931)

** (out of 4)

This melodrama from Universal focuses on the Madison family. Father (Charles Winninger) doesn't know how to say no to his oldest daughter Marianne (Sidney Fox) and this continues when she brings home Valentine (Humphrey Bogart), a man promising to bring a factory to their small town but we all know something isn't right. Well, everyone but the Madison family.

THE BAD SISTER has pretty much been forgotten to time, which is a little strange since it features a few legends in the cast. If anyone discusses the movie today it's because it features the screen debut of future legend Bette Davis. Being able to see Davis and Bogart together, a few years before THE PETRIFIED FOREST, will be enough of a reason for film buffs to check this out but sadly the overall film isn't all that memorable.

Obviously this here was meant to be a morality tale but my problem with it is that it's just 100% melodrama without any bite. The film never even attempts to do anything really dramatic as we're basically treated to some bad characters who have nothing taught to them and in the end the screenplay lets them off the hook. I'm really not sure what the point of the movie was but the story isn't all that compelling and it certainly struggles to hold your attention through the 64-minute running time.

Winninger is good in the role of the father and I'd argue that Zasu Pitts adds some entertainment even though her role as the maid isn't all that great. Sidney Fox turns in good performance as the title sister but the screenplay doesn't do her character any favors. Davis is good in her role as well even though you can tell that there's a fire in her that isn't able to come out in a role like this. It's a bit strange to see Bogart in a role like this but it's still fun to watch him.

THE BAD SISTER was photographed by Karl Freund who of course is best remembered for directing THE MUMMY for Universal the following year. The film itself isn't all that memorable but there were several legends in training here and that alone makes it worth seeing.

1931's "The Bad Sister" is chiefly remembered as being the film debut of screen legend Bette Davis, who spent a few despondent months at Universal that year before finding greener pastures at Warner Bros. The title role, however, went to Sidney Fox, also making her movie debut, but in a quirk of fate, Universal's star push on her behalf instead of Davis resulted in Sidney's career ending in three years, while 'the good sister' was being hailed as a star. Not only did Universal miss the boat on these two actresses, they failed to see the potential in 4th billed Humphrey Bogart, who followed Davis to Warners playing essentially the same role he does here, a smooth-talking, big city con man who preys upon the citizens of Central City Ohio, with Miss Fox forging her father's signature to cinch the swindle. Top billing goes to doctor Conrad Nagel, naively in love with 'bad sister' Sidney, when it's 'good sister' Bette secretly in love with him. Bette herself despaired over this film, convinced she had no future in pictures; the virginal 23 year old is effectively deglamorized, dressed like a grape picker's daughter, hair tightly bound in a bun, yet those 'Bette Davis Eyes' remain intact, yearning desire behind them. I myself was curious to see more of the diminutive Sidney Fox, inexplicably top billed over Bela Lugosi in 1932's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (reuniting her with Bert Roach), but remained entranced by Bette Davis instead; and to think Carl Laemmle Jr. famously said of her in this film, "she has about as much sex appeal as Slim Summerville!" (he too is in the picture).