Born to be Bad (United Artists) (1934)

THAT'S TELLING HIM! Loretta Young and Cary Grant in “Born to be Bad" 1 —Two Col. Scene (Mat .10; Cut .40) Best Things Always Come Unexpectedly, Says Loretta Young of Rise to Stardom (ADVANCE FEATURE) “The best things always seem to come unexpectedly,” philosophized lovely Loretta Young, thoughtful furrows rippling the usually placid brow above the grave blue eyes. She referred to her sudden elevation to stardom in “Born to Be Bad,” Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck’s new 20th Century picture, in which she is co-starred with Cary Grant. CAMERA CAST IN DETECTIVE ROLE Motion Picture Evidence of ‘Injured’ Boy at Play Introduced at Trial (ADVANCE STORY) A motion picture camera in the role of private detective! It may sound fantastic, but it is based on fact. A camera is seen in this capacity in “Born to be Bad,’’ the 20th Century picture showing . at the .Theatre, with Loretta Young and Cary Grant sharing stellar honors. In this original story by Ralph Craves, a motion picture cameraman is employed furtively to take motion pictures of a small boy at play — 1 fighting, wrestling, running and romping. Later the pictures are shown in a courtroom to the utter consternation of the boy’s pretty and unscrupulous young mother, played by Miss Young, who has sued a wealthy man for heavy damages on the charge that a truck owned by his firm had maimed her small son for life. This ironic episode is based on an actual case in the Los Angeles Courts. A man had sued a certain famous screen star for heavy damages, claiming he had been seriously in¬ jured by the star’s automobile. The screen actor hired a motion picture cameraman, who perched in trees and other vantage points near the plain¬ tiff’s home and took motion pictures of the man frolicking about his back yard, with subsequent courtroom de¬ velopments rather closely following those in the film. “Born to be Bad,” from the pen of Ralph Graves, is the story of an un¬ scrupulous ‘customer’s girl’ in the cloak and suit trade, deterred by no moral qualms from entering into fraud, conspiracy, blackmail or minor deceits and trickeries. It moves, through scenes of drollery and pathos, to a heartbreaking denouement in which the girl for the first time sees herself clearly revealed as what she is. She makes a desperate effort to break with the sordid life she has known and makes one of those as¬ tounding sacrifices which prove, in the last analysis, that one never can tell what fine qualities lie hidden in apparently irredeemable characters. This, her first stellar role, affords Miss Young the outstanding emo¬ tional opportunities of her career. Cary Grant is seen as the man who cannot help loving her, despite her attempt to victimize him. Jackie Kelk, promising boy star, plays the son who becomes a tool in his mother’s un¬ scrupulous plots. Others in the cast are Harry Green, Henry Travers, Paul Harvey, Russell Hopton, Andrew Tombes, Howard Lang, Marion Burns, Charles Coleman, Matt Briggs and Geneva Mitchell. Lowell Sherman directed this Joseph M. Schenck-Darryl F. Zanuck picture for United Artists release. Grant Borrowed For Star Role In New 20tli Century Film (CURRENT STORY) It was his work opposite Mae West in “She Done Him Wrong” and “I’m No Angel” that convinced Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck that Cary Grant was the ideal choice to be co-starred with Loretta Young in “Born to be Bad,” their newest 20th Century Picture, currently showing at the . Theatre. Grant was borrowed from Para¬ mount by special arrangement with Emanuel Cohen, production head of that company, to which he is under contract. Miss Young is cast as a hard-boiled ‘customer’s girl’ in the cloak and suit trade, who supports her small son by entertaining out-of-town buyers and using her physical allure to induce them to place large orders. Grant plays a wealthy man of splendid character who falls in love with this unscrupulous girl and who, following a series of exciting developments in the course of which she attempts to victimize him, succeeds in redeeming her through his love. Lowell Sherman directed this Ralph Graves story for release through United Artists. NEW FILM EXPOSES ‘CASE MAKERS’ ‘Born to be Bad’ Reveals Method of Engineering Damage Suits (PLAY DATE READER) Racketeering lawyers, doctors and insurance ‘adjusters’ — known under the generic term ‘ambulance chasers’ —come in for a showing-up in “Born to be Bad,” showing today to. .at the.Theatre. In this 20th Century Picture, pro¬ duced by Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck as a co-starring vehicle for Loretta Young and Cary Grant, the cinema-going public will see how ‘ambulance chasers’ engineer a heavy damage suit against a wealthy man following a trivial accident. They conspire to prove that a truck owned by him has maimed a small boy for life, whereas the boy has actually been little more than scratched. The machinations of the boy’s scheming young mother play an important part in the frameup. Loretta Young plays the mother, a ‘customer’s girl’ in the cloak and suit trade, whose beauty is matched only by her unscrupulousness. Jackie Kelk, making his debut in a feature length film following ap¬ pearances on the New York stage with Fay Bainter and Madge Kennedy, is seen as the boy. Cary Grant por¬ trays the wealthy victim. The story, propelled rapidly for¬ ward through a series of mirthful scenes that often skirt the edge of pathos, moves to a heart-breaking climax which offers the unscrupulous mother an opportunity to make a sacrifice so noble that it redeems much of her past. Lowell Sherman directed “Born to be Bad” from a story by Ralph Graves. Harry Green, Henry Travers and Paul Harvey are featured with the Kelk boy in the supporting cast of this United Artists release. Kelk Cat Crossed Country in Style Like another Dick Whittington of fairy tale lore, little Jackie Kelk ar¬ rived in Hollywood with his cat, pre¬ pared to conquer the film world. Jackie is the youngster who scored on the New York stage with Fay Bainter and Madge Kennedy, and was brought out to the coast under long term contract to Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck’s 20th Century Pictures. The boy refused to go West with¬ out his pet and succeeded in smuggl¬ ing it aboard the train. His stratagem was not discovered by the conductor until he neared the end of his trip, so Tabby rode first-class instead of in the baggage car. Jackie liked Loretta Young, whose son he plays in “Born to be Bad,” the United Artists release showing . at the . Theatre, so much that he is seriously considering renaming his cat after her. CARY GRANT WAS PRECOCIOUS LAD Conceived and Operated New Stage Lighting Effect At Twelve (ADVANCE STORY) Talk about your precocious chil¬ dren ! Cary Grant, dark-eyed screen favorite, who is co-starred with Loretta Young in “Born to be Bad,” the new 20th Century Picture show¬ ing . at the .Theatre, con¬ ceived a new stage lighting effect when he was a mere lad of twelve. But that isn’t all. He actually took the idea to the manager of the Princess Theatre in his home town of Bristol, England, and that worthy gentleman was so impressed that he permitted the boy to install and oper¬ ate the business for a show. Out of this incident grew the per¬ sonable Cary’s determination to be¬ come an actor. He ran off to America with an acrobatic troupe and has managed to stay in the theatre ever since — as acrobat, eccentric dancer, stilt-walker, clown, singer—and finally as a Hollywood movie star. Grant was borrowed from Para¬ mount by Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck to appear opposite Miss Young in “Born to be Bad,” which Lowell Sherman directed for release through United Artists. Becoming a star implies many desirable things. It means having the story shaped around your role. It means that the gowns you wear are meticulously fashioned from your choice of dozens of sketches. It means that every moment you are on the set the cameraman arranges his lighting to enhance your beauty. It means a star bungalow as a dressing room, your name in electric lights, and 1001 things, including that little matter of salary. Loretta Young in “Born to be Bad” 3 —One Col. Star Head (Mat .05; Cut .20) All these good things have fallen to Loretta, who is just old enough to vote. Yet she is accepting her good fortune modestly with a solemn regard for the responsibilities it in¬ volves. “Of course I’d been hoping to become a star,” she said. “But now that it’s happened, well — I’m not exactly scared — but I do feel that I’ve got more of a weight on my shoulders. You know, they expect more of you when you’re a star. “It’s more thrilling though — and different. For one thing, you don’t have so much time to yourself. You have so many more screen tests, more in fact that when you’re just trying to break into pictures. Everything has to be so precise, the lighting, the makeup, the way you dress your hair. And where, in most of my pictures, I have had a fairish number of cos¬ tumes, I have seventeen complete changes of wardrobe in ‘Born to Be Bad.’ There are so many more extra fittings for each change, to say nothing of having to pass on the sketches for each of them. All those things manage to keep you on the go. “I’m going to try not to lose my head. It’s so easy to be spoiled by all the attention you get, especially if you haven’t had to go through all the heartbreak the majority experi¬ ence in winning success. “The thing I’ll try hardest to guard against is temperament. It’s the one thing I’ve always detested in others. Only twice in my life have I given way to temperament, once with a director and another time with my family. The second time one of my sisters put a sign over my bedroom door: ‘Star’s Dressing Room—Silence Please.’ That cured me.” In “Born to be Bad,” Loretta, last seen in “The House of Rothschild,” is cast as a hard-boiled customer’s girl’ in the cloak and suit trade. Cary Grant plays a wealthy and distin¬ guished man who loves her and tries to influence her for good, but fails— until the final fadeout. Jackie Kelk plays her small son, while Harry Green, Henry Travers and Paul Har¬ vey are also featured in the cast of this United Artists release which comes to the . Theatre . Lowell Sherman handled the megaphone. Don’t Ask! Unless you want a sample of the sharp retort for which director Lowell Sherman is noted, don’t ask him how he became famous! It’s his pet abomination as far as interrogation is concerned. All of which didn’t prevent some¬ one on the United Artists lot from stepping up to him while he was di¬ recting Loretta Young and Cary Grant in “Born to be Bad,” the new 20th Century Picture at the . Theatre, and putting to him the old, old query. “Not by answering foolish ques¬ tions!” snapped Sherman, which, whether his somewhat-taken-aback interrogator knew it or not, is his stock answer to that question. JOSEPH M. SCHENCK presents a DARRYL F. ZANUCK production LORETTA YOUNG and CARY GRANT “BORN TO BE BAD” with HARRY GREEN, JACKIE KELK, HENRY TRAVERS and PAUL HARVEY Directed by Lowell Sherman Associated Producers William Goetz and Raymond Griffith Letty Strong_ Malcolm Trevor Mickey_ ..Loretta Young Cary Grant Jackie Kelk Fuzzy_Henry Travers Steve Karns_Russell Hopton Max Lieber _Andrew Tombes Doctor Dropsy_ .... Howard Lang Adolph _ Harry Green Alyce Trevor_Marion Burns Lawyer_ Paul Harvey Butler Charles Coleman Truant Officer_Matt Briggs Miss Crawford_Geneva Mitchell Novel by_Ralph Graves Dialogue and adaptation Ralph Graves Continuity_Harrison Jacobs Photographer_ ... _ Barney McGill Film Editor_Maurice Wright Art Directors_Richard Day and Joseph Wright Musical Director_ Alfred Newman SYNOPSIS Life has made lovely Letty Strong hard and unscrupu¬ lous. She lives in the shoddy grandeur of a run-down Park Avenue apartment, where Steve Karns, sales manager for the Dainty Frocks Clothes Company brings out-of-town buyers to be entertained, while Letty models the latest creations and lures them into ordering recklessly in the hope of an amorous return. Her small son Mickey, whom she loves devotedly, is the natural product of this unwholesome environment — a truant and a petty thief. All the boy knows of his mother's life is that he was born behind the book store of one Fuzzy, a kindly old German Jew who had befriended the homeless Letty and offered her a refuge at that critical time. Mickey, through his own fault, is run over by a milk truck. Dr. Dropsy is called in and privately assures Letty that the child[s injuries are superficial. He suggests that she sue the milk company for heavy damages, nevertheless, and directs her to his nephew, Adolph, an unscrupulous lawyer. The company adjuster arrives with Malcolm Trevor, the driver, who transpires to be the president of the com¬ pany who makes a practice of filling in in various depart¬ ments of his organization simply to keep himself posted. The handsome Malcolm is immediately attracted to Letty and offers to make any settlement she desires. She assumes the role of stricken mother, however, and refuses to listen. Dr. Dropsy warns Malcolm that the child’s con¬ dition is very grave. At the trial, Mickey is brought into the courtroom wear¬ ing steel braces. Adolph has succeeded in winning the jury’s sympathy when the milk company lawyer produces motion pictures showing the ‘crippled’ Mickey skating and doing handstands. Mickey is packed off to the State Orphanage. Letty goes to Malcolm and pleads with him to help her regain the child, but he refuses. She threatens him with a gun. but loses her nerve and breaks down. Malcolm softens and arranges for the boy’s adoption by himself and his childless wife, Alyce. Mickey is no sooner installed in the luxurious Trevor home than, by prearrangement with Letty, he attempts a getaway. A watchman apprehends him and Malcolm, who loves the boy, wins his promise not to attempt to run away again. Letty comes to get Mickey and Malcolm upbraids her roundly. A furious scene follows as a climax of which Malcolm impulsively kisses Letty. She pretends to swoon and Malcolm carries her upstairs. She immediately gets in touch with Adolph, who arrives with a dictaphone and an idea for a million dollar suit. Late next night, Letty succeeds in luring Malcolm to her room, where his confession of love is recorded by the dictaphone. Next morning when Malcolm again interferes with Letty’s attempt to carry off Mickey, she holds over his head the scene of the preceding night, but he calmly assures her he has told his wife everything. Mickey, attempting to elude Letty, falls into the swim¬ ming pool and is rescued by Alyce. Letty sobs out her gratitude and Alyce explains that her own unselfish love for Malcolm makes her willing to relinquish him to Letty and the ‘son’ he has always craved. Alyce’s noble attitude completely shames Letty. She calls Karns and accepts his proposition to accompany a new buyer to Paris, leaving Mickey with the Trevors. Arrived at the boat, however, she realizes she cannot go through with her plan and, suddenly hungry for a refuge from her sordid life, hails a cab and goes to good Fuzzy, who welcomes her as a long-lost daughter.