Unlike a lot of pre-code movies this doesn't really convey a genuine feel of the early 30s. It's primarily just a Joan Crawford vehicle so fans of Miss C should enjoy this but as an actual film, it's synthetic, a little flat and predictable.
OK, it's well made but possibly too well made to be authentic. It feels like it was written by a committee based on recommendations from a focus group. Joan Crawford plays the Joan Crawford character that her fans expected her to play. There's no originality involved, you can guess exactly what will happen next and you feel like you've seen this before even though you haven't. Surely even Joan Crawford fans must get bored with seeing her in the same tired old stuff? Give me the craziness her character in RAIN any day - at least she was different in that.
During The Depression, Viña Delmar wrote lots of great stories about struggling working class women, several of which evolved into films. BAD GIRL was one of the best. Their appeal was that they were believable stories about real down to earth people. Her original story for this, serialised in a 5c per magazine was apparently quite gritty, salacious and scathingly critical of the male patriarchal unfair society of America in the 1930s. This polished MGM product however feels just like a polished MGM product. It's the equivalent to one of those commercialised manufactured pop bands!
Funny how tastes change, back in the 1930s Gene Raymond was considered to be a bit of a hunk, a pin-up for the ladies. I can't too many women swooning over him today but what do I know? He's certainly not the most naturalistic actor but to be fair, he's got a reasonable singing voice as he demonstrates a few times with 'All I Do Is Dream Of You.' On another music related note, it's interesting to hear a rare guitar solo in the band's rendition of 'After You've Gone.' Not quite Jimmy Page but still something you don't often hear.
OK, it's well made but possibly too well made to be authentic. It feels like it was written by a committee based on recommendations from a focus group. Joan Crawford plays the Joan Crawford character that her fans expected her to play. There's no originality involved, you can guess exactly what will happen next and you feel like you've seen this before even though you haven't. Surely even Joan Crawford fans must get bored with seeing her in the same tired old stuff? Give me the craziness her character in RAIN any day - at least she was different in that.
During The Depression, Viña Delmar wrote lots of great stories about struggling working class women, several of which evolved into films. BAD GIRL was one of the best. Their appeal was that they were believable stories about real down to earth people. Her original story for this, serialised in a 5c per magazine was apparently quite gritty, salacious and scathingly critical of the male patriarchal unfair society of America in the 1930s. This polished MGM product however feels just like a polished MGM product. It's the equivalent to one of those commercialised manufactured pop bands!
Funny how tastes change, back in the 1930s Gene Raymond was considered to be a bit of a hunk, a pin-up for the ladies. I can't too many women swooning over him today but what do I know? He's certainly not the most naturalistic actor but to be fair, he's got a reasonable singing voice as he demonstrates a few times with 'All I Do Is Dream Of You.' On another music related note, it's interesting to hear a rare guitar solo in the band's rendition of 'After You've Gone.' Not quite Jimmy Page but still something you don't often hear.
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