Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Fifty: I'm always a sucker for a Bad Girl

More from Frank Borzage with the 1932 nominee Bad Girl, an interesting film in that it doesn't deal with Borzage's regular themes of war and doomed relationships. Instead it follows an almost mundane relationship between a shop girl and a radio repairs man. Initially Dorothy is interested in Eddie as he doesn't seem to be interested in her and makes a bet with her friend that she can bed him, so that's where the title of Bad Girl comes from. Eventually Eddie and Dorothy do fall in love and he proposes marriage but on their wedding day he gets fired and then aims to set up his own business but at the same time Dorothy finds out she is pregnant so Eddie can't use the money he'd put away for his new business and instead buys an apartment for them. The story turns again when Dorothy wants to hire a private doctor but Eddie doesn't have the money so begins prize fighting and getting himself knocked out in order to look after his wife eventually begging the doctor to work before he is paid. In the end the doctor does the work for free and Eddie and Dorothy are united with their new baby.

For a film that was released in the first few years of sound, Bad Girl seems extremley talky and many scenes feature two people in a room. This would've seemed quite revoultionary at the time when films were full of big action or large blown romantic tales this is just a simple piece of real life drama. For a film ahead of its time it was rightly given the Best Adapted Screenplay award as well as a second Best Director Oscar for Borzage. Of the cast Sally Ellers probably deserved a Best Actress nod for her portrayal of the multi-layered Dorothy whose character changes drastically as the film continues. James Dunn as the hapless Eddie was also fairly compelling but I don't think it was up to the standard of Best Actor. Overall a competent and original picture but not one that could touch that year's eventual winner - Grand Hotel.