Bad Girl – Best Director Award (1931)

by Laura Lai/Review

James Dunn

Sally Eilers

Minna Gombell

Film director: Frank Borzage

Fox Film Corporation, 1931

The movie the ‘Bad Girl’ is, to my understanding, a fabulous essay-movie that asks the question ‘what marriage is like’. The film is the unfolding of the quickly (and right at the beginning provided answer): ‘it’s like diving over the board. You don’t know how water will be until you dive into it.’ That’s fantastic. And that’s not all! Although the film is called ‘Bad Girl’ the unfolding of the answer is provided by focusing on the male character, not on the female one. It means that, from my point of view, the main character is not the girl, but Eddie Collins (James Dunn). A fascinatingly artistic trick!

Eddie Collins is a lovely young man dreaming, hoping with all his heart and saving all his money, in order to have a radio store. Although he’s advised by his boss – an older and, most probably, married man – not to get married, he falls in love and gets married to the ‘Bad Girl’, who is not bad at all, but a lovely woman, but always having with a her cynical replies particularly for men. Eddie Collins is himself full of cynical replies, too. The lines amused me a lot. The movie is based on a play, inspired by a novel of Viña Delmar and Brian Marlowe.

            As a responsible husband, he takes his ‘husbandship’ seriously and spends all his dream savings to buy an apartment, new furniture and a new kitchen for his wife. She was surprised and thrilled. To me, it was one of those scenes that invites to reflection about what would I have done if I were in her shoes. Most probably, with so many guests around and in the middle of the party he organized, I most probably would not make any scene either, which does not mean at all that I would be thrilled about a party he organized and I’m supposed to enjoy or about a furniture he chose alone. I would not be either happy or thrilled about because I would still feel like a tenant in a landlord’s house. Besides, I think in 2020 the supply of everything (of furniture, clothing, trips, etc.) is so abundant, that two people can go together and choose that bed or that kitchen that they both like, if they are equal partners, rather than tenant-landlord, somebody’s company for a trip I may not be interested to make etc. etc. In 1930s it’s obvious that a brother is the boss, the husband is the boss.

            As a loving husband, Eddie Collins is then pictured washing clothing by hand, while his wife enjoys a coffee with a friend in the saloon. As expected, the wife gets pregnant and she needs the best doctor. But dr. Burgess is such an expensive doctor that only queens and kings can afford. At work, he’s cutting off lunches to save money, works late, goes boxing, in order to get to the best doctor. And when he finally gets to him, Eddie Collins is not anymore a proud young man and husband, but humiliating, crying and begging dr. Burgess to help his wife, who was afraid of the pregnancy because her mother died when she was born.

The movie shows that a man thinks about a woman in terms of a ‘kid’, ‘a sister’, ‘stupid’, ‘unconscious’ and ‘kid’ again when she marries. But also a ‘tramp’. Although in 2020 and at my age, I have not yet seen the man, who seems to have fully understood that no woman, but absolutely none on this planet can be a ‘tramp’ by herself. There is always a man involved that makes her a ‘tramp’ (While that man is a saint, of course! J).The dialogue between women shows the woman being a mother, smart, mature and pragmatic. And there is also men dialogue mainly about being a father, but also a husband. I loved also the irony about being a parent: a 7-month old child holds tide Eddie’s finger and his parents consider this thing as a sign for their child for being very smart. When Eddie becomes a parent he tells the taxi driver that he is looking at the future president of the United States. Gorgeous observation of life and of people!

            The most symbolic scene of the movie was, from my point of view, the marriage proposal scene. It happens at the bottom of the stairs of the block of flats where she was living. It is a simple scene with a simple and spontaneous proposal contrasting with a powerful and well chosen ‘stairs’ symbol. There are many scenes I love in this movie for their art, such as the one in the kitchen in which one woman is crying and another one is laughing on the same tone. To my understanding, this is one of the many scenes that help unfolding this essay-movie about what marriage is about. I found particularly interesting, absolutely great actually, the boxing scene, in which the two fathers where boxing and talking about their children. And in terms of English language, it was great to come across a lovely English idiom: ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’.

I am an animal lover, as many other people. A pet lover, like cats and dogs, although I do not have any. It is a lovely spring weather, but we are – people and pets – quarantined at home. I personally love being ‘quarantined at home’ with good films. Enjoy the movie!