Born to Be Bad (1934 film)

Born to Be Bad is a 1934 Drama directed by Lowell Sherman, starring Loretta Young and Cary Grant. This film was rejected by the Hays Office twice before it was finally approved.^[1] The character Letty Strong, an unwed mother who entertains each client and makes as much as she can on the side by pleasing them, had to re-written and re-filmed, so that the character's occupation is only hinted at. Zanuck had to cut as much as possible shots of Letty in her underwear and exposed legs to the hips.

Plot

Letty (Loretta Young) is a young, unwed mother. Pregnant and alone at fifteen she's had to toughen up. Raising her son Mickey (Jackie Kelk) to be street smart so he'll never end up in a similar situation to her. When a milk truck driven by Malcolm Trevor (Cary Grant), the president of the company, hits Mickey, Letty seizes the opportunity to make some money and encourages Mikey to lie about the extent of his injuries. When Letty is caught, the judge takes Mickey from her. Malcolm and his wife Alyce (Marion Burns) feel for the boy and his mother, and adopt him so she can see him more frequently. Letty is not satisfied by this and with the persuasion of her unscrupulous lawyer tries to stage an elaborate plot to seduce Malcolm and blackmail him into giving her Mickey and his money. The plan backfires when Alyce gives her blessing on the affair and Letty realizes her genuine feelings for Malcolm. She must decide to either step aside and put Mickey's happiness in his new home first or follow her own heart and break up Malcolm and Alyce's marriage.

Cast

• Loretta Young as Letty Strong
• Cary Grant as Malcolm Trevor
• Jackie Kelk as Mickey Strong
• Marion Burns as Alyce Trevor
• Henry Travers as Fuzzy
• Paul Harvey as Attoney Brian
• Russell Hopton as Steve Karns
• Harry Green as Adolph

References

External links

• Born to Be Bad at the TCM Movie Database
• Born to Be Bad at the Internet Movie Database
• Born to Be Bad at AllRovi