Born to be Bad Joan Fontaine Robert Ryan Nicholas Ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'All Kneeling' or 'Bed of Roses' or 'Christabel Caine' or 'La Femme aux Malefices')

USA 1950

Director Nicholas Ray insisted on Robert Ryan for the part of the novelist who falls in love with Christabel. Born to Be Bad was the first of five films Ray and Ryan made together, and the start of a lasting friendship. Ryan's rugged good looks and ability to portray complex and often conflicting emotions made him an ideal Ray protagonist. His performance as the troubled cop in Ray's film noir On Dangerous Ground (1952) is one of Ryan's best.

Born to Be Bad was the fourth film directed by Ray, who had made an auspicious debut the previous year with the powerful They Live by Night (1949). Already, though, Ray had demonstrated a strikingly original visual style, and an ability to convey emotional intensity even when working with the most banal material. The opening scenes in Born to Be Bad are a bravura exercise in style, as he introduces the main characters preparing for and attending a party at the apartment of Leslie's character. The brilliantly choreographed and lit movement through the apartment hallway with many doors leading off it provides a visual metaphor for the characters' tangled relationships. The work of cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, who had been working in films since the early 1920s, and whose work on Out of the Past (1947) helped define film noir, is stunning in this sequence.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

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Theatrical Release: August 27th, 1950

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DVD Comparison:

Éditions Montparnasse - Region 2 - PAL vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC

Éditions Montparnasse - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Warner Home Video (Film Noir Archive Collection) - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Editions Montparnasse - Region 2 - PAL	Warner Home Video Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:29:45	1:29:51
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.39 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.35 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: PAL
Bitrate: Warner
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	French, None	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Editions Montparnasse Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Serge Bromberg Introduction (2:58) DVD Release Date: September 16th, 2008 Slim transparent Case Chapters: 9	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Alternate Ending (16.01) • Theatrical Trailer (2:09) DVD Release Date: August 21st, 2012 Keep Case Chapters 3

Comments:

ADDITION (November 2012): Nicholas Ray's Born to Be Bad has been available from Warner Archive as part of their recent Film Noir Archive Collection for some time and we compared the new made-on-demand release to the French disc from 2008. A new progressive transfer on Warner Archive release compared to video-sourced French DVD is more film-like and has more info on the edges of the frame. The mono soundtrack is fine and for a change, Warner Archive includes a substantial extra in a never-before-seen 14-minute alternate ending. A theatrical trailer is also included. The US release is highly recommended to any film noir fan.

- Gregory Meshman

***

Another weak Montparnasse edition with a hazy-ish image of poor contrast (slight sepia tone), from a probable analog source. No chroma that I am aware. It seems progressive with no combing or ghosting.

Of course this could look better but there is no sign of it in region 1. We have original audio with an optional French subtitles. No extras save the mono-brow Bromberg's 3 minute introduction (in French only).

This was also out in Spain in a similarly weak transfer.

I liked this Ray film a lot and thought performances were spot on - some definite noir markers make it a must see depending on your circle on interest.

Gary W. Tooze

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