The Good Bad Girl (1931) User Reviews (8)

Good bad movie

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 27 August 2022]

What recommends this film are the performances of Mae Clarke and Marie Prevost as best friends in this tale of a gangster's moll trying to go straight. They made two other films at Columbia and their rapport was the best thing about all of them.

Now what is not so good. Let's start with the male leads. Robert Ellis is playing a gangster (Dan Tyler) and Mae Clarke is his gun moll, Marcia. When the movie begins Marcia says she wants out. In spite of Dapper Dan's grim pronouncement as to what will happen if she dumps him, she seems unafraid and even indifferent. And no wonder. Dapper Dan is one of the most unthreatening looking and sounding gangsters of all time. And maybe it is the early sound technology and maybe it is not, but Dapper Dan appears to speak with a bit of a lisp that is unintentionally hilarious.

But Dan turns out to be not that dapper after all. He goes to collect a debt and shoots a debtor in clear view AND earshot of others. The police are after him for this very clumsily executed crime. In the meantime we meet the guy Marcia is supposedly nuts over and who is the marrying kind. He appears to be a younger and more honest version of Dapper Dan Tyler - same non descript appearance and also with a bit of a lisp. This has to be the recording.

So this really turns into a paint by numbers script where all of the gangster/bad girl trying to go straight/unsympathetic rich in-law tropes go to die. Oh, and of course a baby has to be in the mix.

What else is bad? All of the fat jokes hurled at Marie Prevost courtesy of the screenwriters. I guess it's supposed to be funny that she is overweight and yet is always nagging her much older boyfriend to lose weight. Not really. It becomes tedious and is probably there to take up space.

This was probably made as a very B- effort precode at poverty row Columbia, and it is worth seeing for the female leads. But of everybody in this film Robert Ellis probably had the closest thing to a happy ending. Out of film roles by 1934, he reinvented himself and became a successful writer and director of B list films over at Fox.

"A Million Dollars Worth of Dame"!!! - that's Marie Prevost!!!

[kidboots · 7/10 · 31 August 2011]

...even though she was describing Mae Clarke. Cute Marie as good time girl Trixie (was she ever called anything else)?? is the only reason to watch this turgid gangster story with a big dollop of mother love thrown in. Mae Clarke has her big emotional scene along the lines of "Please don't take my baby" - yes, it's that kind of movie. In later years good friend Barbara Stanwyck reflected that she had really expected Clarke to become a bigger star - "she was so vivacious"!! - but it didn't happen and films like this one didn't help.

Clarke is Marcia, the "good bad girl" of the title - whatever the heck that means!! She is basically a good girl who is involved with some bad company - like Dapper Dan (Robert Ellis) who is not pleased that Marsha wants out of their relationship - "when we're through - I'll tell you"!! She has met someone else, Bob Henderson, son of a wealthy family. James Hall could have been billed 6th instead of 2nd for all his part entailed but that wasn't surprising as it was almost his last film. In the late 1920s he was groomed by Paramount to be their top leading man and a starring role in "Hell's Angels" didn't hurt but by 1931 he was all washed up, the result of alcohol and promiscuity.

When Dan desperately needs an alibi Marcia is long gone on her honeymoon and Trixie intentionally puts the police on Dan's trail. From jail Dan, who thinks Marcia is the "squealer", threatens to expose her (Bob and his family know nothing of her past) but the papers do that by plastering her picture across the front page with the heading "Gangster's Moll".

From then on the plot switches to Marsha's trials as a lone mother (Bob goes overseas where he remains for most of the movie) where she tries to bring her baby up in a night club environment. Nance O'Neil (who gives the movie class and dignity) is Bob's mother, who was never behind her husband's castigation of Marsha. Again it is lively Trixie who brings the two together and O'Neil convinces Marcia that baby Bobby will be better off with them and their wealth. Robert Ellis, who always seemed to be cast as a heavy, re-enters the movie for one last showdown to show Marcia what he thinks of squealers. It ends in the usual way with the reuniting of Bob and Marsha and there is a very nice end shot of Clarke's face as she expresses "This time things will work out"!!!

Mae Clark in another old-fashioned sob story from the '30s...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 10 July 2009]

Mae Clarke has the title role in this sob story about a well-intentioned woman who gets mixed up with a gangster and his troubles. When she wants to leave him, he lays down strict orders that he's the one who'll tell her when the affair is over.

Typical dialog has Clarke saying things like: "I'm a gangster's moll. I made a grab for happiness and it exploded in my face." That about sums up the meager plot.

Marie Prevost is the heroine's fast-talking, tough girlfriend who supplies most of the humor. James Hall is the man Clarke really loves and Robert Ellis is the gangster.

It's told in a brisk running time but comes across as little more than a fair programmer from Columbia but extremely dated.

Clarke is sincere and restrained as the woman who doesn't want to give up her baby, but it's strictly a routine melodrama with nothing new to offer. A weepie designated to reap tears from females especially.

A chance to see Mae & Marie

[patrickvincent · 13 July 2009]

There is nothing unpredictable in this hard-luck-story-programmer - But it is a great chance to see the talents of early screen talents Mae Clarke and Marie Prevost. Marie of the notorious, tragic, early death - It is not true that she had trouble with sound films because of a heavy regional accent: In fact she made a nice transition out of her dynamic silent screen persona into a sidekick with a heart a gold precursor to Joan Blondell - and though not an actress of depth, she has an appealing quality that is evident here. And then there's Mae - she is very easy to underestimate - but taking her performances in context of the times, she is in fact wonderful to watch - with a subtlety and directness that is well ahead of her time. A performer of excellent taste - here's a nice chance to see that talent on good display, albeit in a second rate vehicle.

A familiar story boosted by terrific dialogue.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 3 May 2020]

"nobody goes to Philadelphia unless they have to" and "boys, get rid of this garbage." (Referring to the removal of a corpse) are just some of the highlights of this truly enjoyable pre-code drama that features strong performances by Mae Clarke and Marie Prevost. The later gets the bulk of the best lines as Clarke's best friend, a tough but good-hearted gal who points out that Clarke "came from a small town west of New Jersey that even had a post office" to her mother-in-law who is unaware that after Clarke left husband James Hall, she had his baby. It's not the typical poor girl marries rich boy story. She was previously involved with ruthless mobster Robert Ellis (who looks more like a traveling salesman than a gangster), sentenced to prison for murder for which Clarke was a witness against him. As long as Elvis is alive, he's a threat to Clarke's happiness (and life), and Clarke finds herself hassled by his underlings at every opportunity.

This film grabbed me from the start with its characterizations, although Ellis is definitely miscast. Hall, a silent superstar, has very little to do as Clarke's husband, at one point threatened with his life by the jealous Ellis. This leaves the film to Clarke and Prevost who deliver performances that will command your attention throughout. Edmund Breese and Nance O'Neill play Hall's parents, supportive at first, but instantly suspicious when Clarke's past is made known. I wouldn't call this a great film or even a classic, but it moves along briskly and is terrifically entertaining which makes it one of the better pre-code films in my book.

Despite the title, this is a rather tame Pre-Code film

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 23 July 2009]

Up to the middle of 1934, Hollywood produced quite a few films that would be seen as salacious today. Nudity, violence, abortions, and girls who LIKE sex are not all that uncommon from this era. So because of this, I naturally assumed that THE GOOD BAD GIRL would be just such a movie. However, despite the title, the film is relatively tame.

The film begins with Mae Clark telling her no-good boyfriend that she has had enough. His gangster ways are just too much and Clark wants to settle down and have a real family. However, the creep threatens to kill any man she marries. Soon after this, he kills someone and is on the lam--during which time she finally has a chance to leave his clutches.

The new guy (Henderson) is pretty nice and they marry--even though they know little about each other. He turns out to be pretty well off and she is happy that her old boyfriend has been arrested and it seems unlikely he'll make good on his threats.

Shortly after the marriage, the groom's family finds out about Clark's past. As a result of pressure from his overbearing father, he agrees to call off the marriage. However, he should have known that in cases like this, Hollywood cliché #42 says that she is pregnant with his child. Being a long-suffering woman, she doesn't tell him but raises the cute kid on her own.

In the meantime, the gangster breaks out of prison. Instead of focusing all his energy on making good on his escape, he sets out to get revenge on Clark. At about the same time, Henderson's mother finds out about the baby and goes to see him.

Throughout the film, you have appearances by Clark's friend (Marie Prevost) whose shtick is to talk about how fat her boyfriend is. Considering that Ms. Prevost is considerably overweight, this routine seemed rather pointless and unfunny--and not particularly good comic relief.

Overall, this is an adequate though rather predictable B-film. It's not especially bad or good but is a decent enough time-passer. The acting is okay but the script is a bit familiar and predictable.

Bad Men and the Good Girls That Love Them

[boblipton · 4/10 · 10 July 2009]

Mae Clarke will always be remembered as the girl whose face James Cagney shoved a grapefruit into in the same year's THE PUBLIC ENEMY. She will not be remembered for this weird little story about a a hood's girl who finds that her past will always be with her.

In some ways, this looks a bit antique for 1931, almost as if you are looking at 1928's famously inert LIGHTS OF NEW YORK. But don't be fooled. Although Ted Tetzlaff's photography is still in the big scenes, there's lots of movement, indicating distraction to the moviegoers in the set-ups to them. But in competition with the fast-paced stuff that it seems that everyone was doing at Warner's, this attempt to bring the woman's viewpoint into the genre as a tearjerker doesn't work, nor is Mae Clarke the actress to carry the effort.

Mae Without the Monster and Grapefruit

[Michael_Elliott · 29 August 2009]

Good Bad Girl, The (1931)

** (out of 4)

When people think of Mae Clarke and 1931 they'll probably think of three things. First would be James Cagney smashing a grapefruit in your face in THE PUBLIC ENEMY. Second would be the underrated masterpiece called WATERLOO BRIDGE. Third would be her getting chased by Boris Karloff in FRANKENSTEIN. Three masterpieces in one year is quite impressive so one can overlook this "other" film. Here she plays Marcia Cameron, a woman who finally catches a break and marries a good guy (James Hall) but her past is going to cost her everything. Her ex, a gangster (Robert Ellis), asks her to visit him in prison, which eventually leaks to the media and doesn't sit too well with the family of her new man. As the title says, this here is yet another tale of a bad girl with the heart of gold. Clarke is pretty good in the role but there are still quite a few problems with this film. The biggest one is Ellis who perhaps turns in the worst performance I've seen anyone give as a gangster. I've seen countless crime films in my life and I honestly can't think of anyone worst. Just check out the early scenes when he's threatening Clarke that she had better not be cheating on him. He's suppose to be menacing here but one can't help but laugh. Seeing him try to act rough and tough just had me wanting to break down laughing because of how forced it was. The supporting cast really isn't much better with Marie Prevost coming off quite annoying as Clarke's friend. The story is predictable from start to finish, although the sequence where Clarke's confronted by her new husband's parents was pretty good. It's also funny that one line goes: "My name is Bond...Trixie Bond."