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5.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Good Bad Girl remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have a soft spot for those 1931 movies where everyone talks like they have a train to catch, then yes. It is a quick watch and Mae Clarke is always worth the time.
People who hate old-fashioned melodrama where a woman's 'reputation' is the only thing that matters will probably want to throw their remote at the screen. It's definitely for the pre-code obsessives who like seeing how movies handled 'sin' before the censors got really mean.
The Good Bad Girl is basically a movie about how hard it is to quit your job when your job is being a gangster's moll. Marcia (Mae Clarke) is tired of the nightclub life and the shady characters like Dapper Dan.
She meets Bob, who is rich and 'respectable,' and they get married way too fast. Like, movie-fast. One minute they're looking at each other, and the next they have a kid and a big house.
I honestly felt bad for Marcia because Bob is kind of a stuffed shirt. James Hall plays him, and he has this very stiff way of standing that makes you wonder why Marcia liked him more than the exciting criminals.
The movie gets really interesting when the past starts poking its head in. It’s like the film can’t decide if it wants to be a gritty crime story or a high-society tearjerker.
I noticed this one scene where Marcia is looking at her baby, and the lighting is so dramatic it feels like a different movie entirely. It reminded me a bit of the vibe in Bad Sister, where things just feel slightly uncomfortable for the women involved.
One thing that really stuck out to me was Marie Prevost. She plays Trixie, and she is just a breath of fresh air every time she’s on screen.
She has this perfect comedic timing that makes the rest of the cast look a bit robotic. If you’ve seen her in Let Us Be Gay, you know she just has this energy that works.
There is a moment where Dapper Dan shows up again, and Wheeler Oakman plays him with so much grease you can almost smell it. He’s got this mustache that looks like it was drawn on with a sharpie.
The plot goes off the rails when Bob finds out about Marcia’s past. He goes from 'I love you' to 'I am suing for divorce and taking the kid' in about three seconds.
It’s frustrating to watch because you just want to yell at the screen. "Just talk to her, Bob!" But then we wouldn't have a movie, I guess.
The courtroom stuff is a bit dry, honestly. I found myself looking at the hats the women in the background were wearing instead of listening to the lawyers.
There’s a lot of focus on the social scandal of it all. It’s funny how in 1931, being a 'bad girl' was the worst thing possible, but today we'd just tell her to start a podcast.
I kept thinking about West of Broadway while watching this, mostly because of how these old movies handle the 'rich family' dynamic. The rich family is always so cold and annoying.
There’s a scene where Marcia has to go back to her old haunts, and the atmosphere is so much better than the boring rich house. You can tell the director liked filming the 'bad' parts of the city more than the 'good' parts.
The ending feels a little bit like they ran out of film. It just sort of... happens. Everything gets wrapped up in a way that feels a bit too easy given how much drama happened before.
Still, Mae Clarke makes it work. She has these eyes that tell you exactly how tired she is of everyone’s nonsense.
It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a solid example of why the early 30s were such a weird, cool time for cinema. It’s messy and the morals are all over the place, but it’s never boring. 🎬
If you’re looking for something deep, maybe go watch a documentary. But if you want to see a woman in a silk dress tell off a bunch of guys with guns, this is your movie.
I’m glad I watched it, even if Bob is a total loser. Poor Marcia deserved better, but I guess thats the point of the title.
IMDb 6.1
1927
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