This early sound picture has the distinction of being the very first film to feature Miss Bette Davis. The young actress had just signed a contract with Universal Pictures after several successes on Broadway. Based on a novel by Boothe Tarkington, BAD SISTER tells the story of a selfish young woman who causes a lot of misery for her family and takes advantage of two men who love her. Does that sound like the plot of many a Bette Davis picture? Maybe so, but she doesn't get to play the headstrong, destructive bitch in this one. That role is played by another Universal starlet, Miss Sydney Fox (MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE 1932). Davis is the good sister in her screen debut.
This film is worth seeing mainly as a curio and to see the beginnings of a future superstar of the silver screen. Make that two future superstars, because a very young Humphrey Bogart is also featured as a slick bad guy who manages to beat the bad sister at her own game and run off with a big bunch of money at the same time.
Bette Davis is incredibly repressed and quiet in this film, but it's easy to see the raw talent and potential that is there. Sydney Fox is not terribly impressive in the showy role of the vixen who gets her comeuppance and morphs into another good sister by the film's conclusion. The top billed star is Conrad Nagel as the family patriarch. Also featured are Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville.
Nice, review, Michael! I love Bette Davis and not sure I had ever heard of this film. Your review made me want to check it out at some point. I think I've seen many of her films, but this one I honestly wasn't aware of, though it sounds vaguely familiar. I also still find black and white films fun to watch.
ReplyDeleteThe films she made under her Universal contract aren't very well known and some, like Bad Sister, haven't been released commercially. I found this one on DVD-R, but I can't remember the name of the site. If you do a web search for the film's title and date and add 'DVD" to the search, you may be able to find it. These DVD-R sites usually record from VHS tapes or directly from television channels like Turner Classic Movies. The image on this one is pretty good, considering how old it is. Always glad to know someone who enjoys films in Black and White! This one probably turns up occasionally on TCM.
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