Proof That It’s Pre-Code
- Lots of talk about sex: “You know what men REALLY want.” “Don’t men ever think of anything else?”
- Multiple uses of the word ‘pip’.
- The female lead, Dorothy, has a best friend who has a kid, and… uh, and she’s a widow. Yeah, that’s it.
- Said kid, on the occasion of Dorothy spending the night, demands to watch her get out of bed in her flimsy negligee. Dorothy and her friend are perfectly amused.
As much as it surprises and pains me to say it, you could probably get away with remaking Bad Girl with little or no changes to the script, and it would probably one of the best films of the year. Hell, the girl even totes around a ukulele– that’s more topical than half of last year’s Best Picture nominees.
Bad Girl begins, cheekily enough, with a wedding procession. Contrary to looks, though, Dorothy isn’t getting married, but is modeling her department store’s new bridal chic. Plenty of the men seem to like the dress enough to try and get her out of it.