Bad Sister (1931)

Bette Davis, in a promotional photograph of her by Jack Freulich, taken in 1931, at the time she made her movie debut as "Laura Madison" in Hobart Henley's Pre-Code movie drama for Universal Pictures, 'Bad Sister' (1931), starring as the male and female leads, Conrad Nagel as "Dr Dick Lindley" and Sidney Fox, also in her movie debut, as "Marianne Madison", and the movie also starred in supporting roles, Humphrey Bogart as "Valentine Corliss", in his third feature film appearance, Charles Winninger as "Mr Madison", Emma Dunn as "Mrs Madison", ZaSu Pitts as "Minnie" (the Madison family servant), Slim Summerville as "Sam", Bert Roach as "Wade Trumbull", and David Durand as "Hedrick Madison" (Marianne and Laura's kid brother).

The movie was based on the 1913 novel 'The Flirt' by Booth Tarkington, which was filmed twice before in silent movies in 1916 and 1922. Although the movie was made by Universal Pictures, it was distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures.

What is interesting about the movie historically is that it featured, in lesser supporting roles, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, who would later be considered, respectively, one of the greatest actresses and leading ladies, and one of the greatest actors and leading gentlemen, of the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema, if not the greatest in both cases. Jack Pierce, the make-up artist for the movie, with his doubts about her future, told Bette Davis: “Your eyelashes are too short, hair's a nondescript color, and mouth's too small. A fat little Dutch girl's face, and a neck that's too long." In only a few years she would prove his doubts about her to be so very wrong.