Plot
Donna Foster works for publisher John Caine. She agrees to have his niece, Christabel, live with her in San Francisco while attending business school.
Christabel proves to be a scheming, socially ambitious woman. She flirts with Donna's fiance, the wealthy Curtis Carey, at a party for Donna's friend, painter Gabriel Broome. She also attracts the interest of aspiring author Nick Bradley.
While having her portrait done by Broome, a call from Curtis brings her eagerly to a jeweler, only to discover to her disappointment that he merely seeks her advice in buying Donna an engagement gift. After he purchases an expensive one, Christabel plants a seed in Donna's mind that makes her feel guilty over accepting such a lavish gift, giving an appearance that she's after Curtis's money.
Christabel cunningly does likewise to Curtis, convincing him to propose a pre-nuptial agreement. Donna is offended and they break up, which was Christabel's plan all along. She rebuffs a marriage proposal from Nick, whose novel is about to be published by Caine.
A romance develops that leads to Christabel's marriage to Curtis and to her becoming a figure of high society. But her true interest is Nick, whom she begins seeing on the side. She slips away from a resort, telling Curtis that she is going to see her aunt Clara. Her lie is exposed by Caine, her uncle, who informs Curtis that the aunt had died while Christabel claimed to be visiting her.
Curtis reunites with Donna after sending away Christabel with nothing more than a few expensive furs. She gets into an accident and is hospitalized, but promptly begins a flirtation with her doctor.
Read more about this topic: Born To Be Bad (1950 Film)
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