Yesterday, when I talked to her about the manuscript, I mentioned my bad girl, Lavinia. Lavinia was certainly a fun character to write, and my mother-in-law and I agreed that it's enjoyable to read about a character you love to hate! This brought to mind the chilling movie Leave Her to Heaven, a 1945 film adapted from a novel by the same name, written by Ben Ames Williams.
There's a major bad girl in this narrative, on film portrayed by the beautiful Gene Tierney. According to Wikipedia, "The story revolves around a femme fatale who entraps a husband and commits several crimes motivated by her insane jealousy over everything concerning him."
In order to be really bad, there's got to be an element of mental illness. My character, Lavinia, is no doubt crazy, as is Tierney's psychopathic Ellen Berent. A review of the movie Leave Her to Heaven follows from Rotten Tomatoes:
Gene Tierney portrays a beautiful but unstable woman who marries successful novelist Cornel Wilde. Tierney wants to spend all her time with her new husband, but finds it impossible to do so thanks to his work and the frequent visits of family and friends. When Wilde's crippled younger brother (Darryl Hickman) comes to the couple's summer house to stay, Ms. Tierney indirectly causes the boy to drown. Later, upon discovering that she's pregnant, Tierney deliberately falls down the stairs, choosing to miscarry rather than share her husband's affections with an infant. When it becomes clear that family friend Jeanne Crain is attracted to her husband, Ms. Tierney commits suicide, making her death appear to be murder and framing Crain for the "crime." In court, Ms. Crain is mercilessly grilled by prosecuting attorney Vincent Price, who happens to be Tierney's ex-lover!Creepy, chilling, tragic and worth watching! Have you ever seen Leave Her to Heaven? Who are some of your favorite bad girls in books and movies?
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