Editing Bad Girl (1931 film) (section)

===Development===
The development of ''Bad Girl'' from the novel and play into a film required extensive purging and rewriting of the material to conform to the dictates of the [[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Office]]. A November 16, 1928, memo from the Hays Office put a damper on the whole production, stating: "'Bad Girl' might be produced as a sex hygiene picture called 'Motherhood.' It is simply the story of girl who is 'bad' for one night, marries the boy the next day, and then has a baby". The memo described the novel as a "nauseating story of doctors, illnesses, etc." and as "cheap and shoddy writing about cheap and shoddy people".<ref name=afi/> Several studios besides Fox were interested in the rights to the novel and play, including [[Pathé]], [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], [[Paramount Pictures]], [[Universal Pictures]], and [[Columbia Pictures]], but were either scared off by the Hays Office's warnings of extensive cuts by the censor or the difficulty of dramatizing the novel's main subject of [[obstetrics]].{{sfn|Dumont|2015|p=167}} Between 1929 and 1930, the Hays Office advised numerous producers not to attempt an adaptation because it would be "too censorable".<ref name=afi>{{cite web |url= https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/7252|title=Bad Girl (1931)|year=2019|work=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>

Fox, however, came up with a treatment that avoided the scandalous elements of the story and smoothed over the whole issue of [[premarital sex]] which Dorothy had with Eddie during their late night in his apartment. Instead, the implications of their night together are not addressed and Eddie's proposal of marriage to save Dorothy from the shame of facing her brother at 4 a.m. comes off as spontaneous.{{sfn|Dumont|2015|p=168}} All that remains of the provocative content of the novel is the title, ''Bad Girl''.{{sfn|Reid|2011|p=10}} The script was approved by the Hays Office in May 1931 with only a small number of "relatively minor" changes.<ref name=afi/>

Despite the vote of approval, Fox executives did not hold much stock in the film's commercial appeal and even Borzage refused to direct it. But Fox pressured Borzage into accepting the assignment since his contract was about to expire and was not expected to be renewed.{{sfn|Dumont|2015|p=167}} The studio further showed its lack of enthusiasm for the project by budgeting less than $100,000 for the production and hiring unknown actors.{{sfn|Dumont|2015|p=167}} As a result, Borzage had a "fairly free hand" in the production.{{sfn|Dumont|2015|p=167}}

[[File:Sally Eilers and James Dunn in "Bad Girl" (cropped 2).jpg|right|225px|thumb|[[Sally Eilers]] and [[James Dunn (actor)|James Dunn]] in a scene from the film]]