Moviecut—My Forbidden Past

My Forbidden Past

I saw this movie more than any other movie ever..No I'm not sick ,is just that this is a classic of private television and it's programmed at least once a month..so!The First time I saw it, I was ten,I already understood that was something absurd in the plot,like they had to invent something to take apart hot Ava and lusty Mitchum until the end and so there's all that absurd affair between his ugly cousin and the Rita Hayworth of the poor man wife.The lines of Mitchum are one more cynic than the other (not for nothing he was Mitchum!),Ava is beautiful ,the clothes of the two girls too and..that's all!This movie makes really no sense .I'll give a 5,just because of How am I affectioned to it,but it's a clear 3

Ava Gardner is possibly the only major Hollywood star ever to appear in such a vast proprtion =of terrible movies. She's always beautiful and she was in maybe three good ones. But what a bunch of turkeys! It's sad, because she was one of teh great beauties of Hollywood history, a decent actres, and a likable presence always. Some might say, "What about 'Show Boat'?" Well, the answer is: Take a look at the gorgeous original, with Helen Morhgan in the role Ava tries hard to do well by, and the great, great Irene Dunne as its star.

Robert Mitchum and Ava Gardner make for handsome leads in this drama, but both seem out of place in this costume drama set a post-Civil War New Orleans. Gardner is spurned by Mitchum, but when she suddenly comes into wealth, she decides to use her money to win back Mitchum and exact her revenge. Mitchum is one of my favorite actors, but this is not his sort of picture. Gardner too for that matter. The leads make this film worth watching, but just barely.

This movie is not great. Just how many boring movies did Howard Hughes make? But it does have two of the beautiful and fascinating stars of the Hollywood Golden Age: Ava Gardner and Robert Mitchum. Melvyn Douglas (who doesn't look so good in this) plays Ava's fey playboy cousin. There are a couple of good lines. The plot is slim and the movie is not long. Only 71 minutes, for those with a short attention span. We're never told exactly what Ava's forbidden past is, but it has to do with her grandmother. Was she a prostitute? Maybe it's supposed to be ambiguous. The man who directed it made the 1940s "Jane Eyre" with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine and also the Disney "Mary Poppins."

This is a dark, noir, B-movie. If you like the genre you shouldn't miss this one. Gardner is good as the deceitful southern belle, and Mitchum is mysterious and handsome as the doctor. Its not outstanding, but it is intriguing to see the stars together (lovers in real life) and knowing its a rare film makes it all the more interesting. Catch it on the classic movie channel.

The film is much too short .A melodrama demands lavish details ,mainly when it deals with a "forbidden" past.Here Gardner's grandma's racy past is only skimmed over.Her relationship with Mitchum -not convincing as a professor-makes me think of a poor man' s "Jezebel" .And Mitchum's character's attitude does not make much sense when he come s back with a wife.Besides the ending I-hope-she-will -mend-her-ways is unworthy of a great melodrama :never Sirk,Stahl , Minnelli or Wyler would have ended one of their works that way.Ava Gardner is for me the most beautiful actress that has ever been but there are so many works to remember her,better than this one!

While the story meanders and wavers,and at times seems like a quick spin off of "Gone with the Wind", some of the scenes and closeups with Ava Gardner are lovely and amazing. Robert Mitchum as a research physician studying at Tulane;Gardner the unrequited love who delivers a letter to him before he leaves to go up north. Mitchum returns to New Orleans with a new brassy blonde in tow. She is clearly an opportunist who wants Mitchum for his future fortune, unlike Ava who claims to truly love him.She uses an ill-gotten inheritance to tempt him, there is a scandal and she indeed reminds us of Scarlett O'Hara. This film also reminds one of "Raintree County" another imitation of "Gone with the Wind" with Elizabeth Taylor as the set-piece.ThIs film though has several nice sets of Old New Orleans,the manners and customs and varied cultures,and with the lovely Gardner in several memorable shots, is well worth a look.

I enjoyed watching the web of intrigue unfold as a young New Orleans lady in the late 1800's attempts to use her inheritance to regain the man she loves. But there are others who are and have been plotting both for and against her, and her plans go awry. I eagerly watched to learn if the man she loved would suffer for her machinations, or if she would risk her societal position to save him. Unfortunately the ending left me cold, with too many questions left unanswered and with the feeling that Robert Mitchum was miscast in the role of the doctor she loves.