My Forbidden Past (1951)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The scandals of the old south lead to many classic novels, plays and movies, and after the triumph of "Gone With the Wind", the movies made the lives of plantation owners (both rich and broke), wealthy city residents and even those of a less than noble past a regular part of the schedule. In many ways, these characters lived much like those of mixed backgrounds in such British made classics that starred the likes of Merle Oberon, Margaret Lockwood, David Niven and James Mason. Give the audience a beautiful femme fatal, a handsome hero, and some scheming villains, and you've got the stuff that provides enough drama for years of soap opera material."My Forbidden Past" reminds me in many ways of the camp Republic classic "Lady For a Night" which focused on a wealthy saloon owner in Mephis who married her way into high society and became the target of some scheming in-laws. No Memphis Belle she, the beautiful Ava Gardner is the niece of a struggling New Orleans family who is bequested a fortune from her maternal grandmother, once a notorious beauty with a scandalous past. Her matriarchal aunt (Lucille Watson) is determined to keep the dead grandmother's name out of the family, and Watson's less than noble son (Melvyn Douglas) is determined to use the new fortune to restore the one he's lost in bad business dealings. He goes as far as keeping Gardner's doctor lover (Robert Mitchum) from receiving a goodbye letter she wrote to him and he leaves New Orleans, only to return years later with a beautiful wife (Janis Carter) who is quickly seduced by Douglas. The scandal leads to murder with Mitchum accused of the crime and a shocking revelation in court which threatens to destroy many lives.Unfolding in just over 70 minutes, "My Forbidden Past" is certainly not a classic, but is definitely enjoyable. It's lavish trash, made on a medium budget, and never gives the audience time to become bored. There's a great costume ball where Mitchum and Carter are presented to New Orleans society, where Douglas's nefarious means to an end are revealed, and where Gardner's determination to win back her former lover becomes her one and only goal. Then, there's her visit to her grandmother's grave, the shock of a young boy as he realizes why she is there, and Watson's reaction to the scandal which would bring her great personal humiliation. Watson's grand dame character is both imperious and understanding, but the understanding part of her could never survive the scandal that her old world moralities has desperately tried to keep hidden. The plot twist which leads Mitchum to being accused of criminal intent is presented pretty violently, and the final courtroom scene is almost identical in revelations to the ending of "Lady For a Night".While this will get a mixed reaction from classic film fans, you can't deny the chemistry between Gardner and Mitchum, the irony of 30's hero Douglas being so despicable here, and the lavishness of the sets, costumes and early twentieth century society where the old south strived to remain intact even though the world and history had greatly altered the way that life back in the land of cotton had moved forward since the end of the civil war some 35 years before.

I've always found Melvyn Douglas and lookalike William Powell to be adept at light comedy with Douglas's Ninotchka cancelling out the entire Thin Man franchise but I struggle to recall Powell taking on the cad/murderer as Douglas does here and in passing leaves everyone else dead in the water with the possible exception of Lucile Watson. It's pure hoke, of course, and finds Ava Gardner living in genteel poverty with aunt Watson and cousin Douglas in 19th century New Orleans. Laughably cast medical research scientist Robert Mitchum comes to town for a stint at Tulane University (I'm not making this up) and would marry Gardner in a heartbeat (who wouldn't) but, curiously and inexplicably in thrall to the family Gardner, with her bags packed, is dissuaded from leaving with him by Douglas. In the fullness of time she inherits the thick end of a million dollars from a grandmother who apparently was no better than she should be and whose name must not be mentioned. Mitchum returns with a wife (Janis Carter) in tow - and the whole thing is a mere 70 minutes. Though set ostensibly in New Orleans for all the 'atmosphere' on show it could be Sasskatchawan. As always Gardner is ravishing and it's worth sitting through it for her alone plus several droll dialogue zingers as when, for instance, the local gotrocks with eyes to marry Gardner attempts in a subtly, polished Southern manner to buy Mitchum off, Mitchum promptly names a price - $5,000, a tidy sum in 1800 - and when the Southern gentleman is suitably bemused Mitchum adds 'We Northerners are so crass'. Hoke, yes, but also, oke on the strength of Gardner and dialogue.

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.

Like Saratoga Trunk another New Orleans set Melodrama this flick has a good looking star couple, with the heroine just having a flavoring of "exotic Blood". But at least there is the hint of an action sequence in that Warner Bros. misstep,this flick makes you wish some pirates, Redcoats, Union cavalry on a rampage were in this one to wake it up.