Beyond the Forest (1949)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Too much of everything

best movie i've ever seen.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Notorious Bette Davis...acting against her will in an unsuitable part, although it's a performance many of her fans relish. Davis is about 5-to-10 years too old for role of Rosa Moline, wife of a well-meaning-but-penniless doctor, residing in a small Wisconsin town with starry-eyed dreams of living in Chicago; Rosa's secret lover, a corporate businessman from the Windy City, keeps reeling her in and throwing her back, while the good doctor takes her antics in stride. Screenwriter Lenore Coffee, working from a book by Stuart Engstrand, can't seem to iron out the character eccentricities or dramatic indignities inherent to the plot (she can't even use the novel's title to her advantage), leaving director King Vidor and his cast pretty much on their own. When Rosa gets sick at the finale, we have no idea why; when the lazy, foul-tempered maid sasses her, we have no clue why Rosa even puts up with her (or how the doctor affords her). Vidor directs Davis gently, casually--and of course she brings everything else from home: poison-coated coyness, lewd lips, flip talk, ridiculously playing with her long brunette wig as if she owned it. So, is this respectable work from Bette Davis, in her last film under contract for Warner Bros.? It is a stunning performance for both right and wrong reasons. True, Bette's Rosa is too heavy and shapeless to actually believe she's a grande dame in her horse-and-buggy town (maybe a blonde wig would've helped?); however, Davis is very good in her scenes with Joseph Cotten, and she doesn't go maniacal with the material. The film has been called camp, unintentionally hilarious--and at times it does strike a wild chord--but I think King Vidor was in on the dirty humor. His outlandishness doesn't qualify the film as a success necessarily, but it is certainly enjoyable. **1/2 from ****

I would not do heaven's work well,I pray the devil comes and takes me,To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell. (Bruce Springsteen)"Madame Bovary" meets evil.Actually,the central character is so evil,that King Vidor felt compelled (or the producers suggested he did) to "warn" the audience : in a nutshell,knowing where evil lays helps us to fight against it.A long-haired prodigious Bette Davis plays a modern Madame Bovary:like Flaubert's heroine ,she is married to a poor country doctor (Joseph Cotten)who treats his patients for free;like her,she dreams of luxury (the scene when she puts on Roman's fur coat is revealing),of leaving her little provincial town (a voice-over at the beginning tells us that the train seems to whisper:" Chi-Cago Chi-Cago");like her ,she has a flighty lover .There the comparison ends:Rosa Molines epitomizes evil.She was born to be a queen and she won't be satisfied till she owns everything.With the exception of the short scene in the woods where she tells her husband she's pregnant by him -look at her hair !- ,Rosa never stops,she pushes people out of her way;even when she is humiliated -the scenes "beyond the forest" in Chicago-,she knows she will not lose,cause she is completely unscrupulous.Unlike Pearl (Jennifer Jones) in "Duel in the sun"(1946) or Ruby Gentry (Jones again) in the eponymous movie(1952),Rosa's only motives are money,luxury and being a socialite in Chicago.Pearl and Ruby led the men they loved to ruin,but they did love them.Rosa only loves herself.The "abortion" scene -which strongly recalls Gene Tierney's in Stahl's "Leave her to heaven" (1946)- was probably the main reason for the "warning" lines" during the cast and credits.You should see these three Vidor works one after the others:"Duel in the Sun" "Beyond the Forest" and "Ruby Gentry" .These are superior melodramas.

...in fact, a deeply disturbing film! What's most disturbing is that back in those days, people were supposed to be shocked and disgusted with the character Rosa Moline, (needless to say, so brilliantly acted by Davis) but today, I'm sure a lot of viewers would sympathise with her desperation to get out of the confines of a dead-end life. From the beginning, we learn of her hatred for life- her husband being a doctor is a sick irony!If morbid humour is your thing, then you'll love this film. Especially when she says things along the lines of "the only people who are doing a worthwhile job in this town are the undertakers who carry the dead out of here". The only flaw in this film, is the ending. Not enough explanation is given. Give it a try.

"Beyond the Forest" is finally getting the respect it's always deserved. A number of film historians are finally appraising this masterpiece as the work of art it is. Thanks to its phenomenal star, Bette Davis, this King Vidor production has had to struggle with a bad reputation since it was first seen back in l949. Davis was going through a breakdown: she hated her studio, her marriage was dead, and Jack Warner finally kicked her ass off the Warner lot. Forever after, Davis always slammed everything about "Beyond the Forest" and people who never even saw it, joked about it and tore it to pieces. Especially, the gay crowds. When I saw "Beyond the Forest" at the old Regency Theater here in Manhattan back in the 80s, no one could enjoy it, since the gaggle of screeching queens ruined it for everyone by camping it up. Davis' inner turmoil and fury is what makes Rosa Moline literally seethe with fury, bristling with electricity in her greatest role. No other major star would have taken the risks that Davis does. As to the many comments about her black wig, make-up, clevage. This is how small-town women tried to look during that era. The Maria Montez look. I remember this from my small Southern town. All women dyed their hair black, grew long tresses, etc. Max Steiner's musical score is among his greatest (next to another masterpiece that Bette always put down, the l942 "In This Our life.")Davis' role is among the greatest ever put on screen. She displays her genius here like never before. To those who like to be clever and cute and view this gem as "camp", get a life. Davis is at her most brilliant. She nearly matches her brilliant portrayal of a psychopathic Southern Belle, Stanley Timberlake, in the great "In This Our Life." Bravo to Bette! To new viewers, watch it alone without the wisecracks, giggles and smart inside jokes. Warner Brothers did itself and its great star proud.