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.
"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.