Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

writers_reign 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.

blanche-2 What were Robert Mitchm, Ava Gardner, and Melvyn Douglas doing in this film? It almost seems like a throwaway - I mean, it's 70 minutes long! Seventy minutes makes for a fairly sketchy story, which "My Forbidden Past" certainly is. It's the story of a young woman, Barbara Beaurevel (Gardner) in love with a doctor, Mark Lucas (Mitchum), who goes to South America for two months. He wants her to come along and be married on the ship, but her cousin Paul (Douglas) keeps her from doing so and never delivers the letter to Mark that says she'll wait for him. When he comes home, he has a wife (Janis Carter).Having inherited a huge amount of money from her scandalous grandmother (I'm guessing she ran a gambling establishment and was maybe a prostitute), Barbara offers Paul $50,000 if he can seduce Mark's opportunistic wife.I have to admit that I wasn't interested in any of these characters. Ava is beautiful, and that's about it. Hughes apparently borrowed Ava Gardner for this film. She wrote in her autobiography that he was always after her and gave her an expensive ring. She threw it out the window, only to regret it later on when she had no money. I'd say this film evens things out. Robert Mitchum didn't seem terribly interested to me, he sort of meanders through. Janis Carter is very good - beautiful and feisty. For some reason, her energy doesn't seem out of place, but Melvyn Douglas' does. I think he knew it was a bad script and just went for it full out, where Carter was still trying to build her reputation as an actress.Disappointing.

edwagreen Ridiculous film with Ava Gardner proving once again that with the exception of the 1951 remake of "Showboat," she was in some pretty awful films and delivered many abysmal performances as well. Unfortunately, this film is no exception to that role.The only thing southern about Gardner here is that surname of Beaurevel. That name should have been used in "Gone With the Wind."Robert Mitchum and Miss Gardner deliver flat performances here. If you can believe that Bob Mitchum is from Brooklyn and is now a college professor in New Orleans, good luck to you.Melvyn Douglas plays her nasty cousin who wants to make sure that she doesn't run off with Mitchum. Lucile Watson, an excellent character actress, is along for the ride.As for the critic who questioned what made Carrie Campbell, Gardner's grandmother such an undesirable woman, the old girl was probably some tramp in her prime. (I wonder if she rivaled Miss Brodie or Blanche Devereaux of The Golden Girls?)Inheriting all of Grandma's money sets the film in motion for tragedy to occur. Anxious to win back Mitchum, Ms. Beaurevel encourages Cousin Melvyn to carry on with Mitchum's wife. When he does, tragedy ensues and we have an inquest. The inquest is as boring as inquests should not be. Remember what Dorothy Malone carried on at the inquest for her murdered brother in "Written on the Wind?" Nothing like that here.The film is nothing more than a cheap rip-off of the old south. Even Scarlett O'Hara wouldn't consider tomorrow as another day for this one.

349th Heavy Weapons Crew 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.