GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

clanciai What a wonderful film this is! It is difficult to catalogue all its vast variations of deserts, with sudden turn of events and charming details constantly renewing and refreshing the story, which is like a Dickens novel. Maureen O'Hara is always good but here better than ever, while Dana Andrews takes you by surprise with this virtuoso performance totally out of his ordinary style, vying in charm with Robert Donat; while the prize goes to Sybil Thorndike, who makes a really frightening witch with more than one bag of evil up her sleeve, which she uses with calculation and effective impact.It's really an environmental film depicting a slum area with exciting intrigue and characters and fascinating idylls of the gutter. It's related with another environmental London film of the same time, "London Belongs to Me" with equally convincing documentary rendering of local life in London town, but here the events take place long before the turn of the century - Bernard Shaw is mentioned as a rising star in the beginning of his career.The miracle of the story is how a tragedy is turned to its opposite. A failed painter leaves behind the result of his secret hobby work, making puppets, and these turn out to be his real masterpiece. A really hopeless tragedy of bleak dreariness with no way out is miraculously turned into comedy by his puppets coming alive. The process of this U-turn of fate is completely natural, and a tragedy of human decay, failure, alcoholism and dishonour is suddenly reversed into a cheerful comedy - the real comedian is Maureen O'Hara's helpful brother, who understands things his own way. The end of it is how the dreadfully sultry slum turns into a wonderland of idylls and charm in spite of all, and there, ultimately, after all the heartbreaks, the heart nevertheless will remain.(I wrote this review previously, but it was apparently lost in a power cut. Maybe it can be retrieved. If not, here is what I could do to recreate it.)

Robert J. Maxwell Maureen O'Hara, the protagonist, was unique. She wasn't a staggering beauty like Gene Tierney, and not a bravura actress, but she was still magnetic on screen. Maybe to fully appreciate Maureen Fitzsimmons, you have to assess her as a gestalt, an entire package. She was innocently delicious in black and white, and in technicolor throw-aways her hair was the lustrous color of coquelicots. She narrates part of this movie and her voice has an earnest, lyrical that lilt sounds like something you might find at the end of the rainbow. She never showed much interest in being a great movie star or an exceptionally skilled "actress". With those attributes alone she deserves attention. But more than that, she was earthy and sassy, and called all kinds of posturing phony. Who else, when criticized by the authoritarian John Ford while filming "The Quiet Man," would shout back at him, "What does a bald-headed old SOB like you know about having your hair blown in your face?" That's sass.It's the late 1800s. O'Hara is the well-bred daughter of two stuffy parents and lives in a large house whose rear window opens on a squalid street Brittania Mews, which would be quite a classy name in, say, Bakersfield, California. You can tell THIS street is infra dig because you hear the music of a hurdy gurdy and a tinkling piano. O'Hara is forbidden to visit the street because it's filthy and the people are poor and nasty. Still, she's drawn to it. And you can see why. It may be all brick and wrought iron stairways and louche taverns and Dollar Stores but it's colorful and the residents are vibrant with hatred. O'Hara is courted by her art teacher, Dana Andrews, dubbed and so bearded and bushy haired that he's barely recognizable. But her parents reject the notion of marriage because he's frankly too poor, artist or not. She manages to marry him anyway and lives happily on a small stash of her own with him in Brittania Mews. And her family remains estranged.That is, until he begins to turn down commissions in order to paint what he likes and play with his beloved marionettes. He gets regularly boozed up too, and it develops that he's had previous liaisons. One night, drunk as usual, he admits to having had multiple affairs -- but not with all the women he's been accused of having had as lovers. "Some of them were too repulsive." And then -- the worst words a wife can hear. He doesn't love her. He never did. He courted her because he didn't want to lose the fees from a client. His protestations of love had all been a rich buffet of bullshite. So saying, he falls down the stairs and breaks his neck.Then the story gets a little weird. An ugly old lady called "the Sow" accuses O'Hara of murder and blackmails her. I kind of like the Sow. She's a fat old witch straight out of Dickens. And then, miraculously, so to speak, a drunk is thrown out of the Red Lion Tavern (not the one downstairs in Greenwich Village) and he looks just like a shaven Dana Andrews, which in fact he is. This incarnation of Andrews is poor but honest. O'Hara, mystified, allows him to sleep in the coach room. Soon he reveals that he is a barrister and puts an end to the Sow's blackmail. He also shows an eerie fascination with Andrew 1.0's collection of puppets. He buffs and restores them, takes lessons in puppeteering, and soon has them dancing around. He and O'Hara find an angel and open a puppet theater in Brittania Mews, staging fairy tales and plays by Moliere, and bringing new life to the crummy alley. The bawdy house piano is now practicing Chopin. It's a roaring success. Of course, by this time the duo are in love, but Andrews 2.0 must still sleep in the coach room because he's married to a wife long gone to America.The experienced viewer knows that with ten minutes to go, this happiness can't last. And it doesn't. The puppet theater has gained international notice and the original wife of Andrews 2.0 returns from America to cash in on the deal, revealing that she divorced Andrews while she was in Milwaukee. Andrews explains that everything belongs to O'Hara and that he owns nothing. Exit Mrs. Dana Andrews 2.0. It isn't long before O'Hara's family reconciles with the pair. Andrews and O'Hara are promptly married and, boys and girls, they lived happily ever after.I rather enjoyed it as light entertainment. It's a riches to rags to riches story and a familiar format indeed. But the script has some cute dialog, the acting isn't intolerable, O'Hara shines, and Brittania Mews is enthralling.

wes-connors While a little girl, beautiful Maureen O'Hara (as Adelaide "Addie" Culver) was fascinated by a seedy section of 19th century London known as "Britannia Mews". Quickly developing into an adult woman, Ms. O'Hara appears enchanted by both the area and her art teacher – British-accented Dana Andrews (as Henry Lambert). A romance develops, but O'Hara's wealthy parents do not approve of O'Hara seeing the artist. He turns out to have a weakness for alcohol and not much money, but Mr. Andrews is expert at making charming and lifelike puppets. Later on, Andrews appears as another character (Gilbert Lauderdale) – he is a similar man, but learns to control his alcohol intake. Both men are involved in an increasingly complicated relationship with O'Hara...The oddest thing about "The Forbidden Street" is that the first Andrews character's voice is dubbed by another actor. While the voice matches Andrews' lip movements, it sounds like it is coming from another room – via a deep echo chamber. Playing the film on mute during a second viewing reveals Andrews would have made a fine "silent" film actor; it is interesting to study his performance. O'Hara shows some of the same skills...The cast works very well for director Jean Negulesco, who creates an atmospheric story with fine black and white photography from Georges Perinal. The soundtrack, while good, could have been a little more subtle. The obvious dubbing, perhaps done to differentiate Andrews' two characters, wasn't wise. However, stay tuned as Andrews' voice and the film improve. Also watch for a couple of outstanding supporting performances – from haggish old "sow" Sybil Thorndike (as Mrs. Mounsey) and O'Hara's inquisitive little brother Anthony Tancred (as Treff Culver). The two not only perform exceptionally, they also perfectly illustrate the "opposite sides of the tracks." And, surprise visitor Mary Martlew (as Milly) is quite memorably amusing, in her single scene.******* The Forbidden Street (Britannia Mews) (3/31/49) Jean Negulesco ~ Maureen O'Hara, Dana Andrews, Sybil Thorndike, Anthony Tancred

BldrGal A charming film, set in Victorian London, features gorgeous Maureen O'Hara as the daughter of a upper-class businessman, fascinated by the mews behind the family home (and which was forbidden territory to this gently-reared young woman); and Dana Andrews in a dual role...that of a fortune-seeking art teacher turned drunkard, and a decent young man fallen on hard times who proves to be Maureen's eventual savior. Wonderful performances by Wilfred Hyde-White as O'Hara's father, and Dame Sybil Thornedyke as a horrid old woman who blackmails O'Hara's character when she ends up living in those same forbidden mews. There's even a delightful dose of jolly good humor toward the end. One of my all-time favorite movies.