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I love most so-called "Pre-Code" movies. They were called this because during a period before 1935 or so, the Hollywood Production Code either didn't exist or was pretty much ignored. Many Pre-Code films were pretty indistinguishable with later films, but some dared to show nudity, extreme violence, foul language and very "adult" topics--such as adultery or promiscuity. Because of these topics, they are a fascinating window into a little-known period of creative film making. FORBIDDEN is definitely a case of an adult Pre-Code film because its main themes are adultery and an illegitimate baby. This COULD have been an exciting or at least interesting film, but unfortunately it was not. Instead of being titillating or innovative, the film was just dreadfully dull, uninvolving and so melodramatic and campy that I would almost rather eat a live rat than see this film again! It truly was awful and unfortunately--and not even interesting as a sleazy or exploitation film! <br /><br />The film starred Barbara Stanwyck and Adolph Menjou. Neither one of them was particularly interesting or realistic. As for Barbara, she played a woman with such low self-esteem that she made me want to slap her! She began having a sexual affair with a married man (Menjou) without realizing he was married. Her resulting pregnancy and the revelation that he was a District Attorney COULD have been a great topic, but it wasn't explored in any meaningful way. Instead of Ms. Stanwyck either going on the offensive to get this dog of a man to take responsibility for his actions OR just leaving and starting a new life and considering this a learning experience, she runs away very briefly and then returns to "business as usual". Talk about being a doormat! And then, when they are caught together by the press, Barbara agrees to pretend to be the governess and the baby is brought home to Menjou's wife as their new adopted kid! The plan is for the "governess" to stick around and continue the affair, but when the wife doesn't like Barbara, Ms. Stanwyck just wanders off and leaves the baby in Menjou's care!!! This is MEGA-doormat time and Babs was just too stupid to care about in any way. Plus, Menjou seemed to have no problem stealing away Barbara's child and giving to his wife--what a total creep! So, we now know that Barbara has zero self-esteem and is stupid. Menjou is a faithless jerk. So WHO exactly are we to care about in the film other than the poor child and the wronged wife?! <br /><br />Now so far the film has been about stupid people, but towards the end it morphs into a phony tear-jerker that just seems totally contrived and silly. Eventually after MANY years of self-sacrifice, Barbara marries newspaperman, Ralph Bellamy. She really doesn't love him, but does this to protect Menjou and her daughter (duh). But, only a short time later, she shoots Bellamy when he learns the truth about the baby and Menjou (who is now the governor). THEN, Menjou becomes ill and pardons Stanwyck after she's already spent a year or so in prison for the murder!!! Talk about a silly, convoluted and impossible to believe mess! This truly was one of Miss Stanwyck's worst films and she deserved so much better. As for Menjou, he later did THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES, which proves that he WAS perfectly suited to acting in FORBIDDEN!<br /><br />By the way, I noticed that the reviews on IMDb were generally positive for this movie. Considering this was one of the least believable and contrived films I have ever seen, I just don't get it. |