My Forbidden Past

Heir to a scandalous family fortune, a New Orleans woman (Ava Gardner) bribes her cousin (Melvyn Douglas) into helping her win a married doctor (Robert Mitchum).

My Forbidden Past is a disaster; a waste of a good cast in a costume melodrama that’s actually devoid of drama. So much so, that it’s amazing the picture went ahead, given its considerable production cost, and no wonder that it went on to loose $700,000 for Howard Hughes’ studio, RKO. To top it off, both Ann Sheridan and Polan Banks (author of the source novel) sued the studio for replacing Sheridan with Ava Gardner.

For his part, top-billed Robert Mitchum looks stiff and bored, almost as if he were watching the film instead of acting in it. Gardner and Melvyn Douglas are a bit better, but both struggle to wring any real feeling out of the lifeless script. Aside from Lucile Watson acting like a bitch, there’s really no emotional content to be found.

About the only thing going for My Forbidden Past is its length. At 70 minutes, it’s mercifully short, although, of course, the film ends just when the real drama is about to begin. But, then again, given the various missteps associated with this film, that’s just par for the course.