weezeralfalfa Not to be confused with the 1984 film with the same title, which deals with a forbidden interethnic love in Nazi Berlin. This one also emphasizes a forbidden love, but between small time hood Eddie(Tony Curtis)and a gangster's moll: Christine(Joanne Dru). As someone mentioned, Joanne reminds me, in looks and personality, of Grace Kelly, although Joanne mostly played cowboy's sweethearts, livening up a few westerns. As several others have noted, there are some commonalities between this film and certain other well known films, including "Gilda", "Casablanca" and "To Have, and Have Not". But, it doesn't closely resemble the particulars of any of these films, only their general form.One commonality with "Casablanca" is the inclusion of a song that has special meaning to both the man and woman, played on a piano. In this film, it's the beautiful "You Belong to Me", which had been a top hit on the pop charts the previous year. It's played during the opening credits, and occasionally , in bits, thereafter. Mamie Van Doren is pictured singing it in a nightclub, though dubbed. One difference with "Casablanca" is that the pianist, Allan(Victor Sen Yung), also unknowingly is an undercover agent, spying on the illegal activities of the club owner, Justin, and giving Tony and Joanne occasional good advice and documents.The climax ending has gangster Justin blown up, along with the rest of the ship, just shortly after Tony and Joanne departed this ship , as potential stowaways. This explosion is blamed on electrostatically charged grain dust, which accompanied the many sacks of grain in the hold, and is set off by the discharge of a gun in the hold, meant to signal for help. Although atmospheres high in certain combustible dusts have occasionally exploded in land-based facilities, I was unable to locate any references to such explosions in ships, with the possible exception of coal dust in the USS Maine. On the other hand, there have been a few dramatic instances of devastating ship explosions due to the denotation of chemicals with known explosive properties. The devastating explosion of a ship at the dock of Texas City, due to a fire igniting bags of explosive ammonium nitrate, is a prime example. But, even then, I much doubt that a single bullet could cause such an explosion. In the case of Texas City, the explosion also caused a substantial tidal wave, that should have inundated the wharf, where Tony and Joanne were hiding.The plot is complex enough to hold one's interest. Tony and Joanne have 2 distinct gangster organizations to deal with, one(Justin) in Macao, and the other(Burney Pendleton) in Philadelphia, from where both originated just before their trip to the Far East. Since Joanne had just married Justin, (presumably at gun point), the screenplay fails to follow up on her inheritance of his assets and criminal activities. However, she does submit to the law papers she wrote up about how Pendleton tried to kill her, as well as her then husband.I will leave further details for you to find out by seeing the movie. See it on YouTube.

MartinHafer In 1946, one of the most stylish films of the age came out, "Gilda". It was a story about a rich but rich and ruthless man with a gorgeous girlfriend and the sexual tension generated between her and the tough guy's new, younger partner. And, in "Gilda" you wondered why the rich ruthless guy would bring the pair together. Well, here in "Forbidden" you have the same basic plot with a few differences...only a few. You have the rich, ruthless guy (here it's Lyle Bettger...who even looks and talks a bit like George Macready) once again gets his gorgeous girlfriend (Juanne Dru) together with a young guy (Tony Curtis) and you wonder why...why would he do this when he knows that the pair used to be a number?! In the case of "Forbidden" there is another agenda. Eddie (Curtis) is working for the government and he's trying to get Christine (Dru) to come back to the States because she knows enough about Keit (Bettger) to put him in prison. And, all the while Keit keeps the pair together...like a cat toying with a couple mice!It's all quite good and Dru was never prettier. The music is lovely and the film quite good. I just didn't score it higher because it was just a bit too similar to "Gilda".

bkoganbing Mobster Alan Dexter has a perverse sense of humor in Forbidden. He's the local syndicate kingpin in Philadelphia and he sends out the former boyfriend of a rival's widow searching for her halfway around the world. Tony Curtis's travels take him to Macao where he finds his lost love Joanne Dru about to married to Lyle Bettger a local casino owner with power. To make sure Curtis is keeping his mind on business, Dexter sends Marvin Miller after Tony.That sense of humor is responsible for eventually rekindling some lost flames of love. Now Tony doesn't want Dru to marry Bettger nor does he want to complete his mission of bringing her back to Dexter. The rest of the film is taken up as to whether and how Tony and Joanne can escape everybody's clutches.Forbidden is a stylish bit of noir where no one got any closer to Macao than Universal's back lot. Curtis shows a bit of the street character he would hone to perfection in Sweet Smell Of Success. Dru as always is a fetching temptress in frontier gingham or some fashionable evening dress. Lyle Bettger is always a good villain although I will say he's quite a bit more subdued than he is in such classics as The Greatest Show On Earth and Union Station. It all ends quite spectacularly in a shipboard fire in the hold. That is worth seeing Forbidden for as well as our two attractive stars.

Fudge-4 I saw this film when it first came out and thoroughly enjoyed it. The cast were great, right down to the beautiful white Jaguar XK120. Surely it should be possible to see most of the old films rather than endless repeats of the limited few, many of which are hardly deserving of the privilege. One way or another I have managed to see many old favourites but this one still eludes me. Macao, made the year before is available on video - so I am keeping my fingers crossed.