Beyond the Forest

views updated

Beyond the Forest ★½ 1949

Camp diva Davis, in her last role for Warner Bros., really turns on the histrionics as a bigcity gal married to a smalltown guy (Cotten) and bored out of her mind. Although the most memorable line, “What a dump,” has become larger-than-life, the film itself is rather small and muddled (interestingly, Vidor directed “The Fountainhead” the same year.) A trashy melodrama full of ennui, envy, unwanted pregnancy, and murder, it's definitely high on camp and low on art. 96m/B VHS . Bette Davis, Joseph Cotten, David Brian, Ruth Roman, Minor Watson, Regis Toomey; D: King Vidor; C: Robert Burks; M: Max Steiner.

More From encyclopedia.com