Beyond the Forest

1949 "Nobody's as good as Bette when she's bad!"
6.8| 1h37m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 21 October 1949 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Rosa, the self-serving wife of a small-town doctor, gets a better offer when a wealthy big-city man insists she get a divorce and marry him instead. Soon she demonstrates she is capable of rather deplorable acts -- including murder.

Genre

Drama, Thriller

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Director

King Vidor

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Beyond the Forest Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
Dorathen Better Late Then Never
Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Martin Bradley The tagline read 'Nobody's as good as Bette when she's bad' and the movie, reviled at the time of its release, became a camp classic when it was immortalised in the opening scene of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woof". It's actually a lot better than Mr Albee gave it credit for and Bette is magnificently over-the-top as small-town tramp Rosa Moline who wants to ditch her hubbie, (modest little Joseph Cotten), so she can marry bigshot David Brian and run off to Chicago, (the song 'Chicago' plays continuously, in one form or another, on the soundtrack).Okay, it's not one of Bette's greatest performances and, to be honest, she spends the movie chewing the scenery while Lenore J Coffee's screenplay reeks of purple prose. King Vidor was the director so you knew exactly what you were letting yourself in for; remember he was the man who gave us "The Fountainhead" and "Duel in the Sun" and who seemed to take a perverse delight in making his leading ladies suffer. Hysteria was always the name of the game with Mr Vidor. Of course, he was also one of the great visual stylists and even a corn-fed chicken, (it's certainly no turkey), like this looks the part. Without Albee it may well have been forgotten so perhaps we owe him a debt of gratitude. Camp, yes; a classic of its kind, most certainly.
BILLYBOY-10 What a hoot. Her last flick before leaving Warner Brothers which she hated so much that she impersonates a (male) female impersonator impersonating her. Just think of it! Way way over the top Bette. "What a dump" "If I don't get out of here I'll die...If I don't get out of here, I hope I die" Later, Liz Taylor would do an impersonation of her in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe in the opening scene of that movie. Here Bette plays Rosa Moline, as Liz describes her: "She's a housewife, she buys things" and "she's discontent". Boy, oh boy, Is she ever. And mean. And evil. And conniving. And scheming. And toting a rifle and shooting porcupines because "they irritate me". A million laughs. Honestly, its precious. Almost as bad (good) as her 'Dead Ringer'
Alex da Silva Bette Davis (Rosa) is a wildcat in a small town. She is married to nice guy doctor Joseph Cotton (Louis) but longs for a more adventurous life in Chicago. Wealthy David Brian (Neil) provides her with some hope for a new lifestyle …..but is he really that interested? When Cotton's friend Minor Watson (Moose) discovers Bette's plans, she kicks in with an even newer plan that results in her going on trial for murder.This film, sadly, is rather boring. Bette Davis does deliver some classic lines of dialogue but there is nothing much more going on. She is given a Katy Jurado gypsy kind of look which I think works fine with Bette but not with her servant Dona Drake (Jenny). Not only does Dona Drake's look not seem right but she plays her role as a caricature of Bette Davis which is somewhat unconvincing. There is only one Bette and no-one should be answering her back and having the last word! This is Bette's film all the way. It's a pity that the storyline is unconvincing (Bette's character would have left this sleepy town yonks ago) and pedestrian. A couple of good scenes can't really save this one.
Bucs1960 Only Bette Davis (along with Joan Crawford) could take a trashy film and make it absolutely compelling. No, this isn't a good movie, probably not even a fair movie but oh, Bette, you make it all worthwhile.Bette wears the worst wig of her career, some really surrealistic make-up and was years too old for the part......so what?? When she delivers those famous lines "What a dump", you could jump for joy. This is Davis at her campiest and you can bet she knew it.The story line is fairly simple. A small town bitch wants to be a big city bitch and takes a lover to attain that goal. She couldn't care less that she has a husband, played by Joseph Cotton, when she sets her sights for the boyfriend played by that perpetually bland actor David Brian. All hell breaks loose as Davis chews up the scenery and her fellow actors. The final scene as Davis drags herself to the train station is the raison d'etre for the cult following that has developed around this film. It is a film lovers delight. She was some dame!!!