User reviews

"Forbidden" (1953) is full of suspenseful twists and turns. Tony Curtis is a small-time hood sent by the mob to Macau to neutralize Joanne, who has incriminating information. Joanne Dru, more familiar in westerns than in film-noir, reminds me of Grace Kelly, perhaps better looking and a better actress as well.

The plot gets really moving after Tony, a mobster, saves businessman Lyle Bettger from some powerful enemies - but then what? There are romantic complications and betrayals. If you prefer yesterday's intriguing plots and snappy dialog to today's overdone special effects, this one is for you.

Even leftovers can be tasty. Rudolph Maté's Forbidden is a stir-fry composed of elements from several movies of the previous decade; Casablanca and To Have and Have Not are in the mix, but the dominant flavors are Macao and Gilda (on which Maté served as director of photography). And while there's nothing fresh about it, it staves off hunger for a feast of film noir – at least for a little while.

Tony Curtis comes to Macao, port of intrigue, on a mission: To locate Joanne Dru, widow of a slain Philadelphia gangster, and bring her back to America (she knows too much). Interests in the City of Brotherly Love chose Curtis because he and Dru were once a hot item; nonetheless, they had him followed by another operative (Marvin Miller, probably best remembered as the unseen John Beresford Tipton's secretary on TV's The Millionaire).

On his way into the Lisbon Club, which Dru's known to frequent, Curtis fends off a murderous attack on its owner (Lyle Bettger), who professes indebtedness and takes him back home to meet his fiancée – Dru. Jagged flashes of lightning alert us that the romance has rekindled. The rest of the movie relates Curtis' attempts to wrest Dru away from Bettger (who plays the George Macready role from Gilda).

There's many an expected slip ‘twixt cup and lip, however. Every clandestine conversation draws unseen eavesdroppers, bringing to mind Charlie Chan's sagacious warning: `Two ears for every mouth.' Thoughts of Chan also appear in the person of Victor Sen Yung, his #2 son in many movies, who plays the Dooley Wilson/Hoagy Carmichael role (from Casablanca and To Have and Have Not, respectively) as a piano player at the Lisbon Club who knows his away around the unknown Macao and puts himself at Curtis' disposal. But just when the imperilled couple think they're home-free, Bettger resurfaces with his shark's-maw smile....

Forbidden looks good, as one would expect from Maté, but it keeps a good pace as well (Maté's D.O.A. had to keep up with Edmond O'Brien's speed-walking, but his The Dark Past and Union Station had their longueurs). It breaks no new ground in the noir cycle, but, as a second-feature, it's decent enough.

A gangster (Alan Dexter) sends Eddie (Tony Curtis) to bring back another gangster's widow (Joanne Dru) as she knows too much information about Dexter's activities. Curtis traces her to Macao but he is also being followed by someone else (Marvin Miller), on the instructions of Dexter, to ensure that he sticks to the plan and doesn't double-cross Dexter. Curtis and Dru were once in love and the thinking is that Curtis can lure her back to the US. On his way to the Lisbon Club, Curtis saves the life of the owner (Lyle Bettger) who then invites him back to his house and gives him a job at his club.....guess who his fiancée is?.....

Bettger puts Curtis and Dru in awkward situations to see if they still love each other, and eventually, the chemistry between Curtis and Dru is re-ignited. From then on, the film becomes a question of how they will get together and escape Bettger and Miller. There are betrayals and misunderstandings before Curtis and Dru make a run for it.......

The pianist at the club (Victor Sen Yung) seems to have been put into a role to provide painfully wooden Chinese wisdom (coz thats what Chinese people do!). Apart from him, the acting is good and the film is enjoyable.

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".

Watching this movie, of course we think of those many adventure drama films where exotic atmosphere is mixed up with femmes fatales, tough villains, romance and so on...GILDA, MACAO, CALCUTTA, TANGIERS, ISTAMBUL. THE BIG STEAL...So this time, nothing is surprising, nothing, it is only a Rudolp Maté's film and showing Tony Curtis, still in his early career and in his one of first interesting roles, besides the costume swashbucklers which he used us so much since several years, also for the Universal Studio. Here, he as a real character and not a stupid one. Good worth film noir for gem diggers. Rather hard to purchase.

Tony Curtis stars in "Forbidden" from 1953, also starring Joanne Dru and Lyle Bettger, directed by Rudy Mate.

Tony is Eddie Darrow, who has been hired by a mobster to find Christine Lawrence (Dru). Christine is one of those people who knows a little too much about Barney's business, since she is the widow of one of his associates. Barney wants her found and brought home.

In Macao, Eddie soon meets Justin Keet (Lyle Bettger), a powerful casino owner engaged to Christine. Christine was once Eddie's girlfriend, so he finds the situation awkward to say the least. Eddie has to get her away from Justin and as far away from both Justin -- and Barney -- as possible.

Pretty good, with nice performances by Curtis, Dru, Bettger, and Victor Sen Yung. Amazing fight scene toward the end.

I used to work for Tony - love seeing his films.

Tony Curtis goes to Macao. He's after ex-lover Joanne Dru, now a gangster's widow with some information damaging to the current head of the Philadelphia rackets in a safety deposit box. Curtis is being paid by the racketeers to bring her back to the US. When Curtis saves Lyle Bettger from a gun man, Bettger hires him to help out at his gambling place... and then finds out that Miss Dru is the fiancee of Lyle Bettger.

It's a pretty good role for Curtis, but pretty standard stuff for the other two leads. On the other hand, there's a nice role for Victor Sen Yung as the gambling hall's piano player; he seems unusually well connected as the depths of Bettger's actual business is detailed. William Daniel's camerawork is largely standard until the big finish -- although that may be because he established the standard 'MGM gloss' look in the 1920s. Even so, he had a lot to contend with. Director Rudolph Maté had been nominated for five cinematography Oscars himself.

Forbidden stars Tony Curtis and Joanne Dru, with an appearance from Marvin Miller (The Millionaire). The plot is a bit convoluted, but you have the usual romantic complications, the good guys and bad guys, and the inevitable Hollywood ending.

Tony Curtis is a bit raw here in one of his early roles; some of his lines are not really all that convincing, however, we overlook these problems because he is an easy protagonist to root for. Joanne Dru, on the ohter hand, is not all that appealing in her character, but since Curtis wants her, we give her a pass. Curtis pursues Dru for a fee paid by a gangster, so he is not lily white clean, but we find out why later in the film. A watchable late nite film.

Saw 'Forbidden' as part of my Tony Curtis completest quest after being recommended many of his films here in the recommended for you section. It was not something that was intended initially but actually it has proven to be a generally worthwhile experience, even with a couple of missteps.

While there were and are better actors about and he didn't always look comfortable in his early films, Curtis was always immensely likeable and had a charming charisma with many good and more performances under his belt. The cover was also appetising and the story, while unoriginal, seemed really interesting. 'Forbidden' turned out to be a very good film, a good representation of Curtis in one of his better early roles and films.

'Forbidden's' somewhat unoriginal premise is obvious in some predictable plotting in spots.

Also, the Macau setting is more studio back-lot than authentic. Victor Sen Yung is a little wooden.

However, 'Forbidden' is stylishly and atmospherically shot and does look very pleasing. The music is also a good fit and works well as an energetic and ominous score on its own, the beautiful "You Belong to Me" (have found myself randomly singing that a lot around my flat recently on an irrelevant side note) is great to listen to, Virginia Rees sings it well.

The direction is more than competent while 'Forbidden' is snappily scripted and with some surprising twists, suspense and intrigue outweighing thankfully the derivative nature. The pace is always efficient, nothing's dull here. Curtis is a very amiable and charismatic presence, and he is well supported by Joanne Dru at her loveliest (their chemistry is charmingly amorous too) and a menacing yet subdued (not a bad thing) Lyle Bettger.

In summary, fun and well done film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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.

Although you recognize the set-up from "Gilda", it's the same story but in Macao instead of Buenos Aires, with Lyle Bettger for a night club manager without political ambitions instead of the megalomanisc James MacReady, with no Rita Hayworth but instead the much more ordinary Joanne Dru, and with a very young Tony Curtis chasing her to the ends of the earth, you will not be disappointed by this variation. The story is good and almost better than "Gilda", but the major plus of this interesting film is Victor Sen Yung as the pianist factotum, who knows everything and everyone and is a genius. In general, the dialog is thoroughly intelligent and enjoyable in this film. There is not much cinematography, the settings are rather cheap like in a low budget B feature, but nevertheless it is worth watching - especially for the very exotic story with its consistently tightening suspense.