Amor prohibido

In 1932's "Forbidden," Barbara Stanwyck plays Lulu, who quits her job as a librarian, withdraws her savings of $1200, and goes on a two-week trip to Havana.

When we first see the new Lulu, she is descending a long staircase into a restaurant on board ship, and she's wearing a fabulous gown and a fur wrap. That's right, because in 1932, $1200 was the equivalent of $18,000 today! Enough for a two-week vacation and then some.

On the ship, Lulu meets an attorney, Bob (Adolphe Menjou), and the two fall in love. Lulu remains his mistress when they return to America, even though she's met Holland (Ralph Bellamy), the editor of the newspaper where she works, and he's crazy about her.

Bob eventually admits that he's married, that his wife is an invalid, and he can't leave her. For a time, he and Lulu break up, and unbeknownst to him, she has his baby, a girl she names Roberta. She leaves her job at the newspaper and goes into hiding.

Bob finds her, and so does Holland, who catches her with Bob, now the district attorney and whom he dislikes. Lulu says she's the governess for Bob's daughter.

Because Holland is going to publish the story, Bob has no choice but to present a new adopted daughter to his wife when she returns from a series of treatments overseas. Lulu stays on as the nurse. It becomes too difficult for her, and she leaves Bob -- and her child -- behind.

This is a real potboiler, directed by Frank Capra and beautifully acted by Barbara Stanwyck. It's an old-fashioned story that develops one twist after another. The story encompasses about 21 years, when Lulu is probably early 40s and Holland a little older - naturally they have white in their hair and dark circles under their eyes.

Stanwyck excelled at this type of film. Both Menjou and Bellamy are excellent. In the hands of a director without Capra's talent and with a cast beneath this one, much of this movie would have been laughable. Dated as it is, it's well worth seeing.

And that includes "Stella Dallas." Another character in this movie falls her "the world's best loser." She plays it well but it's a far cry from the jazzy characters for which she is probably most famous. When one talks about range, one has only to look at this or "Stella Dallas" (a better known but, in my view, inferior film) and then at "The Lady Eve" and "Ball of Fire." Not to mention "Double Indemnity"! She begins this as a wallflower. Children taunt her as "four-eyes." Even at her most poignant, though, nobody could buy that for the hardy Stanwyck. She goes on a cruise and falls in love. And, oh boy! What a mistake that is! A married man, a child -- and lots more. (She meets married Adolph Menjou on the cruise and the child is born soon after; so this is not giving much away.) Through all of it, she is stoic. She says she's happy but we know she couldn't be.

It's very well done by all concerned.

"Forbidden" is no doubt pure melodrama. Frank Capra, its director expressed in his autobiography, that he " should have stood in bed". Fortunately he didn't because although the story is "soggy and 99.44% pure soap opera", using his own words, it still retains powerful moments and excellent interpretations from its main actors: Barbara Stanwyck and Adolphe Menjou. Their first meeting at a cruise to Havana, with Menjou so drunk that he ends in a wrong cabin (number 66 instead of 99) where Stanwyck, bored and happy to encounter somebody, is one of many moments where Capra's talent is evident. Raplh Bellamy is also fine as the managing editor of a newspaper, where gossip is always welcome. No doubt that this early talkie, with some flaws or doubtful situations, still partially conceals that behind the camera there is one of the masters of cinema: Frank Capra. I clearly recommend not to miss this imperfect but valuable movie.

What struck me about this film is the fact that although the story spans about 20 years, the hairstyles, clothes, cars, furniture and general infrastructure remain steadfastly "1932" throughout. Makes me wonder why they didn't start the film in 1912 - budget concerns over the cost of 1912 production values? Anyway, this melodrama is pretty routine for its time - contrived, fast-moving plot structure dealing with "naughty" subject matter, in this case cohabitation outside wedlock and its consequences. Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou and Ralph Bellamy are all quite arresting in their roles and there are some nice turns of dialog and at least one memorable camera angle during an emotional scene in which the only visible part of Stanwyck's face - mostly concealed behind Menjou's shoulder - is the area around her right eye, filmed through the spaces between balusters on a staircase. Whether this scene was meant to reflect the shadowy nature of the couple's relationship or just a way to make the scene more fun to watch, it's a standout.

FORBIDDEN is a passable soap opera from 1932 notable for it's pre-code bluntness about adultery and illegitimacy (the movie was not allowed to be reissued just three years later after the formation of the Hays code.) Barbara Stanwyck stars as a twenty-something young matron well on her way to spinsterhood in her dead end job as a small town librarian. After almost a decade on the job she has had Enough and closes out her savings account of its $1,200 and invests the works in glamorizing herself and a ticket to a Havana cruise. Though now chic and fashionable, her inner librarian is unable to break through and meet any men on the ship until her accidental meeting with a fairly soused Adolphe Menjou.

Stanwyck and Menjou become inseparable and soon blossom into a full-fledged affair that continues back in the states (apparently Stanwyck has moved to the city). Halloween night finds the couple with their own trick or treat - Stanwyck learns Menjou is married just as she was planning to let him know she is with child.

This soap was directed by Frank Capra who occasionally goes on board on directorial "touches" like shooting scenes with faces hidden or from unusual angles but his direction is generally admirable. Stanwyck is terrific as always and what a surprise to see Adolphe Menjou is a romantic lead. Though only 40 at the time, he always seemed older than his years and was seldom cast in romantic male leads during the talkie era. Ralph Bellamy is the third wheel as per usual but this time around he is a surprisingly unpleasant and creepy one as the coarse newspaper man who aims to bring politician Menjou down - unaware they both are interested in Barbara.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the obvious parallels between this story and the far more famous Bette Davis picture NOW VOYAGER made a decade later - a homely woman transforms herself into a beauty and goes on a cruise ship to find love only to have her beau be a married man. The "church mouse" side of Stanwyck's character is abandoned early in the story but it might have explained why she held on for decades for just a part of a man's love. (This film is one of those which while only spanning twenty years has the characters looking ready for the old age home when they would only be in their late forties.)

Viewers might be aghast at Menjou's description of his wife as an "invalid" - Dorothy Peterson gets around mighty fine, if with the help of a cane but presumably this is a discreet illusion to the fact that their relationship is no longer physical given her condition after the car wreck. Also watch for an early scene showing the meanness of Bellamy's character as he hits an office boy's head with an apple core - the kid has to force a smile since it's his boss but when turned away he clearly mouths "son of a bitch" about Bellamy.

FORBIDDEN is not one of Stanwyck's better movies but it's entertaining and has several potent scenes from the excellent character setup of an young old maid on the way to work to the timid girl dining alone on a cruise ship to her final solution for ending Bellamy's hounding of Menjou and as such is definitely worth a look.