Forbidden

The last film of both director George King and star Douglass Montgomery (both of whom coincidentally died in 1966) is a dark melodrama typical of postwar austerity Britain with a decidedly continental feel in which romance beckons with nice Hazel Court, but Montgomery is already shackled to faithless high maintainance wife Patricia Burke.

Peopled with denizens of the spiv economy like Ronald Shiner and a lean, zoot-suited young Kenneth Griffith packing a flick-knife; it could easily be French, or a German silent, and even looks like one courtesy of Hone Glendinning's usual atmospheric photography and the production design by Bernard Robinson, who later found steady employment with Hammer Films.

Forbidden is a 1949 British film starring Douglass Montgomery, Patricia Birch, and Hazel Court. Directed by George King.

Montgomery is Jim Harding, a scientist, who works at an amusement park in Blackpool selling things like fake hair remedy. At the cotton candy machine is pretty Diana (Patricia Burke) who is interested in Jim.

The feeling is mutual, but Jim is in a miserable marriage. His wife Jeannie (Hazel Court) wants to return to a life in show biz and willing to sleep her way to a part, all the while getting her husband to pay for new clothes. He wants a divorce, but she won't give him one.

Determined to be rid of her, Jim messes with her diet pills, sure to do her in at a bigger dose since she has a heart condition. She departs to leave town with her latest mark, but he leaves ahead of her. She returns home unexpectedly, and Jim finds her dead, sure it is from the pills. He buries the body.

Good noir, and more sexually explicit than one sees in this era of films, since it's obvious Diana and Jim are sleeping together.

Hazel Court as the awful wife is the real standout. This was Montgomery's last film, and also George King's. King retired, and Montgomery moved to the states and continued in television.

Strange how many reviewers have compared this film to Brighton Rock but, no-one has mentioned its similarity to the real-life murder case in which Dr H. H. Crippen had a romantic liaison with another woman, murdered his brassy wife and buried her body in the cellar.

That aside, I cannot fathom why I have never seen this movie before. It is a veritable gem showing a slice of post-war life that will be familiar to the baby-boomer generation. Wonderful shots of old Blackpool for atmosphere. I expected to see my dad in the crowds; he was always there!

Must say Douglass Montgomery as Jim Harding was rather boring. No personality compared with the other characters. Diana (Patricia Burke) his tarty, ambitious wife was a definitive study in selfish bitchiness. Candy floss seller Jeannie (Hazel Court) though basically a nice girl, wasn't above partaking in the old physical when it suited her. In fact as someone else pointed out, the movie is amazingly frank for the time. The camera pans across a tumbled bed to Jim's jacket draped on a chair. Jeannie walks in wrapped in a man's raincoat carrying a breakfast tray. Then Jim comes through the door doing up his collar. He has to leave for work. Says it all. No rolling or writhing about needed.

The basic plot is that chemist Jim is fed up with Diana leeching off him and he wants to be with Jeannie. Diana won't let him go until it suits her. I.e. When her nonexistent acting career has revived. Coincidentally she is addicted to weight loss pills which are dangerous to the heart. Jim tampers with the pills just before she is about to take a trip to London, but then regrets his actions and tries to warn her. He later finds her dead at their flat and disposes of the body. Did he do her in? The police think so and gradually the net closes around him at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and ultimately among the girders of the iconic Tower where he is confronted by opportunist spiv Johnny (an unconvincing Kenneth Griffith). Surely someone will plunge to their death? Wonderful tension right up to the end. Well worth a look. Even if only to feast your eyes on the delectable, pre-Hammer Hazel Court!

The similarities to the celebrated 1948 film Brighton Rock could hardly be coincidental - set in that other big seaside holiday town, Blackpool, with the gang of young spivs and hoodlums centered in a funfair rather than horse racing. with a young Kenneth Griffith as a Pinkie figure. Even the same actor playing the identical gang member in both films. But whereas the storyline and script were so tight in Brighton Rock, here in Forbidden they are so sloppy. Mixing Ronald Shiners comic persona with film noir elements is just plain odd. not merely unsuccessful. Whereas the Brighton in Brighton Rock was a very hard place. Forbidden is a strange mixture of sugar and dog's dinner. Douglas Montgomery was an odd actor - half ineffectual sap, half leading man. Here the script perfect;y serves him - half sap, half hero - unfortunately. It is a mess.

Would-be scientist Douglass Montgomery (Jim) teams up with salesman Ronald Shiner (Dan) to rid tourists in Blackpool of their money by selling medicine that re-grows your hair amongst other things. On a nearby stall, Hazel Court (Jane) has the hots for Montgomery, and they soon embark on an affair. Naughty Douglass – he's married to Patricia Burke (Diana). However, she is more interested in pursuing her acting career and is prepared to sleep her way onto the casting couch, her current favourite being Garry Marsh (Jerry). Montgomery wants a divorce but Burke won't give him one and so he hatches a plan to bump her off. He interferes with her own daily medicine and finds her dead. He then buries her in his studio and now he's really in trouble. The story is told in flashback before we end the film with a chase and fight on Blackpool Tower.

I like this film. Uk films are pretty good from this time, providing they are not comedies. The best in the cast is Patricia Burke. She excels as a bitch and it's a shame that she is killed off so early. There are several funny moments as demonstrated by Burke's self-assured nastiness. The scene where she visits Court is a classic as is the way she lets Montgomery know that she's going off to stay with a relative yet blatantly has her current beau escort her into a cab. And then presents Montgomery with the bill for her new change of clothes as she departs. A very wicked woman! And there are tense moments including the fight at the finale between Montgomery and love-rival Kenneth Griffith (Johnny). The scene is finished in an unexpected but refreshing way that demonstrates how to conduct oneself in a potential death situation. Jolly good manners all round.

It's nice to see the Blackpool Tower, which the French obviously copied to make their own version – the Trifle Tower or something like that. Not a patch on Blackpool. I could imagine Michael Redgrave and Googie Withers playing the husband and wife team – they looked a bit similar to Montgomery and Burke – but Montgomery and especially Burke do justice to their roles. I'm not sure why Montgomery didn't just tell Hazel Court that he was married and I'm not sure where the title comes from, but it's an enjoyable film.