La calle prohibida

What a wonderful film this is! It is difficult to catalogue all its vast variations of deserts, with sudden turn of events and charming details constantly renewing and refreshing the story, which is like a Dickens novel. Maureen O'Hara is always good but here better than ever, while Dana Andrews takes you by surprise with this virtuoso performance totally out of his ordinary style, vying in charm with Robert Donat; while the prize goes to Sybil Thorndike, who makes a really frightening witch with more than one bag of evil up her sleeve, which she uses with calculation and effective impact.

It's really an environmental film depicting a slum area with exciting intrigue and characters and fascinating idylls of the gutter. It's related with another environmental London film of the same time, "London Belongs to Me" with equally convincing documentary rendering of local life in London town, but here the events take place long before the turn of the century - Bernard Shaw is mentioned as a rising star in the beginning of his career.

The miracle of the story is how a tragedy is turned to its opposite. A failed painter leaves behind the result of his secret hobby work, making puppets, and these turn out to be his real masterpiece. A really hopeless tragedy of bleak dreariness with no way out is miraculously turned into comedy by his puppets coming alive. The process of this U-turn of fate is completely natural, and a tragedy of human decay, failure, alcoholism and dishonour is suddenly reversed into a cheerful comedy - the real comedian is Maureen O'Hara's helpful brother, who understands things his own way.

The end of it is how the dreadfully sultry slum turns into a wonderland of idylls and charm in spite of all, and there, ultimately, after all the heartbreaks, the heart nevertheless will remain.

(I wrote this review previously, but it was apparently lost in a power cut. Maybe it can be retrieved. If not, here is what I could do to recreate it.)

This was one of my favorite Maureen O'Hara movies (after "The Quiet Man", of course) which I haven't been able to see for many years. I continue to check the DVD status, but continue to be disappointed. Previous comments have told the story-line, so I won't attempt it except to say that it covers the entire gamut of emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, despair, resignation to circumstances, hope--back to happiness.

I hope the "Powers that be" read these comments and release this movie in at least video version if DVD isn't possible. With all the garbage I see being put out on DVD, it amazes me that the better older black and white movies are so overlooked. There are several for which I keep looking and hoping to see available.

As a ten year old kid, I saw this film in 1949 under its U.S. title THE FORBIDDEN STREET (it was not a title later made up for any kind of re-release on VHS or DVD, although it did come out as BRITANNIA MEWS in the U.K.). We got a big kick out of Mrs. Mounsey (we then thought it was "Mrs. Mousey"), especially when the second Dana Andrews character slaps her around a bit and practically throws her onto what looked like either a stove or dresser, but even then I knew who Dame Sybil Thorndike was, and it appears that some reviewers of this film still don't. All the other performances in the film range from just about okay to pretty good, but Thorndike's old hag is really a showcase, considering how short her role ultimately is. One should be reminded that Thorndike (and not Edith Evans, Peggy Ashcroft, Margaret Rutherford, Margaret Leighton, Dorothy Tutin, etc.) was considered the greatest English stage actress of the 20th century from her debut around 1904 and right into the early 1970s, created Shaw's SAINT JOAN after he wrote it for her, did quite literally many hundreds of roles from Shakespeare and Marlowe to Priestly and Williams in the U.K., all over America and, indeed, almost the entire known civilized world of her day (who else can you think of who played Lady Macbeth, Hecuba and one of the sweetly murderous Brewster Sisters in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, or who took shots at Greek drama in Greek and French classical repertoire in French?). She was almost 50 when talkies came in, so she naturally didn't make many films except in older character roles (she was Olivier's mother in PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL, but that role was originally Olivier's wife when the play was done with him and Vivien Leigh in London, and this probably remains her best-known film appearance). As for Dana Andrews, they did a good job of dubbing in his voice with one belonging to an English actor, but the voice really didn't go with Andrews' demeanor and character. His second character has the right voice (his own) for that first character. Anyway, the mid-Atlantic type accents heard from O'Hara and Andrews didn't bother me at all, and the fellow playing O'Hara's younger brother, Anthony Tancred, would appear to have had a very short film career, and this is unfortunate, as he is very good in the role and looks something like a taller and classier version of George Cole. Amazingly enough, they get away with turning a pretty morose and near tragic story into almost a comedy by the time the curtain comes down, and that is no mean achievement. Anyway, it was nice to see it again after 67 years and to see that memory can play tricks on one - I seemed to recall that the second Andrews character threw Mrs. Mounsey down the stairs, but he didn't. Good thing, too; that's no way to treat Dame Sybil Thorndike. Aside: Thorndike was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1931, but her husband, equally proficient actor and incredibly proficient stage director Lewis Casson, wasn't knighted until almost two decades later. She was delighted because now she could be legitimately called either "Dame Sybil" or "Lady Casson".

While a little girl, beautiful Maureen O'Hara (as Adelaide "Addie" Culver) was fascinated by a seedy section of 19th century London known as "Britannia Mews". Quickly developing into an adult woman, Ms. O'Hara appears enchanted by both the area and her art teacher – British-accented Dana Andrews (as Henry Lambert). A romance develops, but O'Hara's wealthy parents do not approve of O'Hara seeing the artist. He turns out to have a weakness for alcohol and not much money, but Mr. Andrews is expert at making charming and lifelike puppets. Later on, Andrews appears as another character (Gilbert Lauderdale) – he is a similar man, but learns to control his alcohol intake. Both men are involved in an increasingly complicated relationship with O'Hara...

The oddest thing about "The Forbidden Street" is that the first Andrews character's voice is dubbed by another actor. While the voice matches Andrews' lip movements, it sounds like it is coming from another room – via a deep echo chamber. Playing the film on mute during a second viewing reveals Andrews would have made a fine "silent" film actor; it is interesting to study his performance. O'Hara shows some of the same skills...

The cast works very well for director Jean Negulesco, who creates an atmospheric story with fine black and white photography from Georges Perinal. The soundtrack, while good, could have been a little more subtle. The obvious dubbing, perhaps done to differentiate Andrews' two characters, wasn't wise. However, stay tuned as Andrews' voice and the film improve. Also watch for a couple of outstanding supporting performances – from haggish old "sow" Sybil Thorndike (as Mrs. Mounsey) and O'Hara's inquisitive little brother Anthony Tancred (as Treff Culver). The two not only perform exceptionally, they also perfectly illustrate the "opposite sides of the tracks." And, surprise visitor Mary Martlew (as Milly) is quite memorably amusing, in her single scene.

******* The Forbidden Street (Britannia Mews) (3/31/49) Jean Negulesco ~ Maureen O'Hara, Dana Andrews, Sybil Thorndike, Anthony Tancred

This film has not appeared on television since the 1970s, when it appeared as "Forbidden Street". It is a little film with some melodrama in it regarding the death of Dana Andrews' first character (who falls out of a window) and the blackmail of Maureen O'Hara by Sybil Thorndike, but it is really of interest in the second half when Andrews (in his second role) uses a set of hand carved puppets to change this street in the slums into a thriving middle class neighborhood. An odd way to prosperity, but interesting nonetheless.

Sybil Thorndike was a remarkable actress, whose film career is not as strong as the other actors and actresses of her generation who reached stardom. Her performances on film go back to the silent films (of England), but in sound films she appeared in good cameo parts, but she never had a set of critically acclaimed leading roles like Olivier, Richardson, Redgrave, Coward, Guilgud, Evans, Ashcroft, or Rutherford. Ashcroft and Rutherford also had supporting roles in film too but both actresses had "Oscars" to show for these, as did Olivier, Guilgud, and even Coward. Yet Thorndike did get recognition for her acting with a title as "Dame" Sybil Thorndike (like "Dame" Edith Evans, and "Dame" Peggy Ashcroft). Today, to catch her performances, one has to see her in MAJOR BARBARA as the Salvation Army General or in THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL as the Queen Mother (Lawrence Olivier's mother-in-law). Both roles certainly give you an idea of her range as an actress in comedy, but FORBIDDEN STREET shows how she was in a dramatic role - as a elderly hag who blackmails Maureen O'Hara into tolerating her continuous presence, and who actually just wanted O'Hara to love her as a mother (or so she claims). It is an odd role, and she handles it with great ability. One wishes that sound had existed in the films of her youth (the silent period). At that time Thorndike played the role of Ophelia opposite John Barrymore's Hamlet. It would have been worth seeing. Let us hope that FORBIDDEN STREET is released again on dvd or video, so we can see Dame Sybil in a dramatic part again.