Beyond the Forest (1949)

68% of users liked it
(400 ratings)

"What a dump!" That's the classic line delivered by Bette Davis at the halfway point of Beyond the Forest, her final Warner Bros. effort of the 1940s. Some Davis devotees feel as though this vituperative utterance is the high point of an otherwise turgid melodrama; others consider the line a… More "What a dump!" That's the classic line delivered by Bette Davis at the halfway point of Beyond the Forest, her final Warner Bros. effort of the 1940s. Some Davis devotees feel as though this vituperative utterance is the high point of an otherwise turgid melodrama; others consider the line a succinct assessment of the entire film. Based on a best-selling novel by Stuart Engstrand, the film stars Davis as Rosa Moline, a small-town girl with big-city ambitions. Trapped in a dull marriage to just-getting-by lawyer Lewis Moline (Joseph Cotten), Rosa plots and plans to sexually entrap millionaire industrialist Neil Latimer (David Brian). That Rosa's scheme is doomed from the start is telegraphed at every juncture by Max Steiner's sledgehammer musical score (few will ever want to hear the song "Chicago" again after this). Hampered by the censorship standards of the era, the film is prevented from being as frank as the novel; in one scene, for example, Rosa is obviously visiting an abortionist, but the sign on the door reads "Psychiatrist." A standard entry in most film historians' "Worst Movies" lists (even Davis herself hated it), Beyond the Forest is rather entertaining in its own schlocky fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: King Vidor
Written By: Lenore J. Coffee, Stuart Engstrand
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1949 Wide
On DVD: Feb 27, 1991

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Davis excels as the passionate but stranded housewife who describes her suffocating community as "a two train a day town." The expression What a Dump, which Liz Taylor repeats in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf comes from this Vidor-directed melodrama.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Bombastic melodrama.

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Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

Wild lurid junk with Bette consuming whole portions of the scenery whole to try and save it.

Cast

            Bette Davis as Rosa Moline

            Joseph Cotten as Dr. Louis Moline

            David Brian as Neil Latimer

            Ruth Roman as Carol

            Regis Toomey as Sorren

            Minor Watson as Moose

            Dona Drake as Jenny

            Sarah Selby as Mildred

            Mary Servoss as Mrs. Welch

            Frances Charles as Miss Elliott

            Joel Allen as Minister

            James Craven as Man

            Ann Doran as Edith Williams

            Creighton Hale as Old Man

            Hallene Hill as Woman

            Charles Jordan as Jury Foreman

            Eve Miller as Switchboard Operator

            Buddy Roosevelt as Man

            Harry Tyler as Stationmaster

            Judith Wood as Waitress

            Frank Pharr as Coroner

            Ralph Littlefield as Driver

            Gail Bonney as Woman

            Hal Gerard as Waiter

            Eileen Stevens as Operator
See full cast