Beyond the Forest
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © 1949 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.
Bette Davis
Beyond the Forest by King Vidor
USA 1949, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © 1949 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.
David Brian, Bette Davis
Beyond the Forest by King Vidor
USA 1949, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © 1949 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.
Joseph Cotton, Bette Davis
Beyond the Forest by King Vidor
USA 1949, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © 1949 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.
King Vidor
Beyond the Forest by King Vidor
USA 1949, Retrospective
Source: Sammlung Cinémathèque suisse. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
“What a dump”, declares Rosa Moline, wife of a small town doctor, who yearns for big city life. She is having an affair with a businessman from Chicago who owns a nearby hunting lodge, and she’s prepared to give up everything for him. But when he reveals that he is planning to marry someone else, she is deeply hurt. Resigned to her fate, she returns to her husband and is soon pregnant. When her lover has a change of heart, Rosa is determined to follow him to Chicago. However, there is somebody standing in the way … Beyond the Forest is an over-the-top film noir, with a heroine even more depraved than was already customary for the genre. At the same time, it traces much that women must repress, including here her desire for an abortion, or the sinister subordination to the power of emotions. King Vidor renders them in decidedly male symbolic imagery – a fiery blast furnace, a hissing steam locomotive. Consciously repellent, yet fascinating, Bette Davis’ performance oscillates between camp and modern classic. She inspired Edward Albee to create the character of Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1962), who even quotes Rosa’s unforgettable avowal “what a dump!”.
With
- Bette Davis
- Joseph Cotten
- David Brian
- Ruth Roman
- Dona Drake
- Minor Watson
- Regis Toomey
- Sarah Selby
- Mary Servoss
- Frances Charles
Crew
| Director | King Vidor |
| Screenplay | Lenore Coffee |
| Story | Stuart Engstrand Beyond the Forest (1945) |
| Cinematography | Robert Burks |
| Editing | Rudi Fehr |
| Music | Max Steiner |
| Sound | Charles Lang Jr. |
| Art Director | Robert Haas |
| Costumes | Edith Head, Marian Dabney, Henry Field, Lillian House |
| Assistant Directors | Al Alleborn, Oren Haglund |
| Producer | Henry Blanke |
Produced by
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. (A Warner Bros.–First National Picture)
Additional information
Print: Warner Bros. Pictures Germany, Hamburg