Forbidden (1953 Film)
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''Forbidden'' is a 1953 American
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
directed by Rudolph Mate and starring
Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...
,
Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', '' She Wore a Yellow Ribb ...
and
Lyle Bettger Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant ...
..


Plot

Eddie Darrow (Tony Curtis) works for American gangster Barney Pendleton, who sends him to
Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...
to find a woman, Christine Lawrence, and bring her back to the United States. Aware of a previous romantic attraction between the two, Pendleton tells his thug Chalmer to follow Eddie on the trip, just in case. At a nightclub and casino, Eddie saves the owner, Justin Keit, from some Chinese men attacking him. A grateful Justin invites him home and introduces Eddie to his fiancée, Christine. Eddie is bitter because Christine had run off to marry a criminal named Manard, who is now dead. A jealous Justin overhears Christine explain to Eddie that she only wed Manard because he threatened to harm Eddie. She also says Pendleton wants her back because she has hidden documents that could land him behind bars. In order to keep an eye on Eddie, Justin offers him a job at the casino. There he befriends an Asian piano player named Allan. A local gambler named Hon-Fai is robbed and killed, and Eddie suspects Justin could be behind this. Christine makes it clear she does not love Justin, and she and Eddie passionately kiss. Chalmer shows himself, suspecting that Eddie has decided to take Christine for himself and flee. Eddie denies this, claiming that he fully intends to follow Pendleton's orders and bring Christine back to the States. Christine overhears this and angrily decides to marry Justin. As a gang war breaks out, Chalmer is killed and Justin does indeed turn out to be a ruthless criminal. Allan, the pianist, reveals himself to be an undercover agent of the law. He is able to get Eddie and Christine on board a boat leaving for San Francisco, and when Justin tries to pursue them, he ends up on a boat that explodes.


Cast

*
Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...
as Eddie *
Joanne Dru Joanne Dru (born Joan Letitia LaCock;Known as Joan Lacock in th1930 United States census/ref> January 31, 1922 – September 10, 1996) was an American film and television actress, known for such films as '' Red River'', '' She Wore a Yellow Ribb ...
as Christine *
Lyle Bettger Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant ...
as Justin *
Marvin Miller Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American labor union leader and baseball executive who served as the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Miller l ...
as Chalmer *
Victor Sen Yung Victor Sen Yung (born Victor Cheung Young or Sen Yew Cheung; ; October 18, 1915 – body discovered November 9, 1980) was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western seri ...
as Allan *
Peter Mamakos Peter Mamakos (December 14, 1918 – April 27, 2008) was an American film and television actor. Early life Mamakos was of Greek descent. Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, he attended Somerville High School where he was a member of the Natio ...
as Sam (as Peter J. Mamakos) *
Mai Tai Sing Mai Tai Sing (December 22, 1923 – July 11, 2018) was an American actress and businesswoman. Her acting credits include the TV series ''Hong Kong'', '' Forbidden'', and '' Strange Portrait''. Background She was born in Oakland, California as Ma ...
as Soo Lee (as Mae Tai Sing) * Howard Chuman as Hon-Fai *
Weaver Levy Weaver Levy (January 14, 1925 – February 8, 2018) was a Chinese American character actor who had a long career in Hollywood that began in the 1940s and continued through the early 1980s. He was best known for his main role in the TV series ''A ...
as Tang


See also

* List of American films of 1953


References


External links

* * * * * (Mamie Van Doren performance, dubbed by Virginia Rees 1953 films 1950s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American black-and-white films Film noir Films set in Macau Universal Pictures films Films scored by Frank Skinner 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime thriller films {{crime-thriller-film-stub