My Forbidden Past

A Hughes RKO production dismissed as soapy claptrap by most critics, this steamy tale, set in 1890s New Orleans, of Ava Gardner's desperate plans to lure Mitchum away from his wife when she inherits a fortune, is terribly underrated. Nonsense it may be, and Mitchum's low key style is certainly at odds with the overheated emotionalism of the plot. But it is extremely entertaining, largely thanks to a marvellously cynical script (from Polan Banks' novel Carriage Entrance) which insists from start to finish on the basic selfishness of human interaction. Nasty fun.