Robert Forrest Movies

Conceived as a Gone With the Wind for the CinemaScope generation, Raintree County wasn't quite as successful as its role model, but it still proved a moneyspinner for MGM. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a spoiled Southern belle who falls in love with pacifistic Indiana youth Montgomery Clift. Though Clift is engaged to Eva Marie Saint, what Taylor wants, Taylor gets, and she isn't above using the dirtiest of deceptions to win Clift's affections. When the Civil War break out, Clift, a staunch abolitionist, joins the Union, much to the dismay of true-to-Dixie Taylor. While Clift is off fighting the war, Taylor descends into a depression that deepens into insanity. At war's end, Clift tries to come to terms with Taylor's lunacy for the sake of their child. But the strain proves too much for both of them, leading to an operatic climax which curiously segues into a happy ending (happy for some of the characters, anyway). If Montgomery Clift's performance--and appearance--seems to fluctuate wildly throughout the film, it is because he was involved in a serious auto accident during shooting, one that left both physical and emotional scars from which he never completely recovered. The 187-minute Raintree Country (reduced to 168 minutes after its initial roadshow engagements) was adapted by Millard Kaufman from the best-selling novel by Ross Lockridge, Jr. (whose own life story was infinitely more tragic than anything in his book). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Viewers familiar with the 1996 Mel Gibson blockbuster Ransom may be disappointed that there are no smirking villains, car chases, or bloody fistfights in the original 1956 version of the same story. Even so, the earlier Ransom! has much to offer on a purely dramatic level. Based on the Richard Maibaum-Cyril Hume TV play Fearful Decision, the film stars Glenn Ford as self-made industrialist David Stannard. When his son is kidnapped and held for 500,000 dollars ransom, Stannard at first sets about to cooperate with the abductors and to raise the necessary funds. Somewhere along the line, however, Stannard's outrage erupts and boils over. Buying air time on a local TV station, he pulls out the half-million dollars, then informs the kidnappers that they'll never get their hands on a single penny. He further threatens to use the money as a reward for the kidnappers' capture, dead or alive, should any harm befall his son. Despite the protests of his wife, Edith (Donna Reed), and the admonishments of his friends, family, business associates and even the police, Stannard sticks fast to his decision...but will he live to regret it? The boy's abductors are never seen in Ransom!; instead, the film concentrates on the multitude of ramifications (including a few political ones) stemming from David Stannard's bold stance. As such, the 1956 Ransom! is in its own way as tense and exciting as the more elaborate 1996 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The infamous Benedict Arnold affair is the basis of the lively MGM costumer The Scarlet Coat. Arnold is played with suitably subtle menace by Robert Douglas, while his principal co-conspirator, Major John Andre, is essayed by Michael Wilding. The largely speculative storyline concerns the efforts of one Major John Boulton (Cornel Wilde), a colonial counterspy, to foil Arnold's plans. Thanks to some deft scriptwriting, the much-abused Major Andre emerges as the most sympathetic character in the film, if only because he is willing to face the consequences for his actions. Less sympathetic is George Sanders in another of his patented "cad" roles, while Anne Francis is the spunky (if unnecessary) heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two bank robbers get away with 250,000 dollars in unmarked, unrecorded bills, murdering a guard in the process. The police know the leader was Harry Wheeler (Paul E. Richards) and turn their attention to his girlfriend, Leona McLane (Kim Novak), detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) arranging to pick her up in a "chance" meeting at a movie and spend some time with her. After one day, he knows what he needs to -- that she's not in touch with Wheeler, but expects to be -- but he keeps things going between them for three more days. By the time the department has a full surveillance team in place, he can't get her off his mind, and when she discovers that he's a cop and raises the notion of letting events take their course with Wheeler (i.e., him ending up dead) and the two of them keeping the money, he's hooked. Sheridan is fast on his feet and a quick thinker and sees how he might pull this off and get the two of them away clean. But he doesn't bargain for the alcoholism of one of the detectives (Allen Nourse) on the surveillance team, the inquisitive nature of his squad commander (E.G. Marshall), or the attachment that his younger associate (Philip Carey) develops for a nurse (Dorothy Malone) living in the building they're observing. Kim Novak had previously appeared in small roles in some films at RKO, but The Pushover marked her formal introduction to audiences as a star, and she more than lives up to the billing and the buildup she received, her acting ability and her physique easily carrying her end of the picture (she's onscreen alone for long minutes under observation, and is convincingly seductive), while MacMurray gives one of the best performances of his career, rivaling his work in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, and The Apartment. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

They don't really go to Mars, they go to Venus, but first they go to New Orleans. While working at a missile base, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello inadvertently launch a rocket ship with themselves aboard. After a wild ride around New York City (the Statue of Liberty ducks when the rocket heads her way), Bud and Lou land in the outskirts of New Orleans. The boys are convinced that they've reached Mars, and their faith in this supposition is affirmed when they come across several strangely costumed "creatures" (actually revellers at the Mardi Gras). Meanwhile, bank robbers Jack Kruschen and Horace McMahon stow away on A&C's rocketship. When Bud and Lou return, the crooks force them to make a quick getaway into outer space. After several days of weightlessness, the four space travellers land on Venus, a planet populated by the gorgeous winners of the Miss Universe contest (including Anita Ekberg). Venusian queen Mari Blanchard falls in love with Costello, only to order him and his companions to return to earth when Lou proves to be unfaithful. Reportedly, this bizarre melange of sci-fi and slapstick was based on a story by Charles Beaumont, who received no screen credit (it's worth noting that Beaumont's later Queen of Outer Space boasts a remarkably similar plotline). Long considered the team's worst film, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars ("and about time!" quipped the New York Times' TV-movie reviewer) is rather likeable in its own incoherent way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Above and Beyond is the story of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as told from the perspective of the man who flew the mission. Robert Taylor stars as Col. Paul Tibbetts, commander of the Enola Gay. Once selected for this extremely dangerous mission, Tibbetts must hand-pick a crew worthy of the task. He is also forced to keep his mission a closely guarded secret, even unto withholding all information from his loving and patient wife Lucey (Eleanor Parker). The film concentrates on the strain placed upon Tibbetts, his crew and their families in the crucial days before the "big drop". The bombing itself is handled with taste and decorum, though the horror and mixed emotions of the moment are brilliantly conveyed on the faces of Tibbetts and his men. Above and Beyond represents a rare noncomedy endeavor from the writer-director team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide