Bedevilled is an unusual but dull tale of intrigue in post-war Paris. Anne Baxter and Steve Forrest are completely unable to set off any romantic sparks, and Jo Eisinger's screenplay does them no favors. That's a shame, really, because the setup--newly ordained priest confronts temptation in the City of Lights--holds potential interest. Are there any reasons to watch this Cinemascope trifle? Well, not really, unless you enjoy first class cinematography. Shot on location by the great British DoP, Freddie Young (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago), the film looks positively stunning. Young was one of the early masters of the widescreen process, and he takes full advantage of the Panavision lens here. Even more remarkably, he managed to get good results from Eastmancolor stock. Turn down the sound and enjoy.
10 Reviews
Bewildered would be more apt
jjnxn-123 May 2013
As a golden age movie fan I was curious as soon as I saw the listing for this film. It seemed bewildering that I could be unfamiliar with an MGM film from the 50's starring Miss Anne Baxter in Technicolor, set in Paris and directed by the legendary Mitchell Leisen?
Well now I know how. What's bewildering is that a film with those advantages could turn out like this. While visually beautiful this is a flatfooted, turgidly paced suspense film missing the suspense. A very blonde Anne tries to breath life into this but she seems edgy and a bit lost. However like everybody else in this her character is poorly defined. In addition she has the titanic task of acting opposite Steve Forrest, never the most facile of actors, who is beyond wooden in the lead. In no way does he suggest any sort of spirituality or a sense of real conflict with the decisions before him.
He can be blamed somewhat for the failure of the movie but the two main culprits are the nonsensical script and Leisen. Usually able to turn out either saucy concoctions like The Mating Season, Midnight and Kitty or solid dramas along the lines of Hold Back the Dawn and Swing High, Swing Low he is off his game here on how to turn this dull lump of coal into something resembling entertainment.
The film is beautiful to look at, taking advantage of its location shooting with breathtaking views of Paris. Pretty pictures however are not enough to make an entertaining movie. The film is not painfully bad but it is a mediocre effort at best.
Well now I know how. What's bewildering is that a film with those advantages could turn out like this. While visually beautiful this is a flatfooted, turgidly paced suspense film missing the suspense. A very blonde Anne tries to breath life into this but she seems edgy and a bit lost. However like everybody else in this her character is poorly defined. In addition she has the titanic task of acting opposite Steve Forrest, never the most facile of actors, who is beyond wooden in the lead. In no way does he suggest any sort of spirituality or a sense of real conflict with the decisions before him.
He can be blamed somewhat for the failure of the movie but the two main culprits are the nonsensical script and Leisen. Usually able to turn out either saucy concoctions like The Mating Season, Midnight and Kitty or solid dramas along the lines of Hold Back the Dawn and Swing High, Swing Low he is off his game here on how to turn this dull lump of coal into something resembling entertainment.
The film is beautiful to look at, taking advantage of its location shooting with breathtaking views of Paris. Pretty pictures however are not enough to make an entertaining movie. The film is not painfully bad but it is a mediocre effort at best.
Paris when it fizzles: The one about the priest and the cabaret singer
bmacv10 July 2003
The suspense in Bedevilled turns out to be whether Steve Forrest will break the vow of celibacy he hasn't yet taken. (Maybe he was following in the footsteps of his brother Dana Andrews, who played a priest in Edge of Doom.) As an American off to Rome to study for Holy Orders, Forrest gets three days to kill in Paris. When his buddy Robert Christopher, nauseous after their bumpy transatlantic flight, takes to bed, Forrest decides to explore the city on his own. But, like nuns, those seminarians travel in pairs for good reason: They might run smack into Anne Baxter.
Forrest's attempts at cool politeness seem wasted on the mercurial Baxter, who either clings to him for comfort or tells him to clear out of her life ('I don't know you from AC/DC,' she snaps at one point). When the police show up at the Elephant Blanc, a cabaret where she sings, she names Forrest as her alibi for the past several hours, even though they've just met. She tells him she just witnessed a murder and may soon wind up a victim herself. When some thugs start following her, Forrest helps her hide out until she can flee the country (no easy task, since her passport has been stolen).
Meanwhile, Forrest is seriously A.W.O.L. from his vocation. When Christopher, hunting the fleshpots of Paris, locates him in a garret in the slums, he offers his help. But Forrest, operating under the constraints of Hollywood's thick-headed male code, rebuffs him. He rebuffs Baxter, too, whose feelings for him have started to stir. (Why won't he tell her of his vocation? Is he ashamed?) Finally, after a chase over rooftops and up and down countless steps, Baxter and Forrest take refuge in a church. There, humbled in the presence of the Absolute, she starts to reveal a little more of her story....
If there was a good way out of the plot she welded together, scriptwriter Jo Eisinger didn't find it. (Her career started strongly, with benchmark noirs like Gilda and Night and the City, but petered out into the sentimental and far-fetched - The System, Crime of Passion.) The suspense mechanisms of Baxter's plight stay sketched in only roughly, while Forrest's drab dilemma (theology versus biology) takes top priority; that a woman's life is at stake seems less momentous than whether he might succumb to temptation. The ending satisfactorily resolves neither character's problem. Bedevilled closes on a chord of attempted uplift that strikes a gratingly sour note.
Forrest's attempts at cool politeness seem wasted on the mercurial Baxter, who either clings to him for comfort or tells him to clear out of her life ('I don't know you from AC/DC,' she snaps at one point). When the police show up at the Elephant Blanc, a cabaret where she sings, she names Forrest as her alibi for the past several hours, even though they've just met. She tells him she just witnessed a murder and may soon wind up a victim herself. When some thugs start following her, Forrest helps her hide out until she can flee the country (no easy task, since her passport has been stolen).
Meanwhile, Forrest is seriously A.W.O.L. from his vocation. When Christopher, hunting the fleshpots of Paris, locates him in a garret in the slums, he offers his help. But Forrest, operating under the constraints of Hollywood's thick-headed male code, rebuffs him. He rebuffs Baxter, too, whose feelings for him have started to stir. (Why won't he tell her of his vocation? Is he ashamed?) Finally, after a chase over rooftops and up and down countless steps, Baxter and Forrest take refuge in a church. There, humbled in the presence of the Absolute, she starts to reveal a little more of her story....
If there was a good way out of the plot she welded together, scriptwriter Jo Eisinger didn't find it. (Her career started strongly, with benchmark noirs like Gilda and Night and the City, but petered out into the sentimental and far-fetched - The System, Crime of Passion.) The suspense mechanisms of Baxter's plight stay sketched in only roughly, while Forrest's drab dilemma (theology versus biology) takes top priority; that a woman's life is at stake seems less momentous than whether he might succumb to temptation. The ending satisfactorily resolves neither character's problem. Bedevilled closes on a chord of attempted uplift that strikes a gratingly sour note.
I Confess.....it's pretty bad.
Poseidon-327 July 2004
In the 1950's, Baxter seemed to be on a roll when it came to tempting priests! First Monty Clift in "I Confess" and then Forrest in this film. Forrest (looking quite handsome and dashing) is on his way to Rome to take his priestly vows, but first has a layover in Paris. His roomie gets sick from the flight, so he sets out to catch a glimpse of The City of Lights. He's barely turned a corner when breathless Baxter hops in his cab, teary and worried. It turns out she's just been present at a murder and fears she is the next target. Forrest decides to help her, many times and in a variety of ways, often risking his own position and value system as a future man of the cloth. They scurry around Paris, the good parts and the bad, as he tries to help her exit the country. Eventually, they discover that they've been keeping some very important secrets from each other and this leads to a hyper-melodramatic resolution. The film is preposterous in the extreme and occasionally quite dull, though not without a few moments of unintentional hilarity. Forrest presents a calm, likable hero, even if his character doesn't always make a lot of sense in his decisions. Baxter is attractive, but unbelievable. Carrying on raspy conversations (often without looking at Forrest) as if she's narrating some film noir, she lays on the hard dame act in her best Claire Trevor impersonation. Amusingly, she skulks about Paris in a LOUD Helen Rose gown and sulks in an attic space wearing a cocktail dress and heels. One particularly ridiculous moment has the pair discussing incredibly sensitive information in the echoey and cavernous Napoleon's Tomb. Later, Forrest practically yells similar information during a quiet fashion show. No wonder they are always just one step away from being caught! What the film does offer is some striking and lovely location shots of Paris and some nicely photographed scenes throughout. Alfred Hitchcock was clearly an inspiration here, both in story and execution with an everyman and a blonde being thrown into a purportedly suspenseful situation. Unfortunately, the script and direction are nowhere near the level of Hitchcock product. The ending is not only ridiculous (and fall-down funny), but also pointless. If it were just a little worse, it may have ranked in Movieline magazine's "Bad Movies We Love". As it stands, it's worth a look for fans of the stars and an occasional hoot at the ludicrous goings-on.
Weak, colorless thriller, even in color.
mark.waltz7 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
There is no real reason of interest here as to why Seminarian Steve Forrest should help café singer Anne Baxter who has killed her married lover and is on the run from the police and the murdered man's family and associates. There is also no clue as to why the mysterious Baxter even deserves audience sympathy other than the fact that she got stuck with this turkey. She's beautiful, as always, and does what she can to retain her dignity, but other than her presence in it, the film is a disastrous bore. Her character is dull, and Steve Forrest's manly presence makes him wrong for the part of a future priest. The Parisian streets could have added more allure to the photography, but little is done to take advantage of the location. This appears to be a way to have utilized the same crew and same sets for the earlier "The Last Time I Saw Paris" to save money. What they were missing was the script.
ah, Paris
blanche-224 May 2013
Mitchell Leisen directs "Bedevilled," a 1955 film starring Steve Forrest and Anne Baxter. Forrest plays Greg, who is en route to a seminary in order to study for the priesthood. On the plane to Paris, where they will spend a few days before proceeding to the seminary, his fellow traveler becomes ill. This leaves Greg free to see Paris on his own. Just his luck, he runs into a cabaret singer, Monica (a blond Anne Baxter) who has a major problem. She witnessed a murder and now some thugs of a very important man, Trevelle (Maurice Teynac) are after her. She won't go to the police; it's her word against Trevelle, and with his power, he'll be believed.
This movie is supposed to ask the question, will Greg decide the priesthood isn't for him, but I am just guessing. I didn't get this dilemma from Steve Forrest, not one of my favorite actors. He was a good-looking man and stalwart, but he had no chemistry with Baxter, and frankly, he just wasn't much of an actor. I'm prejudiced, having seen him in "Hollywood Wives" in the '80s, an unfortunately unforgettable experience.
So while Greg walks around with a serious look on his face and tries to help Monica, Monica is pretty close to hysterics when she's not trying to figure out what Greg's story is. For some reason, priests and nuns who wear plain clothes in movies never want to tell anyone what they do -- or in this case, intend to do -- for a living.
The end of this film made no sense regarding the motives of one character. Bad script.
If you can ignore the very melodramatic music, the photography (this was done in color) is gorgeous, and the film was actually made in Paris. Toward the end of the film, there is a wonderful segment as the two main characters go onto the roof of a building at night.
Not much to recommend it, but if you like films set in Paris, you might want to check it out.
This movie is supposed to ask the question, will Greg decide the priesthood isn't for him, but I am just guessing. I didn't get this dilemma from Steve Forrest, not one of my favorite actors. He was a good-looking man and stalwart, but he had no chemistry with Baxter, and frankly, he just wasn't much of an actor. I'm prejudiced, having seen him in "Hollywood Wives" in the '80s, an unfortunately unforgettable experience.
So while Greg walks around with a serious look on his face and tries to help Monica, Monica is pretty close to hysterics when she's not trying to figure out what Greg's story is. For some reason, priests and nuns who wear plain clothes in movies never want to tell anyone what they do -- or in this case, intend to do -- for a living.
The end of this film made no sense regarding the motives of one character. Bad script.
If you can ignore the very melodramatic music, the photography (this was done in color) is gorgeous, and the film was actually made in Paris. Toward the end of the film, there is a wonderful segment as the two main characters go onto the roof of a building at night.
Not much to recommend it, but if you like films set in Paris, you might want to check it out.
A mixed bag of nothing!
JohnHowardReid28 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Copyright 1955. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Palace: 22 April 1955. U.K. release: 25 July 1955. Australian release: 17 June 1955. Sydney opening at the Metro Minerva, Kings Cross (no city showcase). 89 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: On his way to Innsbruck, where he is to enter a Theological Seminary, a repressed and somewhat unworldly young American candidate for the priesthood, meets a super-sexy cabaret singer during a stopover in Paris. He discovers that she is hiding from a gangster who is determined to kill her.
COMMENT: A history-making movie on a number of fronts:
1. It was the second CinemaScope movie from any Hollywood studio to lose almost its entire production cost. A minimal amount in this case compared to the huge loss sustained by "Jupiter's Darling", but that movie did manage to attract the connoisseur and corduroy sets. "Bedevilled", on the other hand, charmed no-one.
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicity claimed this as "the first CinemaScope film to be shot in Paris." While this claim is strictly correct, the movie was by no means the first anamorphic wide-screen movie to be made in the French capital. Not by a long shot!
3. Although Leisen is credited as sole director, he supervised only the location scenes. All the studio interiors were entrusted to Dick "Print It" Thorpe, an expert graduate of the don't-make-it-good- make-it-Monday school of film-making.
4. M-G-M's high hopes of grooming Steve Forrest for stardom were dashed by his poor showing in what was admittedly an indifferently- scripted role.
5. Anne Baxter never fully recovered from this turkey. She had just made three huge box-office hits in a row: "I Confess", "The Blue Gardenia", "Carnival Story". Despite top billing in "The Spoilers" (1955) and top female billing in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), she was overshadowed by her male co-stars.
6. Even though he was bounced from directing the studio scenes, Mitchell Leisen was the biggest loser. This tedious excuse for a thriller virtually put paid to his cinema career, although he did get to direct "The Girl Most Likely" (1957) and footage for a movie called "Las Vegas By Night" (1963), which was never released but incorporated into "Spree" (1967). (His friend, Ray Milland, came to his rescue by hiring him to direct episodes in his "Markham" TV series).
7. Despite this film's dime-novel plot, indifferent characters and tedious romantic episodes, Jo Eisinger continued to work steadily in both movies and television.
SYNOPSIS: On his way to Innsbruck, where he is to enter a Theological Seminary, a repressed and somewhat unworldly young American candidate for the priesthood, meets a super-sexy cabaret singer during a stopover in Paris. He discovers that she is hiding from a gangster who is determined to kill her.
COMMENT: A history-making movie on a number of fronts:
1. It was the second CinemaScope movie from any Hollywood studio to lose almost its entire production cost. A minimal amount in this case compared to the huge loss sustained by "Jupiter's Darling", but that movie did manage to attract the connoisseur and corduroy sets. "Bedevilled", on the other hand, charmed no-one.
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer publicity claimed this as "the first CinemaScope film to be shot in Paris." While this claim is strictly correct, the movie was by no means the first anamorphic wide-screen movie to be made in the French capital. Not by a long shot!
3. Although Leisen is credited as sole director, he supervised only the location scenes. All the studio interiors were entrusted to Dick "Print It" Thorpe, an expert graduate of the don't-make-it-good- make-it-Monday school of film-making.
4. M-G-M's high hopes of grooming Steve Forrest for stardom were dashed by his poor showing in what was admittedly an indifferently- scripted role.
5. Anne Baxter never fully recovered from this turkey. She had just made three huge box-office hits in a row: "I Confess", "The Blue Gardenia", "Carnival Story". Despite top billing in "The Spoilers" (1955) and top female billing in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), she was overshadowed by her male co-stars.
6. Even though he was bounced from directing the studio scenes, Mitchell Leisen was the biggest loser. This tedious excuse for a thriller virtually put paid to his cinema career, although he did get to direct "The Girl Most Likely" (1957) and footage for a movie called "Las Vegas By Night" (1963), which was never released but incorporated into "Spree" (1967). (His friend, Ray Milland, came to his rescue by hiring him to direct episodes in his "Markham" TV series).
7. Despite this film's dime-novel plot, indifferent characters and tedious romantic episodes, Jo Eisinger continued to work steadily in both movies and television.
bad noir
SnoopyStyle6 June 2020
Korean vet Gregory Fitzgerald (Steve Forrest) is headed to France to study for the priesthood along with Tony Lugacetti. On the plane, famed fashion designer Francesca (Simone Renant) is taken with Greg and gives him her address. He goes out into the Paris night and shares a cab with nightclub singer Monica Johnson (Anne Baxter). Soon, he is pulled into a murder mystery involving her.
Steve Forrest looks like an old matinee idol. He's got the chiselled jaw, the towering height, but without much charisma. He definitely isn't acting like a man of God. He's like a Jack Palance with less intensity. Anne Baxter is trying her best but her character is hopelessly lost in melodrama. As for the ending, I'm uncertain of the premise and dislike the execution. It is interesting to see 50's Paris in color and that's probably all to see in this movie.
Steve Forrest looks like an old matinee idol. He's got the chiselled jaw, the towering height, but without much charisma. He definitely isn't acting like a man of God. He's like a Jack Palance with less intensity. Anne Baxter is trying her best but her character is hopelessly lost in melodrama. As for the ending, I'm uncertain of the premise and dislike the execution. It is interesting to see 50's Paris in color and that's probably all to see in this movie.
Sex is like air; it's not important unless you're not getting any!
Ed-Shullivan2 December 2020
Actor Steve Forrest is a young good looking man named Gregory Fitzgerald who has flown to Paris France with another seminarian named Tony Lugacetti (Robert Christopher) as a stop over for a few days before starting their intense priesthood formal training. While travelling by cab to meet up with another priest for dinner a mysterious woman frantically jumps into his cab and begs Gregory to allow her to share his cab with her to escape someone who is chasing her. The young seminarian Gregory is intrigued but more earnestly just wants to help this pretty damsel whose distress is visible all over her worried face and in her nervous mannerisms.
Gradually we find out that the woman in distress is a cabaret singer named Monica Johnson (Anne Baxter) and she is trying to flee the country to avoid being murdered herself by a very wealthy and prominent French tycoon.
Other reviewers have said there was no chemistry between actors Steve Forrest and Anne Baxter but you have to appreciate that Steve Forrest was playing a seminarian who pledges himself to God and to refuse any sexual offers of any kind even if it means saying no to the sultry blonde and vivacious Anne Baxter.
As this mystery unfolds most men and women would be disappointed with the ending which I will not spoil for those still interested in seeing it for themselves. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed this suspense/thriller/mystery and I also felt that both Steve Forrest and Anne Baxter were exceptional in their respective roles.
I give Bedevilled an excellent 8 out of 10 IMDB rating.
Gradually we find out that the woman in distress is a cabaret singer named Monica Johnson (Anne Baxter) and she is trying to flee the country to avoid being murdered herself by a very wealthy and prominent French tycoon.
Other reviewers have said there was no chemistry between actors Steve Forrest and Anne Baxter but you have to appreciate that Steve Forrest was playing a seminarian who pledges himself to God and to refuse any sexual offers of any kind even if it means saying no to the sultry blonde and vivacious Anne Baxter.
As this mystery unfolds most men and women would be disappointed with the ending which I will not spoil for those still interested in seeing it for themselves. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoyed this suspense/thriller/mystery and I also felt that both Steve Forrest and Anne Baxter were exceptional in their respective roles.
I give Bedevilled an excellent 8 out of 10 IMDB rating.
Act of contrition
dbdumonteil21 March 2010
It seems that Mitchell Leisen was in love with France and Paris and the results were often excellent ("arise ,my love" "midnight" ).In other movies he displays the same Francophilia ,even if the stories do not take place there :"Frenchman's creek " , "Hold back the dawn" .
"Bedevilled" (the ludicrous French title is "Boulevard De Paris"!),sadly is not in the same league as the works I mention above. He couldn't capture the Parisian zeitgeist and the chemistry between Ann Baxter and Steve Forrest is nonexistent.It takes a lot of imagination to believe that they are eaten with desire and that the would be future priest has to fight to stay chaste .The story is muddled and worthless ,the kind of story an average viewer has been told and told and told.
For the French audience ,there are some of our actors: Victor Francen as a priest was already used by Leisen in "hold back the dawn"(he reads the famous lines of the statue of liberty,a gift from France to the USA!) ;Simone Renant as an ambiguous clothes designer and fashion businesswoman Forrest meets on the plane ;Maurice Teynac is the villain and Raymond Bussières the concierge.
Leisen's wit and his good sense of humor have metamorphosed into an annoying and very unsatisfying lack of weight or consequence and into what we have got to call bigotry.
"Bedevilled" (the ludicrous French title is "Boulevard De Paris"!),sadly is not in the same league as the works I mention above. He couldn't capture the Parisian zeitgeist and the chemistry between Ann Baxter and Steve Forrest is nonexistent.It takes a lot of imagination to believe that they are eaten with desire and that the would be future priest has to fight to stay chaste .The story is muddled and worthless ,the kind of story an average viewer has been told and told and told.
For the French audience ,there are some of our actors: Victor Francen as a priest was already used by Leisen in "hold back the dawn"(he reads the famous lines of the statue of liberty,a gift from France to the USA!) ;Simone Renant as an ambiguous clothes designer and fashion businesswoman Forrest meets on the plane ;Maurice Teynac is the villain and Raymond Bussières the concierge.
Leisen's wit and his good sense of humor have metamorphosed into an annoying and very unsatisfying lack of weight or consequence and into what we have got to call bigotry.
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