Review of Bedevilled

Bedevilled (1955)
5/10
ah, Paris
24 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.
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