The original New York Times review refers to the “peculiar conception of human psychology” that Forbidden presents. Barbara Stanwyck stars as a single woman in love with the married Adolph Menjou, a suave district attorney given to drinking and cheating on his crippled wife. Ralph Bellamy is a bellicose city editor out for Menjou's blood, but it is ultimately Stanwyck's role to make the sacrifices. This melodrama with preposterous turns is saved by fine performances by Stanwyck and Menjou and the photography of Joseph Walker.