The film "Beyond the Forest" is a perfect example of why marriage isn't for everyone. The main character of the film is Rosa Moline, played by Betty Davis. The film takes place in a small country town. Rosa is a person who is never satisfied. Of all of the women of the town, Rosa has it the best. She is married to the doctor, lives in a nice large house, has a maid to do all of the chores, and generally lives a pretty easy life. Still, she is unsatisfied. Rosa wants to be in the spot light and live a lavish life, being well off is not good enough for her.
Rosa begins to cheat on her husband with a rich bachelor, Neil Latimer, from Chicago who has a cabin in the mountains near by. He is everything Rosa wants, mainly because of his fortune. She asks him to marry her, but he laughs at her. To Neil, Rosa is just another notch in the bed post, but to Rosa, Neil is the key to her fantasies. Rosa becomes extremely fed up with her small town life and demands that her husband gives her money to go to Chicago to get away. Once in Chicago, Rosa tracks down Neil and tells her that she has left her old life behind to start a new one with him. To Rosa's distraught, Neil tells her that he is already engaged to another woman. Rosa convinces herself that she is too good for even Neil.
Rosa returns to her husband, demanding she must have a better life. Soon Rosa tells her husband that she is pregnant. He is thrilled, but she does not share his enthusiasm. Neil comes back to declare his love to Rosa and his intentions to marry her. Rosa is ecstatic and shoots a man who threatens to tell Neil of her pregnancy. The in the end, despite her illness, Rosa tries to make it to Chicago. She dies just short of the train station, face down in the dirt with the train whistling the song "Chicago, Chicago".
The plot is far fetched and full of adultery and scandal. Rosa Moline is portrayed to be the ultimate bitch, rude, selfish, greedy, with a hideous voice.
