mysql_connect noob question

I know this has probably been answered already. When I pass a user name and password from a form to my PHP script and then pass those to mysql_connect it doesn't connect. When I paste those exact same values into mysql_connect as string literals it works. Can anyone tell me why this happens? I know the strings are identical to the literals I try in a test but they don't work when submitted via form. $form_user = $_POST[ 'user' ]; $form_pass = $_POST[ 'password' ]; # Connect to remote DB $LINK = mysql_connect( $host, $form_user, $form_pass ); And yes, my $host param is correct. Thanks,