Moontide (1942)

Very disappointing...

Excellent adaptation.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Fans of the great Jean Gabin, get a good dose of his charm and charisma, as he portrays 'Bobo', in this fine film co-starring a young Ida Lupino as 'Anna', his love interest. Although the production suffers a bit, mostly due to a low-budget and marginal sets, the chemistry between Gabin and Lupino is tangible. Thomas Mitchell turns in a good performance as despicable 'Tiny', the blackmailer. Claude Rains co-stars as the loyal 'Nutsy', Bobo's true friend, and if you watch closely, you'll notice Victor Sen-Young as 'Takeo'(credited as 'Sen Young') who delighted audiences as 'Hop Sing' in "Bonanza". Gabin's ability to convey a range of emotions, from bliss to rage, really carry this film and Lupino fans get to see her as a young, fragile character who finds love in the least likely of places. Viewers of "Moontide" may also like "The Sicilian Clan", which has Jean Gabin playing the matriarch of a crime family, in 1960's Europe.

The opening of the film has Jean Gabin drinking, and heavily would be an understatement. The cinematographer and editor shine in a brilliant P.O.V. montage of bizarre 40's era special effects of hallucinogenic drunkenness. In addition Thomas Mitchell's role as Gabin's so-called buddy, but in reality his blackmailer, is very well done. He's not a nice guy in this role. Great acting by Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino and Claude Rains, who is hard to recognize in the first scene in the bar. Maybe the fault of the film lies at the hands of the writers or director or the studio or some reason yet unknown to man to tag on the happy ending.

I would have wanted to see what Fritz Lang would have given us. As it is, I found it a big yawn.And what is that love music that we hear over and over to the point of nausea? It is not credited on the opening credits..but that same music was heard in Fox's 1954 Irving Berlin epic "There's No Business Like Show Business"...I think it might be called "Remember" ??? Can anyone confirm this and why it was not credited? Why is it so over-used in this film..I can't believe Lang would have done that.Rains is wasted talent here, when he did so many other great roles. Gabin is fine but this role is not a strong enough part, he just looks like a country bumpkin. Give me M.Hulot!! ;-)

The characters in this movie were on the interesting side even though there were pretty much straight forward and didn't have much emotional depth. The relationship between the characters themselves made the characters somewhat interesting. For Claude Rains fans, it has been said that this is possibly the closest the Rains ever came to playing himself. So, it is interesting to see what he was moderately like.The drinking montage in the beginning of the film is interesting because it is very surreal...it sort of reminded me of that silent Salivor Dali film that was made.However, the film was very slow moving and the plot was not really either clever or in-depth. It was a very straight forward plot that you don't really find out what is driving the plot until the end. In the beginning it seems like just a lot of loose ends.Over all, I wouldn't discourage anybody from seeing it if they really wanted to. After all, I even own a copy!