Blood on the Moon (1948)

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Whoever came up with the line in my summary above ought to get a prize. It was spoken by Robert Mitchum's character Jim Garry right before he went mano a mano with bad guy Riling (Robert Preston) at the Commissary saloon. It was a see-saw battle for a time and might have been curtains for Garry but for the intervention of old Kris Barden (Walter Brennan), who by that time had had his fill of Riling's underhanded dealings with his fellow ranchers.Well ordinarily you wouldn't get such a fine story coming out of a late Forties Western. The plot contains an element I haven't seen before, whereby baddie Riling enlists the aid of government Indian agent Pindelast (Frank Faylen) to seize the cattle herd of rancher Lufton (Tom Tully) if he's still grazing on reservation land by a certain deadline. Lufton plants a false message with his daughter Amy (Barbara Bel Geddes) on where he'll transfer his herd, as Jim Garry is caught up in the intrigue while straddling both factions until he gets the lay of the land.If your only memory of actress Bel Geddes is from her role as matriarch of the Ewing Family on the hit TV series 'Dallas', you'll probably be surprised to see what a good looking woman she was in her early years here. The same can be said of other actresses like Angela Lansbury and Bette Davis, so being an avid film fan has it's unexpected surprises and rewards. Her character Amy Lufton gets off on the wrong foot with Garry, but winds up heading off into the proverbial sunset with him by film's end.But on the way there, the dusty trail is replete with villainous plots and double cross, and in a way, one could argue that Jim Garry pulled off his fair share as well. But only after seeing how Riling was using his position to deceive his fellow ranchers and try to corrupt one of the Lufton daughters to set up her Dad. Speaking of which, how did Garry know that Riling was seeing Carol Lufton (Phyllis Thaxter) on the sly? There wasn't even a hint in the story line of how he could have learned that.Other reviewers here comment on the noir-like nature of this picture and I guess I'd have to concur. There's that scene of Mitchum coming out of the shadows right after his fight with Riling that could serve as a poster shot for the genre if this wasn't actually a Western. Other elements serve as well, particularly the dark atmosphere and the presence of Carol Lufton before she has her reality check with Riling. And you can't get any more noir than having a title like "Blood on the Moon".

'Blood on the Moon' (1948) mini-review - It still surprises me that after all these decades I'm still finding great old movies I've never seen before. Today on TCM there was an excellent western on called 'Blood on the Moon'. Somehow I'd never seen it. I will now add this to my list of favorite all time westerns. Robert Mitchum was in top tough guy form here. Walter Brennan was excellent as always. Mr. Brennan especially impressed me in one scene where he gets some terrible news. He expresses so much in that moment with just his face and no words. Barbara Bel Geddes was also impressive as a tough woman who stands up as a match for Mitchum. The direction by Robert Wise and Lillie Hayward's screenplay were top notch too. If I had one compliant it's that Robert Michum's character sure recovers fast from a serious injury...oh it's just a knife wound to the chest put a few herbs on it and I'll be good as new in an hour or two. Still if you love westerns I highly recommend this one.

Blood on the Moon is directed by Robert Wise and is adapted from a Luke Short story by Lillie Hayward and Harold Shumante. It stars Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, Phyllis Thaxter, Frank Faylen, Tom Tully and Charles McGraw. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. Story has Mitchum as drifting cowboy Jim Garry, who after receiving a job offer in the mail from old acquaintance Tate Riling (Preston), finds himself pitched in the middle of a war between cattle ranchers and homesteaders.Effective and tightly crafted Western that has garnered many favourable remarks, due in the main to its ability to veer away from formula suggested by the plot and the technical film noir touches brought about by the great Musuraca. With Mitchum turning in one of his great screen dominating performances, film is driven forward by the psychological aspects brought about by thematics such as duplicity, split loyalties and moral quandaries. Director Wise does a good job of pacing the film, keeping it on the slow burn whilst dialling into Jim Garry's mindset, and picture is further boosted by a great knuckle fight and a rip-roaring siege shoot out at the end. But it's the mood created by Musuraca and Wise that is the real winner. With the film set 90% at night or in darkened rooms, shadow play is high and an oppressive feel adds weight to the psychological clocks ticking away in the narrative. In support of Mitchum, Geddes does spunky cowgirl well, while the presence of Brennan, Faylen and the gravel voiced McGraw is keenly felt.Good story, well acted and visually potent. 7/10

Although RKO was a major studio, in the 1940s an unusually large proportion of its output was low-budget B-movies. And not just any B-movies – psychological urban horrors from the Val Lewton unit, and plenty of gritty thrillers of the type that would come to be known as film noir. There was also a brisk trade in Westerns at all the studios, and RKO was no exception, but perhaps no picture better demonstrates that the studio was practically stuck in "noir" mode than the literally dark Western Blood on the Moon.Much of Blood on the Moon's bleak look is down to director of photography Nicholas Musuraca, who did the job on many of the Lewton horrors, including the seminal Cat People. Musuraca was quite capable of doing regular (and still very accomplished) cinematography – take a look at I Remember Mama, for which he received his only Oscar nomination – but his speciality was cloaking the screen in vast swathes of black. You would think this would be difficult in a Western, which ought to be full of vast empty plains and sunny skies. But Musuraca uses lighting techniques that can turn anything into a silhouette, or edges and corners into indistinct patches of darkness. He even makes clouds and buttes into foreboding black blobs. But he does not simply dim everything darker – his craft is very precise, and he is capable of throwing sharp white light where it is needed, or creating layers of grey amidst the gloom. Incidentally, while this adds immensely to the atmosphere, it is also probably part of RKO's general trend of hiding the lack of lavishness on a cheap production. After all, who needs a big town set when all you can make out is a door frame and a hitching post? Musuraca's partner in crime is director Robert Wise, another graduate of the Lewton unit. Wise adds to the atmosphere by composing tightly framed shots with bits of scenery and foreground clutter obscuring chunks of the screen. And look at how much of the movement is in depth rather than across the screen. Often characters are moving straight towards us, virtually staring into the lens, and this adds to the aura of menace. Just like in a well-made film noir (as well as those Val Lewton horrors) the overall impression is of a surreal nightmare world from which there is no escape. That is quite an achievement in a Western.Wise was also an expert at handling the pacing of his pictures, here shooting intense and nasty action sequences, spaced out by moody and measured dialogue scenes. This latter actually gives room for some nice acting performances. Robert Mitchum – a man who made an art form out of laconic moodiness – is perfect for those quieter moments. Like Humphrey Bogart, he was at first mistaken for a supporting player, but film noir gave him a niche as a leading man. Barbara Bel Geddes seems really cut out as Mitchum's tomboyish love interest. Active and assertive parts like the one she has here did not come up often for women in this era, and she gives it her all. Best of the bunch though is Walter Brennan, who looks and sounds like the typical crusty old man, and as such played a part in dozens of Westerns in his time. But under his character actor exterior he could emote beautifully, and in Blood on the Moon you really believe his mourning for his son.What we have here isn't simply a case of Wise and Musurasca giving a mischievous murky makeover to a good ol' cowboy flick. It seems the project was in noir territory right from the outset. Lillie Hayward, who I don't recall seeing credited anywhere else, but seems to have done a top job, has really just given us a gritty PI thriller out West. Mitchum is not so much the iconic drifter and more a grudgingly moral gun for hire. There is little distinction between the cowpunchers and the homesteaders (although in any case these two groups tended to be fairly interchangeable as villains and heroes from one Western to another – a bit like the North and South in Civil War movies). And interestingly this is one of the few pictures of this time to feature bona fide cowgirls, who shoot, talk and ride like the men. Parasols and petticoats are out of the question in this Western.Leaving aside all social context and genre subversion, the most important question is surely, is it actually any good? The answer is yes. Blood on the Moon does what any decently made B-flick ought to do – it is neither deep, moving or intelligent, but it gives a quick and reliable round of entertainment.