Moonfleet (1955)

The Worst Film Ever

Just what I expected

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Somewhere Over the Ocean Blue One recent afternoon, as the heat crept up the sides of the verdant foothills, I chanced to watch the very last film of one, Skelton Knaggs. He of the ugliest of the liver damaged wing watchers. He passed on to the fields of Oberon before the film was released, but his visage lighted the battlements of it in fantabulous color and Cinemascope. He had no dialog, but was there to add what paltry finesse he could to the proceedings. It is a kind of Robert Louis Stevens-ish buck swashler with a beauteous score by Miklos Rozsa and a half hearted direction by Fritz Lang, who seemed to spend not too much time on it, but wanted to get in line for a ticket on a sea voyage homeward bound. It starred Stewart Granger whom I have always enjoyed because he was a leading man who did not care if his hair was turning gray. Avast me hardies, and give 'em lead!

This is a late Fritz Lang effort for MGM, an odd assignment for him in that it's a Stewart Granger costume picture, not the sort of project one would expect the director to have been hired for. The film turns out quite nicely. It's a fairly conventional story of smuggler's on the English coast, features a fine cast of veteran players, many of whom had appeared in pictures of this sort before.That the story is presented in large part through the eyes of a small boy lends it a measure of distinction. We see Granger's character much as the boy does, as a hero, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. Granger is excellent in the lead. Despite what appears to be a modest budget, this is a handsome film, in the grand manner. That it's a back-lot picture, thus not a real spectacle, is more than made up for by Lang's manner of dealing with his material. The movie feels like a fairy tale. The ending is unexpectedly moving, surprised me, and is still vivid in my memory.While not a masterpiece, Moonfleet should satisfy admirers of its director and costume picture fans as well.

The book Moonfleet, by John Meade Falkner, belongs in that category of boyish swashbucklers occupied by other titles such as Treasure Island, The Prisoner Of Zenda and Kidnapped. In fact, I'd probably rate the book as one of my all-time favourites. It's definitely, for me, the best of the four I have just mentioned. I approached the film version in a positive and excited frame of mind, firstly because I was such a fan of the book, and secondly because the film's cast and crew bore much promise. Seasoned actors like Stewart Granger, George Sanders and Joan Greenwood are always a pleasure to watch, and director Fritz Lang's work is usually very good. Alas, the film version of Moonfleet remains stuck in mediocrity for its entire 87 minute duration. Never so bad that it becomes unwatchable, yet conversely never quite good enough to wholly grab the viewer's attention.John Mohune (Jon Whiteley), a young boy, is sent by his dying mother to the coastal village of Moonfleet to find her former lover, a man named Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). She promises the boy that Fox will take care of him once she has passed away. Young John does as he is instructed but soon discovers that Fox is not particularly the nice man he was expecting to find. Initially, Fox is very unwelcoming and uncaring towards young John, and spends much of his time either flirting outrageously with the female villagers or conspiring with various shifty-looking characters. Gradually young John comes to realise that Fox is in charge of a gang of smugglers, and is planning – with the aid of roguish local nobleman Lord Ashwood (George Sanders) - to step up into piracy. After a while a seed of friendship develops between John and Fox, and when the youngster reveals what he knows about a priceless diamond that once belonged to the Mohune family, they pair together to find the precious stone.Some aspects of the film work decently enough. Like so many films of this era, the photography (Robert Planck) captures the colours of the period beautifully and the music (Miklos Rosza) is typically rousing. Granger is a dab hand at these "likable villain" roles, and he provides yet another thoroughly enjoyable characterisation. On the flip side the sets are distractingly studio-bound, the narrative is rather muddled and the film tries unsuccessfully to improve upon the original source story (even though the original was fine as it was). I think movies adapted from books should remain at least partially faithful to the source - otherwise, what's the point? Wouldn't it be as well to promote the film as an original story and not claim it to be an adaptation? In the case of Moonfleet, the bare bones of the novel remain in place but an awful lot has been altered… and not really for the better. Perhaps if I hadn't read the book first I might have enjoyed the film more. On the whole, Moonfleet is a routine swashbuckler – it doesn't shine brightly as a leading title within its own genre, nor is it up to the high standards often attained by its director. Yet at the same time it doesn't fail so miserably that it is unworthy of a look.

Moonfleet was great. I like the premise - boy is sent to find man (after his dying mother promises the man will look after him). Turns out man was in love with boy's mother, and when he couldn't have her spent his life not really loving anyone but having lots of women anyway. Man manages not to be too friendly to the boy at first.Also turns out man is the ringleader of a gang of smugglers. And boy's ancestor had this famous diamond that Redbeard (local ghost of the village of Moonfleet) is meant to be looking for.You can probably guess the rest of the plot. But I shan't give it away, because honestly, you should all go watch it.What I loved about it, apart from the derring-do (fights, dressing up as soldiers, sneaking about in the countryside, smuggling) and the wonderfulness of Stewart Granger (looks, voice, a real hero persona), was the really touching bits.OK, I'm about to spoil the ending now. DON'T keep reading if you haven't already seen it.Man ends up saving the boy's life a couple of times, but still insists he'll leave him behind and go off to his new life of crooked prosperity once he's helped him to find the diamond. They find the diamond, and indeed he leaves him behind (leaving him a note while he's asleep). Just as he's going off to the new life of crooked prosperity, however, he has a change of heart and goes back for the boy. But another guy stabs him in the back, and he's mortally wounded. He goes back to where the boy is still sleeping, takes the note away, and then wakes him up, gives him the diamond, tells him to stay in Moonfleet, doesn't reveal he's dying and promises to come back someday before rowing off into the night. And it was *so darn sad*. I wasn't expecting to cry, but I did - very pathetic, perfect catharsis.I love a film that leaves you still thinking about the ending for a while.