The Moonlighter (1953)

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A couple of reviews here questioned the need for an intermission in this film. One called it "unnecessary" and another thought it was meant to sell more stuff at the candy counter. Those could be true, but I think it's more likely that it was needed to load film into the projectors. The 3D films at that time used a two image projection system, often taking up all available projection room space.If you take a look at the last minute or so of the first half, you'll note that this film has none of those bubble-like cues (those must have had a name, right?) to let the projectionist know that it's time to switch machines. Most likely, the film had to be removed from the projector and replaced with the second half.I won't bother reviewing the film, itself. The folks here covered it well. Pretty lousy movie. I just wanted to, hopefully, clear up a question that has been burning in everyone's mind for so many years.

A western, a revenge epic in the Sergio Leone mode, a 3D novelty, a soap opera, and a reunion for Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, who were so great together in "Double Indemnity" and "Remember the Night." By those standards it's a letdown, and screenwriter Niven Busch, who did well by Babs in "The Furies," seems unable to concentrate on any one plot strand for very long. Fred's a cattle rustler, or moonlighter, who's awaiting trial but facing a lynching, when, for contrived plot reasons, the mob seizes the wrong man and lynches him. Fred breaks out and swears revenge. Then it's a romance, as he heads back to his former sweetheart, who, unpersuasively, is being courted by Fred's younger brother, the always-watchable William Ching. He feels young for Babs, though, and this is a little late in her career for her to be playing an ingenue. Then, with the two brothers trading Babs back and forth, old crony Ward Bond shows up, and Ching unconvincingly leaves his steady bank teller job to assist the other two in robbing the bank he works for. The love story doesn't work, the 3D is largely unemployed except for one waterfall sequence that must have looked good, and the happy ending is rushed and ridiculous. Still, there are some good sequences--the hanging, a swell Fred-Ward fight, the tense bank robbery. Roy Rowland directs, as he always did, anonymously.

A romantic comedy/drama, a dangerous film noir, and a soap opera about adultery rounded out three of the four films that Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray made together. The first, "Remember the Night", is a sleeper that has gained prominence in its reputation. "Double Indemnity" is of course one of the all time great thrillers, and "There's Always Tomorrow" is an acceptable, if predictable, women's picture. In the case of "The Moonighter" (a film I have been trying to track down for years), the 3-D western (lacking that element on DVD) is a slight disappointment, mainly because the script is so shoddy and the lead male character isn't somebody you really root for.In "Remember the Night", MacMurray was a D.A. who prosecuted Stanwyck for shoplifting but took her home for the holidays. Here, it is almost the opposite. He's a cattle rustler due to be hanged, but by a strange twist of fate, another man is hanged in his place. The one thing I can give the script credit for is showing conscience in MacMurray's reaction to the removal of the wrong man and his viewing the corpse being shot down from the tree where he was meant to swing. Former girlfriend Stanwyck shows up to claim the corpse with his brother (William Ching) whom she has fallen in love with and instantly knows that he is really alive. Their reunion is tense, especially when he reluctant involves Ching in a bank robbery he has planned with old co-conspirator Ward Bond. Of course, things don't go well for Ching, so Stanwyck vows revenge against her old lover.This is where Stanwyck obtains a sheriff's badge, determined to bring MacMurray and Bond back. She's really handy with a gun (as shown in the confrontation with the really bad Bond), but she's not wearing waterproof boots which make her slide down the side of a huge waterfall. It's an incredibly tense moment and appears that Stanwyck performed the stunt herself. In print, everything seems fine, and structurally, the film isn't bad. But MacMurray's amoral character, even with guilt over the poor man's place on the tree instead of him, is certainly guilty of villainous behavior, so there's no way you want to see him have a happy ending, especially after MacMurray and Bond do what typical co-conspirators in a robbery do and try to betray each other.There's really no point to the 3-D filming, especially since the movie is in black and white and would look extremely flat for the majority of the running time. There are some tense moments, and the action sequences are well shot, but the dialog and the unbelievability of many of the things going on takes away its credibility. Stanwyck, as always, brings out the many layers of her character and delivers a believable performance, but MacMurray isn't worthy of her affections. The ending left me very cold, lacking the "Double Indemnity" type finale I had hoped for. Out of nowhere comes an unnecessary intermission! The only thing this is missing is a Frankie Laine song, but Stanwyck got that for her Mexican adventure, "Blowing Wild".

Cattle rustler outwits a lynch mob and takes refuge with his Ma and kid brother; he reacquaints himself with a former sweetheart--but after he's involved in a bank robbery, the girl gets herself deputized and vows to bring him in "dead or alive". Mediocre western rides a familiar trail, the only hook for an audience (today, and most likely in 1953 as well) being the casting of the leads. Fred MacMurray is a terrific failed bad guy, his look of incredulousness suiting his hulking frame, while Barbara Stanwyck acquits herself well in cowgirl duds and handles both horse and rifle exceptionally well. Not a barn-burner by any means, and saddled with a stodgy direction from Roy Rowland, but an interesting b-item for admirers of the stars. ** from ****