Moontide

Moontide

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Archie Mayo
Produced by Mark Hellinger
Screenplay by John O'Hara
Based on the novel Moontide
1942 novel 
by Willard Robertson
Starring
Music by
  • David Buttolph
  • Cyril J. Mockridge
Cinematography Charles G. Clarke
Edited by William Reynolds
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • May 29, 1942 (1942-05-29) (premiere-New York City)
  • May 29, 1949 (1949-May-29) (United States)
Running time
 94 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Moontide is a 1942 American drama film noir directed by Archie Mayo and Fritz Lang, although Lang was uncredited when the film was released. The screenplay was written by John O'Hara and Nunnally Johnson (also uncredited) and based on the novel written by Willard Robertson (Moontide). The production features Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell and Claude Rains.[1]

Charles G. Clarke was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black & White.

Plot

The film tells about a man: Bobo (Jean Gabin) who fears he has committed a murder when he was drunk. And a woman: Anna (Ida Lupino), who tried to drawn herself and is rescued by Bobo. They try to live together ... but a wicked man - Tiny (Thomas Mitchell (actor)) - wants to tear them apart.

Cast

Reception

When the film was first released, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, questioned the direction of the film, especially its focus on actor Jean Gabin, writing, "But all of them need much more than a vague and irresolute script, much more than synthetic scenery and manufactured moods. Director Archie Mayo hasn't brought them into contact with real life. He has expended most of his energy in bringing the audience into contact with Mr. Gabin. And Moontide is too heavy a burden to be carried entirely by him, even though he is Charles Boyer from the other side of the railroad tracks."[2]

More recently, film critic Dave Kehr (writing for the same New York newspaper) wrote, "Moontide, ... provides an illuminating link to one of the frequently overlooked sources of noir: the movement known as 'poetic realism', which flourished in France from the mid-1930s until the onslaught of war ... a rootless, hard-drinking French sailor, Bobo (Gabin), achieves a tentative domesticity operating a bait shack with Anna (Ida Lupino), a waif he has rescued from a suicide attempt. The story is so much in the foggy, claustrophobic, doom-laden spirit of poetic realism that at times it seems almost a parody of it. Fate is present in the form of Tiny (Thomas Mitchell), a blackmailer with knowledge of a murder that Bobo might have committed. A kindlier metaphysical force is represented by Claude Rains, playing a waterfront philosopher with the unfortunate name Nutsy."[3]

When the DVD was released in 2008, critic David Mermelstein, writing for Variety, wrote, "A twisted romance set among waterfront lowlifes, the b&w pic resonated with neither critics nor auds, though as this DVD debut makes clear, there seems every reason to hope cineastes may now embrace it for what is always was: a keenly observed, highly atmospheric film distinguished by several superb performances and a captivating, if quotidian, mise-en-scene. Solid extras like a full commentary track and meaty 'making-of' featurette should only help raise its standing."[4]

Accolades

References

  1. ↑ Moontide at the TCM Movie Database.
  2. ↑ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, April 30, 1942. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Kehr,Dave,. The New York Times film review, September 1, 2008; accessed July 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ Mermelstein, David. Variety, DVD review, September 2, 2008; accessed July 6, 2013.

External links

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