Over the Moon

Though made in 1939 and released right after Hitler started his march through Europe, the Alexander Korda production Over the Moon actually looks older. That's because production started in 1937. It's in color with a very young Merle Oberon who, in the beginning, looks less like the Merle Oberon we knew once she came to Hollywood, but later has a new look, and a very young Rex Harrison.

The sound on this was fuzzy, so I didn't get all of it.

Anyway, Oberon plays Jane Benson who lives in the family home in Yorkshire. She's in love with the local doctor, Freddie (Harrison) and wants to marry him. They decide to marry, but then, Jane inherits an absolute fortune - 18 million pounds. Freddie dumps her. So right away, you know this isn't based on a true story.

Freddie feels her money would ruin his ambition, and he isn't interested in the trappings of money. Jane wants to spend about 2 million on frivolities and then give it all away. She goes on her spending adventure and attracts two men; meanwhile, Freddie has gotten a lot of attention for turning down an heiress.

Some gorgeous European scenery to be had here, but the film moves a bit slowly. Still, it's nice to look at, and it's always a pleasure to see Oberon and Harrison, two fine actors.

A maid (Merle Oberon) comes into an £18 million fortune, but the local doctor and her beau (Rex Harrison) refuses to marry her as the money has gone to her head. She then searches for a suitable suitor, while the doctor moves to Switzerland to work in a Swiss clinic.

Without the lush Technicolor (one of five films by producer Alexander Korda made in Technicolor in the 1930s) and the European travelogue locations to maintain the interest this romancer would be something of a washout. It demonstrates very literally all that glitters is not necessarily gold underneath. Oberon adds some glamour to a film that begain shooting in 1937 and was not released until 1940.

The exotic beauty Merle Oberon was primed by her producer husband Alexander Korda for great things (it was at his behest she changed her name from Estelle Merle Thompson to Oberon and they were married the year OVER THE MOON was released) but is today probably remembered for only a few of the more than two dozen films she made before World War II and the relative handful she made after it - none more than the first American film she made immediately after this release, WUTHERING HEIGHTS.

OVER THE MOON was a top drawer release in 1939 just as World War II was breaking out - it opened in London barely a month after Hitler invaded Poland - and well received. The story of a young doctor who rejects the image of marrying for money and the woman on the rebound having to cope with that money and all the advice, good and bad, that comes with it, allowed for ravishingly beautiful Technicolor vistas of European sights from Paris to the Riviera, Venice and beyond in a world still at peace.

If the film itself hasn't aged as well as, say, Bernard Shaw's THE MILLIONAIRESS, it is more because the writers were not in Shaw's league than any of the other elements. Truth be told, it may come across as a little dull for those not willing to go with the quiet pace of the screenwriters' telling of the Robert Anderson/Lajos Biro story. It would be interesting to know why such an apparently important film was released in Lisbon a full eight months before its London premiere - was there re-editing involved, or did the film when initially released cause reservations in the distributors and the London premiere only get pushed because of the War? Whichever, the result was successful at the time.

Nevertheless, OVER THE MOON (as of this date unreleased on video in the US - but available in a Greek PAL DVD release) is worth seeking out for the relatively early performance by Rex Harrison as the naive doctor (still two and six years before his career defining Shaw and Coward films, MAJOR BARBARA and BLYTHE SPIRIT) and an all too-rare performance by the great Elisabeth Welch (an expatriate American singer/actress renowned for creating "Solomon" in Cole Porter's NYMPH ERRANT in the original 1933 London production of that show) as a cabaret singer.

Minor OVER THE MOON may be today, but like its star, Ms. Oberon, it remains lovely to look at and a worthy diversion for a rainy afternoon.

In a small Yorkshire village, girlish Merle Oberon (as Jane Benson) tends to her bedridden grandfather. His country doctor, young Rex Harrison (as Freddie Jarvis), seems more interested in checking Ms. Oberon's heartbeat. Their pulses rise and a marriage is considered. Suddenly, Oberon inherits 18,000,000 pounds, courtesy of her penny-pinching grandfather. That should be happy news, but Oberon reacts with a perplexed look. After the riches sink in, she decides to join high society in London, Monte Carlo and Nice. Initially along for the ride, Mr. Harrison becomes bored with fancy cars, parties and glitter. Harrison leaves. Oberon parties on, but something is missing...

This film meanders along clumsily. It appears disjointed, and Oberon often looks less than her beautiful self. One reason for this is the fact that "Over the Moon" jumped around three production years. It was begun in 1937 and completed in 1939. Although Oberon had yet to appear in the classic "Wuthering Heights" (1939), she was already an established star, having received an "Academy Award" nomination for "The Dark Angel" (1935). Herein, it appears that filmmakers are still searching for the proper way to photograph Oberon. This may be due to the fact that "Over the Moon" was filmed in color. Some of the camera angles, lighting and takes used are not flattering.

*** Over the Moon (2/12/39) Thornton Freeland ~ Merle Oberon, Rex Harrison, Ursula Jeans, Robert Douglas

For some reason all of the reviews for this film are from the state's.As this film was recently shown on London Live I can redress this.Firstly the colour is typical of pre war Technicolour and is quite beautiful.The sound was totally audible,at least to me.This was not the only London Film held up for release,21 Days being another.In any event since British film production had fallen to a low level due to bombing and requisition of studios,the release of these films would help British cinemas cope with their quota requirements.It is not a film which will rate highly in the careers of either stars.The plot must have hackneyed even at the time of production.Oberon inherits a lot of money and is then perused by a lot of aristocratic Chinese wonders who can offer a title in return for large wads of cash..Incidentally there is a really fine musical number by the immortal Elizabeth Welch which license up the proceedings.