The Moonlighter

Anyone else but Barbara Stanwyck would have delivered her character's lines and they would have sounded completely corny. Somehow she always sounds believable. It's not a great story, but not bad, until the ending. It simply fell flat and was disappointing. I was expecting more.

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 ****

It seems hard to imagine that in the era of such great westerns as Shane and Wagonmaster a film like The Moonlighter could have been so lacking. This film is let down in nearly all of its scenes by its script. Yet while the script falters, Roy Rowland kind of saves the film through directing some interesting action scenes, including an opening lynching that is fairly riveting to watch, as well as a later fistfight between MacMurray and Ward Bond and horseback riding through a cascading waterfall, all done in decent black and white by ace cinematographer Bert Glennon. It's completely puzzling that the story behind the lynching is dropped in favor of the one about Fred, his brother, and Barbara Stanwyck, a strange love triangle. The roles of MacMurray and the actor who plays his brother should have been reversed, with the younger brother playing Fred's part as the moonlighter (cattle rustler) and Fred playing the loser bank clerk. Yet by the end of the film, it seemed at least slightly better than it was looking like it was going to be. Stanwyck looks convincing in a pretty decent rifle fight even if her affair with moonlighter Fred MacMurray is not anywhere near as hot as it was with him when they were in Double Indemnity.

One wonders why Warner Brothers chose to make The Moonlighter in 3-D and yet not bother with color. That almost to me seems self defeating if you're trying to lure people out of their homes and away from their television screens.

And why do this on a minor western? Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck who made the classic Double Indemnity for Paramount almost a decade earlier set off no sparks in The Moonlighter. MacMurray is in the title role and when one is a Moonlighter one is a cattle rustler who plies his trade during the evening hours. Either way it can get you lynched as a mob from the town where MacMurray is in jail does, but to the wrong guy thinking it's him.

Which allows him to take some revenge on those that wanted to do him in, like Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High. Still a wanted man Fred goes back to the old home town where he wants to take up bank robbery and visit his sweetheart Barbara Stanwyck. But she's now seeing his brother William Ching.

Nevertheless Fred does attempt a robbery with old outlaw colleague Ward Bond. After that the plot gets so ridiculous that I almost dare you to see it.

In color it would have been better, but there is a nice sequence at a waterfall involving the stars that must have been great in 3-D. But for my money it's not enough to make up for a really ridiculous plot in a film that neither star thought highly of.

'The Moonlighter' could have been good with the right execution. The idea sounded good. The main draw though was the cast, Fred MacMurray and especially Barbara Stanwyck were both no strangers to good and more performances (Stanwyck even was magnificent at her best, which was many times) and they proved in their other outings, namely 'Double Indemnity', that they could work very well together. Ward Bond was always watchable too when in the right role.

A large part of me really did want to like 'The Moonlighter' and go against the generally negative general consensus. But this was a big disappointment for me and should have been so much better considering its potential, am aware that that is a very cliched phrase to use in a review that people are probably tired of but it does apply in the case of 'The Moonlighter'. Both Stanwyck and MacMurray have done much better work individually and of their four collaborations, this is the weakest.

Neither Stanwyck or MacMurray are among 'The Moonlighter's' many faults. MacMurray is especially good, bringing burning and rugged charisma and the right amount of gritty intensity to his character, who is more interesting than Stanwyck's and has more screen time. Stanwyck gives her all and she is steely and affecting. The film looks good generally and is nicely photographed.

Will agree with those that say that 'The Moonlighter' started off great, the first half hour is riveting. William Ching does quite well and the bank robbery sequence is tense.

Sadly, after that point the film became a tonal mishmash and very muddled narratively, hence what people mean when they talk of the film's bizarreness. It also becomes very implausible with much of it not making much sense, and that is including the very hastily paced, very anti-climactic and too pat ending and the relationship betweeen the two brothers. There is not enough chemistry between Stanwyck and MacMurray which is both underdeveloped and underused and when one sees them together they don't ignite together, what worked so brilliantly in 'Double Indemnity' doesn't work at all here.

Generally the 3D was not needed considering that 'The Moonlighter' doesn't do anywhere near enough with it. The music is too light-hearted and would have agreed been at home much better in comedy. Ward Bond looks uncomfortable and this is the type of role that would have suited him. Roy Rowland's direction is very pedestrian and so is the awkward sounding script that gets really weird in the second half. The story doesn't compel after such a great first act and becomes ridiculous and odd, the glaring lack of tension and suspense really bringing 'The Moonlighter' down significantly.

In summary, starts off great but very disappointing on the whole. 4/10