Avis des utilisateurs

Normally, I would think when you pitched a film idea to Republic their first question would be "OK, what does this have to do with Westerns or John Wayne?" And here is a film from that studio that involves neither.

In a small Virginia town, Danny Hawkins' father is hanged for murder when Danny (Dane Clark) is just an infant. The result is that, for his entire life, other kids have tormented him for being the son of a man who was executed. Like he had any control over that anymore than he had any control over how tall he was. Thus is the nature of bullying. But I digress.

One night at a dance, out in the woods, Danny and his tormenter since childhood are having a fight. Jerry Sykes (Lloyd Bridges) is the tormenter, and when the fight turns against him, he picks up a rock. Bad idea. Danny gets the rock away from him and does to Sykes what Sykes was going to do to him - bashes his skull in repeatedly, with a lifetime of anger over this guy's bullying swirling in his head. Realizing what he has done, he throws Sykes' body into the swamp and goes back to the dance like nothing has happened.

The rest of the town is about as likeable as Sykes was - judgmental, snobby, a hive mentality. But those characters are largely kept at a distance as part of the crowd. The ones you get to know are likeable and sympathetic people - a retired brakeman living in the woods (Rex Ingram), Sykes' girl whom Danny unfortunately loves (Gail Russell), and believe it or not the sheriff, playing against stereotype for the lawman of a southern town of the era. Oh, and it turns out that Sykes was not that great a guy - he owed lots of money and he stole lots of money from dad's bank to pay his debts.

Given Sykes' bad character there might be any number of suspects, and given the decomposition of the body by the time it is found and the primitive nature of forensics as it was in 1948, Danny might not even be a suspect if he played it cool. But he does just the opposite of that, drawing the attention of the whole town by his suddenly bizarre behavior.

This is practically a one man show and probably the best performance Dane Clark ever gave as his character wrestles with bitterness, anger, guilt, and fear of the town that hanged his father and thus would probably never believe his own story of partial self defense. The costar of the film is the fantastic cinematography by John L. Russell, with beautiful black and white shading, with many important scenes being shot in the moonlight.

Dream-like dark film about a man driven to murder. Aside from the soundtrack and the lack of southern accents, this movie shines. A great b-movie with great visuals. Check out star Dane Clark goes eye to eye with a racoon, realizing they're both trapped with no escape. The film's not for everyone, but if you like b&w film noir you should dig this one up.

MOONRISE shines. Borzage brings expressionist silent movie technique to bear on what is really more a melodrama than a film noir, a tale of guilt and redemption ultimately close to his romantic concerns. The difference is the degree of psychological angst we have to go through with the protagonist in order to reach it. Borzage's technique brings us into the hero's mind, from the stunning opening (flashbacks within flashbacks) to the hero's guilty visions. That opening is one of the finest I've ever seen, building up an unbelievable pressure in the first couple of minutes of the picture, leading to a thirst for revenge which the hero, and the audience, can spend the rest of the film regretting.

Directed by Frank Borzage and adapted from the novel by Theodore Strauss, Moonrise sees Dane Clark playing Danny Hawkins, the son of a man who was hanged for his crimes. Tormented by his father's past and bullied about it as a child, Hawkins grows into a confused and resentful man. Striking out at anyone foolish enough to cross his fractured state of mind, tragedy is quick to strike, sending Hawkins deep into the Southern mire. Can solace come in the form of Gilly Johnson? (Gail Russell) or is it simply too late to rejoin the human race?

We open with a hazy reflection that merges into the feet of walking men, men walking to the gallows as Danny Hawkins' father is hanged. The mood is well and truly set for Borzage's dreamy film noir. It's something of an oddity in many ways for it most assuredly is film noir, certainly in texture and on the technical issues it is, yet an overtly poetic heart and a distinctly less than broody ending almost steer it to being fanciful fluff. Borzage and his cinematographer, John L. Russell (in one of his first prominent assignments), do wonders with the atmosphere of the piece. Set in the steamy South, shadows and darkness are a constant and rewarding part of proceedings, while swinging lights and conversations filmed at midriffs further enhance the skew whiff state of Dane Clark's protagonist. Also of note is that some scenes showcase why Borzage was rightly held in high regard back in the day, a Ferris Wheel, a car crash and a Racoon tree top sequence (that upset and engrossed me simultaneously) are just some of the reasons why this is a must see for Borzage enthusiasts.

Coming as it does out of the Republic Pictures house of "B" moviedom, it's natural to expect some low budgetary issues. However, this is a splendid production belying its "B" movie worth. The cast are fine, with Clark particularly doing well as his character battles with anger and warmth issues, and the sets and location work are effective and benefit the story greatly. Thankfully, and even though it has no restoration, the picture quality is very good, the sound mix is a bit down at times, but by and large this one has transfered well to prints being shown on British TV. With a support cast containing Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn (excellent), Henry Morgan, Harry Carey Jr and a brief Lloyd Bridges, this is a recommended film of course. But I can't, and will not, vouch for the ending appeasing all comers. 7/10

Frank Borzage's 1948 film "Moonrise" is a little off his beaten path, but it shows more of his capabilities.

This noir stars Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Harry Morgan, Allyn Joslyn and Ethel Barrymore.

Dark and atmospheric, the story concerns Danny Hawkins (Dane Clark) whose father was hanged for murder when Danny was just a child. His grandmother sends him to live in another town. There, he's made fun of and bullied his whole life because of what his father did.

One night, the town's rich boy, Jerry (Lloyd Nolan) taunts Danny and the two get into a fight. Danny winds up beating Jerry with a rock. He doesn't admit it; at first people think Jerry has just taken off, and then his body is found. To make things look even worse if people find out the truth, Danny is seeing Jerry's girlfriend, Gilly (Gail Russell).

Up to this point, Borzage's work had been somewhat romantic in tone. This film is harder hitting but there is a softness as well. Some have compared it to "The Night of the Hunter," one of the most beautiful films ever made -- a scary story lyrically told. I suppose in that respect, "Moonrise" is similar.

Unlike "Night of the Hunter," it's about love, and the power of love to force someone from the shadows and into the world. It's expressionistic, especially in the beginning with the use of shadows.

Dane Clark was a kind of poor man's John Garfield (and they loathed one another) who wound up doing a lot of television, but he does a terrific job here as a man with a quick temper, but a kind one, afraid that his heritage has negatively affected him. We see his fear as well as his gentleness.

This film is four years after Gail Russell appeared in "The Uninvited." A beautiful, sad-eyed woman, she is about 27 here, and the radiance displayed in "The Uninvited" is already gone, thanks to her alcoholism. A case of someone not suited to film despite her looks. In a desire to help her family, she went into film, but her nerves couldn't take it. One of Hollywood's saddest stories, she was often in the news, once for driving her car into Jan's Restaurant.

She gives a soft performance here, very sweet and believable.

Ethel Barrymore comes on close to the end of the film and gives a strong performance.

The film really belongs to Clark, a prolific actor who worked into his late seventies and was proud of being "Joe Average," which helped him get his big break at Warner Brothers. This was probably his best role. He was offered the role of Captain Smith in Titanic at the end of his life, but by then he was 84, and his health prevented him returning to the screen.

Interesting man, fascinating film.

Although the story could have easily been adapted into a gritty film noir, director Frank Borzage turns it into a dreamlike, and even romantic, saga of guilt and expiation. The plot is simple and uncomplicated. No cynical, wisecracking dialogue; no hard-boiled detectives or double-crossing femme fatales. The small town setting with frequent rural scenes creates a world far removed from the unusual noir cityscape. The love story unfolds with both strong sexual attraction and delicacy. Imbued with a strong atmosphere and vision all its own, MOONRISE resists easy classification. Like THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, it succeeds in creating a drama of mythic resonance in an American rural setting.

Really interesting photography and moody music sets the tone in this very stylish, excellent film noir about a troubled, bitter man who has a rather bad temper caused by the treatment he has received over the years based on the hanging of his father for murder. One youth who taunted him in childhood has now become a rival for a young lady he admires and in an act of violence and anger, he ends up killing this bully with a rock. But - during the crime he drops his pocket knife which is picked up by a local man who is deaf and mute.

This film is very dark and atmospheric, full of facial close-ups, shadowy rooms, and an interestingly photographed ferris wheel ride with cop and panicky murderer in separate seats as the wheel goes round and round. Well done performances by all, I thought Dane Clark very convincing in his role - he really comes across as broody and bitter. Ethel Barrymore really good in her small, but effective part as his grandmother and Harry Morgan very memorable as the deaf-mute young man. I saw this film on the big screen and the print looked really great, with very sharp black and white contrast. A first-rate film.

I only knew of this movie because I had seen it on a previous TSPDT list. Otherwise I knew absolutely nothing about it and assumed it was primed to be a maudlin romantic melodrama. While it isn't void of any of those characteristics, Moonrise is a film noir that centers around themes of coming to peace with one's self and family.

Danny Hawkins is our lead character and we open with his father being put to death by hanging. Followed by montage of him being bullied by his peers due to his father's misdeeds. Murder, hidden lovers, hound dogs, wise country folk, and snooping lawmen abound. But all of that serves a story about a man coming to terms with his life. Director Frank Borzage, a Hollywood vet by this time in his career, creates beautiful image, one after another. He throws in a few nice noir-ish shots that are just cool, but (pardon my lack of technical knowledge) he consistently shoots characters close up, top of chest to head. I'm not clear why it is so effective here, but Borzage often creates a sense of depth and visual emotion each time. I loved it.

Downsides: The story of Moonrise didn't engage me as much I would like and the lead, Dane Clark, was serviceable at best (I did enjoy Gail Russell a good deal and wished her character didn't fade so far into the background as Moonrise reached its climax). However, knowing what the story is trying to do could make a second viewing a more enthralling experience.

All in all, I had a very good time with Moonrise. Thank you gifter!

It entered my chart at 67%.

Moonrise is made with such care. It is visually both expressive and restrained. It exhibits a remarkable feel for nuance in language (the words of the soda jerk who constantly speaks in late '30's hipster slang being the most obvious sign of this). The film is morally complex and avoids any easy resolutions. For example, Dane Clark as Danny Hawkins seems genuinely disturbed and doesn't turn this into some kind of Ray Milland/James Dean tour de force. Probably he didn't have the chops. But still, this is one of the most affecting things about the film: his hurt goes so deep, neither friendship nor love nor pleasure nor any sense of purpose can really sway it. His emotional violence seems so chimerical that it barely feels like "acting". Rex Ingram as Mose plays his role with an enormous sense of gravitas and dignity, something one rarely sees in Black characters in films of this period. He enables, sure, but he also speaks in his own voice. This is consistent with the film's palpably Southern, swampy atmosphere - it is amazing how Borzage can make studio sets speak like that.The brilliant expressionist opening is often remarked upon, but I also love the elegant, understated crane shot that privileges the couple's ghostly, beautiful dance in the abandoned mansion. And Moonrise (like Murnau's Sunrise, Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Sirk's Tarnished Angels, Lewis' Gun Crazy, Siegel's The Lineup etc.) makes use of the beloved German Expressionist trope which counterpoises the calculated mass entertainment of Carnivals with the particularity of an individual's crisis or tragedy. I wish there was a whole study written on this theme. While on this subject, I just want to say a little more about the traces of other films I perceive here. Moonrise's connection to Night of the Hunter has often been noted, and the debt to Murnau and Sunrise seems obvious, although Borzage was making a couple of his greatest films at the same moment Murnau was making his masterpiece (both were using Janet Gaynor as their star). One small caveat: I find the ending of this film perhaps a little abrupt, but it is consistent with the film's "moral universe". Which is not too high - faluting a term to use while speaking of this film. Moonrise is a minor masterpiece - why isn't it better known?

Frank Borzage turned a noirish subject into an atmospheric romance. In some ways, this belongs to the sub-genre of noir headed by the beautiful "The Live By Night." Dane Clark was a handsome actor with a somewhat limited range but a brooding quality. He broods all over the place here.

Gail Russell was an attractive actress with haunting pale eyes. They are an interesting, though not always believable couple.

Ethel Barrymore is a bit grand to be Clark's backwoods grandma. Rex Ingram is not given a lot to do, though he has a central role. He maintains a noble bearing and that is what's called for.

The scene on a ferris wheel is memorable. The rest is good but I wish it were great.

Teased throughout his childhood after his father is executed for a murder, an angry young man goes on the run after killing one of his peers in self-defense in this melodrama with noir elements from Frank Borzage. The film opens well with atmospheric high camera angle nighttime shots as the main character is bullied and teased as a boy. There is also some great nightmarish imagery as his childhood memories every so often haunt him as an adult. Excellent as 'Moonrise' might look though, it is not an easy film to get through. Always moody and morose, Dane Clark is never actually likable as the emotionally distraught protagonist. The love triangle that he gets into never quite gels either since we are given little insight as to what his love interest sees in him. This in turn makes it a little hard to care what happens to the characters, which is a shame because the film taps into some intriguing psychological territory - guilt over the sin's of his father, forced to live in a community where being a killer is thought to be hereditary and then unsure of what to do when he actually kills a man, albeit by accident. It is all too easy to understand his decision to flee and his conflict about leaving his girl behind.

Plagued by his father's crime and ridiculed by others, Danny Hawkins (Clark) confronts an outcast's life in a small southern town.

When old Mose addresses the dog as Mr. Dog or the guitar as Mr. Guitar, we realize a long suppressed desire for human dignity and respect. If the black man Mose (Ingram) can't get that from the larger community, at least he can create his own little world where all worthy things get respect. I think that's why he lives alone. But despite his estrangement, he hasn't lost perspective. As he says, he wants to rejoin the human race, and it's easy to suppose the larger community needs to change by rising to his level, rather than vice-versa. Then too, when he says dogs should not be used to hunt humans, there's a veiled echo of Jim Crow, covert Hollywood style.

It's only natural that another outcast Danny Hawkins would be drawn to Mose, his only friend. Their scenes together are beautifully performed and sensitively scripted. Note how the subject of "bad blood" and free will comes up elliptically. Danny is haunted by his father's crime and fears it has become his own destiny (the Sykes murder). In Danny's eyes, it's as if he's fated by the blood he's inherited. But Mose knows something about the racial aspect of "bad blood", and insists that blood is no more than "red" and doesn't tell you "what you have to do". This means Danny must overcome the spectre of genetic determinism by becoming his own person and taking responsibility for his own actions. It's only then, by acknowledging a sense of free will, that Danny can escape the burden of inherited guilt.

Of course, it's through Gilly's (Russell) unconditional love that Danny finds the redemption he needs. By releasing himself to that bond, he experiences an emotion strong enough to overcome the haunting sense of inherited fate. At the same time, he can only overcome the anguish of personal guilt for the crime he has committed by owning up to the crime, and confronting the inevitable I-told-you-so's". In Mose's terms, there's a heavy price he must pay for rejoining the human race.

The character of Billy Scripture (Morgan) is often overlooked, but remains a mysterious and profound presence. A simple-minded mute, he's another outcast and frequent figure of ridicule. However, unlike Danny, he remains sweet-tempered and forgiving despite the provocations. Even when nearly strangled by a desperate Danny, he responds with a difficult yet forgiving smile, a touching and unforgettable moment. In his own mute way, he appears to understand an underlying theme—that anger and alienation are symptoms and not causes. His name, I believe, is no accident.

In terms of the movie itself, the cast is superb. Clark may not have been director Borzage's first choice; nevertheless he comes up with a vivid and nuanced performance. Catch his many anguished expressions. Just as importantly, he doesn't look like a Hollywood leading man, nor does he bring the associations of a big-name star to the role. In short, he's perfect. Also, the famously edgy Russell shows none of that here. In fact, she projects one of the rarest qualities found in any love story, namely, genuine warmth. Her ethereal good looks also fit perfectly into the plot, and it's no stretch to see Danny changing his life for her sake. Then there's the quiet dignity of Ingram's Mose. His sterling character now looks like evolution from the caricatures of the 1930's to the assertive civil rights movement of the 50's. Too bad, the actor is largely forgotten. I guess my only reservation is with Barrymore. Her grandma strikes me as too stagey and "grand" (an apt term from another reviewer). Still and all, it's a fine, colorful cast, even down to bit players.

Now, as good as these elements are, it's because of director Borzage that they're lifted into the realm of cinematic art. From hypnotic opening to pastoral close, the visual enchantment wraps around like an enveloping dreamscape— (the eerie sets are also a testament to lowly Republic's art department, the glittering impressionist photography to John Russell). Borzage's enclosed world is a world of artistic imagination that's at once both mesmerizing and compelling. But just as importantly, he's a filmmaker who clearly believes in the material. As others point out, he's that rarest of the breed, a director who genuinely believes in romantic love and its redemptive power, and not merely as a movie cliché. At the same time, it's the power of that vision that merges the movie's elements into a single dynamic whole.

There are so many memorable moments and characters—the "hep-cat" soda jerk, the Methuslah old man, the gallery lined-up for arriving trains. But, I guess the high point for me is when Danny must shake the raccoon from the safety of the tree, seeing his own fate in the hapless animal and knowing that if he doesn't he may betray his own guilt. Here, script, acting, and direction come together brilliantly to create a truly shattering moment. All in all, the film may not rise to the level of a masterpiece, but it does stand as a work of considerable artistic achievement, and one that's stayed with me since I first saw it as a boy. And I'm glad the internet provides an opportunity for me to share that appreciation in a public way.

You want dark? It doesn't get much darker than this. Director Borzage seems to live for shadows and darkness in this Ozark thriller. A son of a murderer thinks he has bad genes (blood), but its all in his head. After killing Lloyd Bridges in self-defense, he goes about trying to figure out what he should do next. Dane Clark, who must be related to Clark Kent, because he is in a serious car wreak, jumps off a ferris wheel and is chased by a pack of hounds without a scratch from any of them. Even Clark Kent would have trouble doing that, Harry Morgan does a good job as well as Billy, a deaf and dumb simpleton, who finds Clark's knife at the scene of the death. Will he get parole with good behavior? Or will he hang like his daddy? Tune in for the exciting conclusion. Recommended.

During all his childhood ,Danny had only known ragging.Being the son of a hanged man was not easy when your school pals kept laughing at you.We can comprehend Danny's hate for Jerry Snykes ,the boy born silver spoon in hand ,whose father is a banker .

The resentment had been building up for years.Not only Danny was an innocent victim ,but he also showed compassion for the half-wit,the town youth's punching bag.As grandma says,he is a good guy ,and so was his father,another unfortunate victim of fate .

When Danny tries to join the human race,that is to say when he falls in love with Gilly ,it's too late: "why do you always take me far from the others?" she complains.The scene at the fair could be a respite : this is a place dear to Borzage;you may remember Margaret Sullavan on a carousel in "little man what now? " and there's a similar scene in "Liliom" .But the big wheel is also a trap.

Filmed in black and white ,often in the dark,in a desperate atmosphere ,"Moonrise" is an extraordinary film noir.It nearly matched the brilliance of Borzage's precedent decade.

This is actually quite a complex psychological thriller which very much looks at the sins of the father being visited on the child. In this case Dane Clark is "Danny Hawkins" whose father was hanged for murder. Persecuted and shunned by his peers as a youth, he is finally starting to get his life in some sort of order when he accidentally gets into a fight and kills a man over a girl "Gilly" (Gail Johnson) in whom he confides. When she tries to get him to notify the police, he gets spooked and flees. The contours of the film offer a love story and a murder mystery along with some interesting observations - especially from Rex Ingram as the sagely old "Mose" about human dignity and integrity. On the downside, Clark is just a bit too lightweight for the lead - the part could really do with someone a bit more heavyweight, but overall it is an intriguing look at behaviour and judgement that is worth and hour and half of anyone's time.

I was 11 years old when I first saw this film and, being so young, I only recalled that it was a haunting tale of misdeeds, guilt, and romance. And of course I developed a crush on Dane Clark at an early age!

After 50 years I've had the privilege of seeing it again and was very much absorbed into the atmosphere of this fine drama which takes you through many levels of emotion.

What impressed me most was the gradual unfolding, or dissolving, of the tumultuous emotional grip which anger and revenge had wrought on Danny (Dane Clark) throughout his life, who seemed overwhelmingly burdened by the past guilt of his father, and some would not let him forget it. No doubt living in a small town only added to the difficulties since everyone knew their neighbour, not like city life would be.

The actors are first-rate here and do justice to every phase of the story. Ethel Barrymore as Grandma has a way of bringing so much authenticity to the story. Gail Russell as Gilly is superb and exquisite in the romantic lead although she too is troubled by Danny's behaviour for much of the film and tries to help him. Henry Morgan in this film was my first encounter with him and of course he went on to greater fame in later life as an actor.

Since this film is based on a novel, I think I just might get out there and buy the book! When a movie is that intriguing it's interesting to trace it to its source.

Frank Borzage's Moonrise has many elements of a masterpiece. It is visually intricate and even stunning at times. It has highlights of both melodrama and film noir, yet with deeply etched characters. The story is complex and deeply humane, recalling darker shades of Frank Capra's ethos. It has a raw quality, showing bullying, violence, poor self-control, borderline sexual harassment, yearning, love, and a deep, heartfelt sense of loss and burden that a young man carries from his family's past. Both the small town scenes and those in the swamps are believable. And it has not one but three moral compasses, Rex Ingram's majestic Mose, Allyn Joslyn's sheriff and Harry Morgan's deaf mute. Plus it's got some moments of 1940's jive talk that only young people could have brought to Borzage's attention. All of these brilliant elements are slightly undone by a less than convincing relationship between Dane Clark and Gail Russell, and by some too-abrupt changes in Clark's character.

Moonrise (1948)

A small rural town is the setting for a man struggling with an ambiguous crime he has committed. It's a psychologically loaded movie, and the clues start with the first abstract frames and last through every scene to the end. There is enough simplifying going on to keep it from being a classic or having the inventive flair of some contemporaries (or like "Night of the Hunter" a few years later), but I was impressed again in this second viewing.

One of the strengths here is certainly the mood created by all the richly blackened night scenes, both in the town and in the woods. The camera moves with unusual elegance and boldness through the scenes, or you might say through the shadows. The heightened angles and lack of faces in the first few shots is a sign of the atmosphere to come.

The little known leading actor, Dane Clark, is almost perfect in his role, partly for doing a great job and partly for letting his awkwardness bleed through into the character's. You come to feel his circumstance as an utterly ordinary guy. The sheriff is a restrained character and the man's girlfriend has a wonderful simple presence as well.

The real meat of it all is the trauma this man goes through bearing the guilt of his actions. He isn't so much pursued as just haunted by the thought of being caught. It's like the secret we all have had at some point and we get away with it for awhile, but it wears you out from inside until something has to give. One of his solutions finally it to run for it, and he has one last turning point near the end with his grandmother played by Ethel Barrymore. The folksy philosophy gets a little thick, I suppose, but by this point you go along with it because it's true. And it's not what you might think.

If you don't like old movies this will feel clumsy at times. But if you do already have a hankering for film noir and other crime dramas, even ones with mostly unknown actors, give this a try. And keep your eyes open for some great photography by John Russell, who is as important as anyone in this production. On some level it's truly great stuff.

Superior Noir melodrama is beautifully made and photographed and takes its dark, seemingly hopeless tale to a tense finale.