La baie aux émeraudes

I saw the film in 1964 when I was 11 and loved it then. I feel the old Disney films are still the best. As I know many of my students are not familiar with the old films, I showed it to my fifth-graders recently, and they loved it (and asked to see it again). For youth viewing, the film still holds up. I still love it.

The Moon-Spinners is by far a classic movie for your video collection. Besides great actors, this movie has every little speck of something for everyone. A fortune in stolen jewels, add a dash of danger, a pinch of romance, and season this movie with Alfred Hitchcock-like intrigue and comic flair, and you have a helluva movie for the entire family! 8 out of 10.

Based on Mary Stuart's novel, The Moon-Spinners is a nice and amusing adventure comedy. Constructed a little bit like an Hitchcock movie, where tension is building up slowly but surely and where many characters are not always what they seem to be, it is filled with memorable scenes (the escape from the windmill, for example) and good humor. Although she may not be as sparkling as in Pollyanna or The Parent Trap, Hayley Mills is nevertheless still the star of the show, both charming and endearing. Furthermore, as a beautiful grown up, she is portraying a modern heroin, not afraid to take charge of her own detective work. As the villain, Eli Wallach is also particularly brilliant. Eventually, the music and, especially, the title song by Terry Gilkyson are lively and enchanting.

No classic, but very pleasing, old-fashioned, middlebrow entertainment of a kind we used to take for granted. A little comedy, a little romance, a lot of action, plenty of eye-filling locations, and, in particular, a trio of wonderful women. Hayley's charming in one of her first puppy-love roles; Joan Greenwood, of the delicious voice, is, as always, indispensable; and Pola Negri does some spirited scenery-chewing in a prominent cameo. They thoroughly outclass the men, including a hammy Eli Wallach and a pallid Peter McEnery.

Nothing about it is exceptional, but everything about it is at least competent. The direction is a little obvious: Every time a Maguffin appears in the script, Neilson pulls in for a close-up. Perhaps that's a sop to help the kiddies follow the story, though, despite the Disney imprimatur, it's not really a little-kids' film. On the contrary, it's one of Disney's least cloying, and one of the most appealing for grownups.

An aunt and niece (Joan Greenwood & Hayley Mills) are traveling through remote areas of Crete whereupon they encounter the suspicious brother of the proprietress of an inhospitable coastal hotel (Eli Wallach). Intrigue ensues. Peter McEnery plays a young Brit the girl finds attractive while Pola Negri shows up in the last act.

"The Moon-Spinners" (1964) inserts Hayley Mills into an island adventure that works well because it's relatively realistic, has superb locations/sets and a well-chosen cast (e.g. Wallach is perfect as the villain). It's basically Hayley Mills meets "North by Northwest" (1959) and "The Day the Fish Came Out" (1967).

Hayley was 17 during shooting and blossoming into a winsome young woman.

The film runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot on Crete and Pinewood Studios, London.

GRADE: B+