Giallo a Creta

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+

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.

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.

In some of her early films, such as 'Tiger Bay' or 'Whistle Down the Wind', Hayley Mills revealed herself to be one of Britain's most remarkable child actresses, but as an adult her films were generally unremarkable. The light family films she made in her teenage years for Disney and others can be seen as marking a stage in her decline to the ordinary from the extraordinary. Indeed, they were possibly a cause of that decline; had she been given more demanding roles during this period she might have matured into a bigger adult star. The studios' determination to fit her into the role of Teenage Virgin Queen occupied a few years earlier by Sandra Dee might also have made it more difficult for the public to accept her as an adult woman.

'The Moonspinners' is a typical offering from her Disney period. The teenage Nikky Ferris arrives for a holiday in Crete with her aunt, a musicologist who wants to make recordings of Cretan folk-music. The owner of their hotel, however, is unwelcoming and his behaviour soon arises Nikky's suspicions that he is involved in some criminal enterprise. Nikky meets and befriends a young Englishman, Mark, and the two soon find themselves involved in a search to recover some stolen jewels.

Several other reviewers compare this film to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. The film is a mixture of romantic comedy and thriller, although I felt that the romance and comedy elements predominate over the suspense elements to a greater extent than they ever do in Hitchcock, even in his lighter films. The scene where Nikki and Mark are rescued from the windmill, however, did strike me as very Hitchcockian; I wondered if it was intended as deliberate homage to the similar scene involving Joel McCrae in 'Foreign Correspondent'.

My general impression of the film was that it was, despite some attractive location photography, a fairly routine light thriller. Peter McEnery, as Mark, makes an uncharismatic leading man, and the principal baddies (Eli Wallach as suspicious, surly foreigner and John Le Mesurier as smooth but hypocritical English gentleman) are drawn straight from the Official Hollywood Scriptwriter's Guide to Stock Villainous Characters. There is an amusing cameo from Sheila Hancock as Le Mesurier's alcoholic wife, but the best thing about the film is the presence of Hayley herself. She reminded me of Audrey Hepburn whose charisma and presence frequently enabled her to make memorable what would otherwise have been very ordinary thrillers or romantic comedies. Hayley was, of course, considerably younger than Audrey and (in my view) less classically beautiful, but shared with her the ability to carry a film through charm and charisma. 'The Moonspinners' is not in the same league as Hayley's best films, but it is worth watching for a chance to see this fine young actress. 6/10