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This is one of my favorite old movies. Although William Holden is the leading man here this is one of those movies where one of the side characters is the most memorable. In this case it's David Niven. He's such a stuffed shirt that about as cavalier as he can manage to get is when he tells Peggy's character "I want to kiss you until your lips are somewhat bruised". He relates the story of the failure of his first marriage to a "southern gal" who was always baking pop overs and served them at every meal. After dinner she would always drawl "wasn't them popovers good?". He stood all he could of this airhead until one day when he hit her across the rear end with a hot popover pan. He said " it raised quite a welt, although I was not privileged to see it." When Peggy later says her feet hurt he says "never say your feet hurt. My foot hurts singular is acceptable but to say my feet hurt is a rather sordid admission." The fact that I am writing these lines from memory will tell you how much fun I had watching this movie over and over. William Holden was the king of the movies as far as I'm concerned and he was charming and at his best in this movie. He made more really good memorable movies than Clark Gable could have hoped for. This movie is not well known and as far as I'm able to find out is not available of DVD. I'm hoping is will be eventually because it's a nice funny little movie that shows New York in it's heyday.

The Moon is Blue broke the Moral Code of the Hays Office and started its liquidation, not by its content, but by its use of words that were not accepted by the code, such as virgin and seduction. For that reason, it was important and controversial in 1953. But at that time, the original play by F.Hugh Herbert was a Broadway hit like many other F.Hugh Herbert and Norman Krasna plays. A run-of-the-mill comedy with practically no story but plenty of funny situations. The movie version, whose risqué dialogue, both writer Herbert and director Otto Preminger refused to alter, is still funny and still amusing, because it is clever and merry. The movie is a fine example of photographed theater, but the camera movements and the direction make the movie move. In fact, The Moon is Blue is the best work of actual direction that Preminger achieved in his career, not only for the movement of camera but for the movement of actors and the perfect performances he extracted from William Holden, David Niven and the lovely newcomer Maggie McNamara (whose tragic story would make a good TV film). After so many years, The Moon is Blue is a delight to watch from every angle except that of content and significance.

Maybe it's just me, but I am a "sucker' for these goofy films predicated on a chance meeting between the opposite sexes and what happens next! A sophisticated architect meets a gal, chases up the Empire State Building to catch her, does so and then......well, you'll just have to watch to find out what quirky things happen next. Suffice to say that Holden and Niven are great, and who would have expected the Catholic Legion of Decency to issue a "C" condemned rating for this film when Holden had actually said "no" to his girlfriend? A must-see on the history of motion picture ratings, if nothing else.

THE MOON IS BLUE is a comedy based on a stage play about the kooky happenings one evening when a playboy bachelor brings an innocent young woman back to his apartment for dinner.

This racy comedy never earned a Production Code certification. It was very controversial in the 1950s for its frankness about sex and its use of taboo words like "virgin", "mistress", and "pregnant". It's nothing outrageous by modern-day standards, but it is noticeably up-front for '50s Hollywood.

The hijinks involves four characters: an architect bachelor (William Holden), a frank young woman (Maggie McNamara), the witty upstairs neighbor (David Niven), and his daughter, the architect's jilted ex (Dawn Addams). Both men find themselves strangely attracted to the girl, who bewilders them with her bluntness and honesty. The night is filled with misunderstandings and screwy surprises. It's a fun film, though stagey.

William Holden and David Niven bring A-list talent to the production, and neither disappoints. It's actually pretty cool to see their different styles on display in the same scene. The ever-smooth Holden, with his rain coat and masculine virility, and the delightfully witty Niven, with his proper grammar and trimmed mustache.

David Niven is by far my favorite thing about this movie. He is hilarious in his role as the ineffectual father of Holden's quasi-psychotic ex-girlfriend. He comes downstairs to Holden's apartment because his daughter has told him that Holden had "done her wrong". Holden defends himself, explaining that she'd spent the night in his bedroom while he slept on the couch. Niven ponders the situation and decides that maybe that *was* how Holden had "wronged" her. ("A very humiliating experience. I probably should beat you up anyway.") His comedic reactions throughout the film are great. Never far from a cocktail and never at a loss for an eloquent witticism, Niven's at the top of his game here.

I saw this rare film on TCM and the print was pretty poor. Aside from the dirty image quality, there were several abrupt cuts (missing frames/footage?) and even inconsistent audio levels. I guess this film wasn't taken very good care of over the decades. Still, the print is certainly watchable and the movie is an interesting piece of Hollywood history. And there are some real laughs, too.

Forget the 'stale sex comedy' label; there's nothing here that's in the least shocking any more. What remains is an enchanting Fifties farce of misunderstandings, as Patty O'Neill -- the girl with a talent for saying exactly what she means and precisely what she should not -- innocently turns the lives of Don Gresham and his upstairs neighbour upside down.

Maggie McNamara is all artless elfin charm as the worldly but naive Patty, and William Holden provides solid support as Don, the architect who makes a pass at a pretty stranger without realising quite what he's letting himself in for. But, frankly, it is David Niven who steals the show, with a performance of endearing shamelessness as David Slater plus an exquisite sense of comic timing. With his appearance on the scene, the film ceases to be a simple screwball romance and becomes extremely funny.

Ironically, it is Slater the middle-aged playboy who shows the most sensitivity to Patty's own desires and expectations -- where the younger man demonstrates first an exploitative and then a self-righteous streak -- and Niven, with his knack of debonair self-deprecation, fully lives up to the 'sweet' and 'adorable' tags which to Don's fury she so casually bestows upon him. And even when the tables are apparently turned, David Slater's reaction is a good deal more generous-spirited than that of his rival. An ageing opportunist and ineffective father makes for an improbable attractive character, but in his way Slater is more likable than either of the younger but equally self-centred protagonists.

This being a romantic comedy, there has to be a proposal of marriage; several, in fact. Other features of significance include also a baking-tray, a bath, an electric iron, a fire-escape, an Irish cop, a promotional spot for beer, and the inevitable state of blameless but multiply-misinterpreted undress -- all the ingredients for a classic farce, with the aid of a snappy script, and expressive reactions from all the principals. This film had me laughing out loud in front of the television (admittedly mostly at Niven's tongue-in-cheek contributions!) but it also has the vital touch of humanity lacked by too many entries in the screwball genre. Crucially, despite its subject-matter, it doesn't depend on the shock-value of 'naughty' words to get its laughs, and as a result has worn well. Attitudes to pre-marital relations may have changed, but crossed wires and ironic repartee are as entertaining as ever.