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.
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RanchoTuVu17 May 2012
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bkoganbing8 April 2012One 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. -
utgard1430 July 2014Wes Anderson (Fred MacMurray) plays a "moonlighter," which is a person who rustles cattle by moonlight, that is arrested and awaiting trial when a lynch mob after his head storms the jail. The mob doesn't know which prisoner is the moonlighter, so they wind up hanging the wrong man while Wes escapes. He returns later to seek revenge on the members of the lynch mob. He's injured in the process which leads to his reuniting with his ex-girlfriend (Barbara Stanwyck), who is now engaged to Wes' younger brother.
Disappointing 3D western that features the two leads from Double Indemnity but doesn't deserve to even be discussed in the same breath as that classic. It starts out well enough with an exciting opening twenty minutes or so but it all goes downhill after that and becomes a predictable and boring melodrama. The stars are better than this material. No clue why it was in 3D as there's nothing particularly impressive about any of the visuals. -
lorenellroy2 August 2003The Moonlighter re-unites the stars of the great film noir Double Indemnity but to much less effect in this modest and rather tepid Western. Fred MacMurray plays the title character ,a moonlighter being a kind of cattle thief.As the movie opens he is in a prison cell awaiting trial while an inflamed mob is intent on lynching him before he can stand trial.They break into the gaol and summarily execute the wrong man due to mistaken identity. He sets out to wreak revenge on the killers but is wounded and returns home where he finds his sweetheart -played by Stanwyck-on the verge of marrying his bank teller brother.He becomes involved in a bank robbery with tragic results and Stanwyck sets out to bring him to justice.
The performances are acceptable and the major problem is the script by Niven Busch which -perhaps through budgetary and time constraints -never gets to explore the ramifications of the story ,which ends abruptly.
A minor Western it just about passes muster but could have been a lot better.It is however interesting to note that the Stanwyck character is the one most respected by the other characters and the town Marshall has no qualms about deputising her .In addition it is she who delivers the goods --early feminist Western maybe ? -
marcslope10 April 2018A western, a revenge epic in the Sergio Leone mode, a 3D novelty, a soap opera, and a reunion for Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, who were so great together in "Double Indemnity" and "Remember the Night." By those standards it's a letdown, and screenwriter Niven Busch, who did well by Babs in "The Furies," seems unable to concentrate on any one plot strand for very long. Fred's a cattle rustler, or moonlighter, who's awaiting trial but facing a lynching, when, for contrived plot reasons, the mob seizes the wrong man and lynches him. Fred breaks out and swears revenge. Then it's a romance, as he heads back to his former sweetheart, who, unpersuasively, is being courted by Fred's younger brother, the always-watchable William Ching. He feels young for Babs, though, and this is a little late in her career for her to be playing an ingenue. Then, with the two brothers trading Babs back and forth, old crony Ward Bond shows up, and Ching unconvincingly leaves his steady bank teller job to assist the other two in robbing the bank he works for. The love story doesn't work, the 3D is largely unemployed except for one waterfall sequence that must have looked good, and the happy ending is rushed and ridiculous. Still, there are some good sequences--the hanging, a swell Fred-Ward fight, the tense bank robbery. Roy Rowland directs, as he always did, anonymously.
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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.
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TheLittleSongbird20 July 2020'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 -
SnoopyStyle25 April 2020Wes Anderson (Fred MacMurray) has been moonlighting as a cattle rustler. A crowd has gathered to see him hang. Sheriff Daws insists on saving him for the trial. Rancher Alex Prince's men arrive looking to break into the jail to lynch the man. Wes escapes when the wrong man gets lynched. That man is buried as Wes while Wes seeks revenge upon Alex Prince's men. Wes' ex Rela (Barbara Stanwyck) arrives set to marry his straight-laced younger brother Tom.
Apparently, this was shown in 3D. I don't know how that's done when it's in black and white. It must have been like one of those old toy 3d Viewfinders. Technical aside, this has MacMurray playing against type as a hardened cowboy. Also I don't get much heat with the MacMurray and Stanwyck reunion. Sticking Tom in the middle does not make it a fun love triangle. It's not the best western and I don't know how well the 3d worked. It seems fine otherwise. -
Fred McMurray left Barbra Stanwyck five years ago, always promising to return. But, while Babs drifts into an engagement with Fred's brother, Fred has been stealing cattle by moonlight (and barely misses getting lynched for his efforts). Will Babs find true love with THE MOONLIGHTER when he returns to town, or will the production code force Fred to pay some awful penalty before she gets the chance?
Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray made four movies together. Three of them are classics. This justifiably obscure western is the one that isn't. This is true, even though screenwriter Niven Busch was responsible for the great Stanwyck western -- The Furies. What goes wrong here is a mediocre and very disjointed plot that always seems to be darting off in a new, random direction, just when the old plot elements are developing some tension. There's nothing wrong with the acting. Fred and Babs play their roles well. It's just that the movie itself gives the two stars less scenes together than you would think, and cheats Babs of screen time to develop her character in the later portion of the film. Finally the film suffers from a tacked on ending that is five parts production code nonsense and five parts 3-D outdoor spectacular climax.
A western disappointment. All parties involved have done better work. -
Richie-67-48585214 April 2018Decent Western story that has all the known ingredients we are looking for such as horses, gunplay, drinking, good and bad guys a robbery that nets over 5k dollars (a lot for back then), a love interest, dust, scenery and good old fashioned Sheriffs trying to enforce the law. Add Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwick and Ward Bond plus other familiar faces and you have yourself another story involving the Wild West. Get your snack ready and saddle up here. Also I was surprised to see the words "intermission" come up on the screen. This must have been for selling snacks, drinks and bathroom breaks. BTW, if you don't know what a moonlighter is they explain it pretty good so.....
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mj-82-85457324 July 2018A couple of reviews here questioned the need for an intermission in this film. One called it "unnecessary" and another thought it was meant to sell more stuff at the candy counter. Those could be true, but I think it's more likely that it was needed to load film into the projectors. The 3D films at that time used a two image projection system, often taking up all available projection room space.
If you take a look at the last minute or so of the first half, you'll note that this film has none of those bubble-like cues (those must have had a name, right?) to let the projectionist know that it's time to switch machines. Most likely, the film had to be removed from the projector and replaced with the second half.
I won't bother reviewing the film, itself. The folks here covered it well. Pretty lousy movie. I just wanted to, hopefully, clear up a question that has been burning in everyone's mind for so many years. -
ksf-210 April 2018An interesting story. the film begins with the town-folk hanging a man. Anderson (MacMurray) gives the eulogy at the dead man's service, and throws in some lines about the deceased staying with us, even if he's dead. The ex-girlfriend "Rela" shows up, with her new beau, Wes' brother Tom. then old friend Cole (Ward Bond) shows up with a caper in mind. Then the troubles begin! Can they hold it together long enough to pull the job and get away ? It's actually quite good.. not " Double Indemnity" great, but still pretty darn good. a bit one dimensional, but good, for a western. and some great film locations as well.. if you haven't been to Corriganville (now a county park ), check it out. fun and historic. Directed by Roy Rowland, distant relative of LB Mayer. Story by Niven Busch, who had been oscar nominated for "Old Chicago" back in 1938. Also wrote many novels, and the screenplay for one of my favorites "Postman". This is worth seeing, even if only because it's one of the four film that Stanwyck and MacMurray made together.
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mikemckiernan20 May 2020After seeing what bad reviews this movie received, here, I was expecting a major stinker. But the first half-hour is so damn good, it was easy to stick around for the silly love story and drama that followed. I can only guess that most reviewers are grading this on a Stanwyck-MacMurray scale, as their other three films are much higher quality (and Stanwyck is only really in the third act). The screenplay and direction could have definitely been more refined, but for a 78-minute western that has all the goods: a lynching, revenge, bank robbery, gun fight, and betrayal, and to top it off, the protagonist, MacMurray (along with Ward Bond) is on the other side of the law, it deserves a better rating.
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The first 15 minutes of this Western are exciting and different. I was thrilled as it looked like this film was actually a break from the usual dull cowboy film. Sadly, as the film progressed, it only morphed into a rather typical film--losing all the promise and great plot at the beginning.
The film begins with Fred MacMurray in jail for cattle rustling (i.e., "moonlighting"). However, the "good citizens" of the town don't want to wait for justice to take its course and attack the jail. They want to string up MacMurray, though the people don't know what he looks like. This is a SERIOUS problem, as one of the deputies had locked himself into the cell to protect himself from the mob. The mob mistakenly thought the deputy was the criminal (an odd mistake, granted) and string him up instead. MacMurray later returns to the town and one by one starts exacting revenge in the name of the dead man. Most of the killings are pretty cool and I loved this angle.
Then, however, inexplicably, after Fred gets hurt, the entire plot changes. Why do this when the initial plot is so good?! All thoughts about revenge on the town vanish and the plot changes to a rather dull film about Fred and his old fiancée, played by Barbara Stanwyck. In addition to this not making any sense, what makes even less sense is when Fred's brother (always a good and law abiding citizen) decides to join Fred in a life of crime. The motivation for this just hadn't been established and seemed bizarre. If this isn't bad enough, Barbara later becomes sort of an action-hero and has a show-down with the ultra-bad guy (Ward Bond)--and SHE wins!! Then, in the end, Fred has a sudden change of heart and decides to turn himself in and go straight!! What happened to the writing and the common sense?! What started as a great film quickly degenerated into a confusing and unconvincing mess--most of which seem unmotivated and disconnected. Not a shining moment in the career of either of the stars of this film. It only manages a score as high as 4 because at least it started well. -
The Moonlighter (1953)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A rather bizarre Western starts off with a huge bang but then slowly dies into melodrama. Fred MacMurray plays a man believed dead but he shows back up at his mother's house swearing vengeance on what's happened to him. He then realizes that his former love (Barbara Stanwyck) is now seeing his younger brother (William Ching), which sets off a love triangle. THE MOONLIGHTER is an incredibly disappointing film when you consider the cast and especially after how well it got started. I'm not going to spoil the first fifteen-minutes because it delivers a few key plot points that are best if you don't know them going in. I will say that the entire sequence contains some terrific drama, great action and even a couple good laughs. The entire sequence is build around them wanting to lynch a cattle robber but there are many complications that come from this and it really leads to a terrific sequence. Sadly, after this, the film turns into a silly soap opera and the love story between MacMurray and Stanwyck is never believable. The two of them are always good together and their past films prove that but there's very little fire here between the two. I think a lot of this is due to the silly screenplay, which just goes crazy in the second half of the film and even the director makes some silly mistakes including using a score meant for a comedy during a couple critical killing scenes. The ending is without question one of the worst in film history and how characters just flop is downright silly. Even the big action climax at the end doesn't work as the director brings no suspense to it. The actors are fine and that includes Ward Bond as a bad guy but the film is just a mess. Originally this was shown in 3D but outside of the opening credits I didn't see a single thing fly to the screen so this movie's reputation of being one of the worst 3D movies is probably true. -
arthur_tafero21 December 2021This film has a lot in common with Seinfeld. It is pretty much a movie about nothing. Stanwyck is in her Annie Oakley mode (which I find attractive), and MacMurray is in his bad guy turns good mode (which I found a bit unbelievable). However, the film is entertaining, if nothing else. A bit of Ox-Bow Incident, a touch of Annie Oakley, and a dash of Double Indemnity, all mixed together and tasting terrible. However, you will watch it anyway, just to see these great actors give it the college try.
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traceywilliamson-4169817 September 2020Was she really 46 when this movie came out? She looks much younger. What a great figure!
Macmurray looks the best at the very beginning with his beard. -
moonspinner554 April 2014Cattle 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 ****
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sandcrab27712 May 2020Classic love story on horseback except macmurray should have avoided westerns altogether ... he was far better suited for roles like in the "caine mutiny" rather than rustling cattle and robbing banks ... barbara stanwyck played herself the way she always has ... done in color rather than 3d might have aided the scenery
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I can't recall the last time I watched a film that so poorly served its stars.
I can only imagine that Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray went home every evening, locked the door, pulled the shades and bawled their eyes out over THE MOONLIGHTER. It's a truly demoralising viewing experience so I can only imagine how terrible it must have been to actually work on it.
Writer Niven Busch has given them practically every cliché in the Western genre to mouth, and he's so intent in cramming in every last hoary phrase that he doesn't even bother to ensure that it at least makes sense. In too many scenes Stanwyck and MacMurray appear to be talking across one another, reciting lines that have very little to do with what the other just said to them.
This 1953 film is a tragic comedown for two stars who had set the screen alight 9 years earlier with their unforgettable portrayals of a weak willed insurance salesman and a murderously cold-blooded femme fatale in 'Double Indemnity.' If they'd never done anything else that film would assure them of a place in movie history, and after scaling those heights it can be difficult to understand why they would willingly plumb the depths with this sub-standard turkey.
The answer, I'm guessing, is money and the need to earn a paycheck. In the early 1950s westerns were often the last stop before the despised medium of television for film stars on the slide (even Claudette Colbert made a western!). Neither Stanwyck nor MacMurray were box office hits anymore and I imagine they were grateful to accept the script when it was offered to them.
One senses they both went into the project with the best intentions but neither of them sounds remotely convincing regurgitating the abysmal dialogue and there's absolutely no sense of the smoldering passion supposedly burning between them. MacMurray speaks mostly in a high pitch monotone while Stanwyck operates on autopilot. Given that this is the great Barbara Stanwyck it's high quality autopilot - better than many other actors on their best day - but still far beneath what's she's capable of.
This black and white movie was originally released in 3D but it's hard to tell (I watched it in 2D) just how much use director Roy Rowland made of the special effect. Nothing comes flying out of the screen and there's few shots that would have benefited from the extra depth that 3D offers. My best guess, based on the slightly unusual lighting in some medium close up scenes of the two stars in a clinch, is that they would have appeared to be in front of the screen with the background further behind them than it actually was. If I'm right, it's really not worth the price of a pair of 3D specs.
Unconvincing, implausible, boring, clichéd, embarrassing, demoralising and just downright bad, THE MOONLIGHTER is truly terrible in every regard and a stain on the reputation of its illustrious stars. The only saving grace is that it is almost completely forgotten today. I only wish I could erase it from my memory.
Read more of my reviews at http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/ -
yafam23 May 2012I cringed when I watched this movie recently on TCM.
Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Ward Bond were all fine actors, but in this turkey and with the scripts they had to work with it was downright embarrassing to see their acting performances.
The movie started off promising, but within about 15 minutes it quickly deteriorated into a mishmash of puzzling dialogue between the actors and plot twists that didn't make any sense. I couldn't really understand the relationship between MacMurray and his brother, who he just kind of left out there in left field during the bank robbery.
Ward Bond played an ingratiating role as a baddie. He just looked uncomfortable during his scenes.
Overall a terrible waste of some fine actors talents. -
mark.waltz9 September 2014A romantic comedy/drama, a dangerous film noir, and a soap opera about adultery rounded out three of the four films that Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray made together. The first, "Remember the Night", is a sleeper that has gained prominence in its reputation. "Double Indemnity" is of course one of the all time great thrillers, and "There's Always Tomorrow" is an acceptable, if predictable, women's picture. In the case of "The Moonighter" (a film I have been trying to track down for years), the 3-D western (lacking that element on DVD) is a slight disappointment, mainly because the script is so shoddy and the lead male character isn't somebody you really root for.
In "Remember the Night", MacMurray was a D.A. who prosecuted Stanwyck for shoplifting but took her home for the holidays. Here, it is almost the opposite. He's a cattle rustler due to be hanged, but by a strange twist of fate, another man is hanged in his place. The one thing I can give the script credit for is showing conscience in MacMurray's reaction to the removal of the wrong man and his viewing the corpse being shot down from the tree where he was meant to swing. Former girlfriend Stanwyck shows up to claim the corpse with his brother (William Ching) whom she has fallen in love with and instantly knows that he is really alive. Their reunion is tense, especially when he reluctant involves Ching in a bank robbery he has planned with old co-conspirator Ward Bond. Of course, things don't go well for Ching, so Stanwyck vows revenge against her old lover.
This is where Stanwyck obtains a sheriff's badge, determined to bring MacMurray and Bond back. She's really handy with a gun (as shown in the confrontation with the really bad Bond), but she's not wearing waterproof boots which make her slide down the side of a huge waterfall. It's an incredibly tense moment and appears that Stanwyck performed the stunt herself. In print, everything seems fine, and structurally, the film isn't bad. But MacMurray's amoral character, even with guilt over the poor man's place on the tree instead of him, is certainly guilty of villainous behavior, so there's no way you want to see him have a happy ending, especially after MacMurray and Bond do what typical co-conspirators in a robbery do and try to betray each other.
There's really no point to the 3-D filming, especially since the movie is in black and white and would look extremely flat for the majority of the running time. There are some tense moments, and the action sequences are well shot, but the dialog and the unbelievability of many of the things going on takes away its credibility. Stanwyck, as always, brings out the many layers of her character and delivers a believable performance, but MacMurray isn't worthy of her affections. The ending left me very cold, lacking the "Double Indemnity" type finale I had hoped for. Out of nowhere comes an unnecessary intermission! The only thing this is missing is a Frankie Laine song, but Stanwyck got that for her Mexican adventure, "Blowing Wild".