Moonfleet 1955

     This film is based on a novel written by J. Meade Falkner published in England in 1898 but not published in the US until 1951.  In the 18th century, a young orphan, John Mohune is sent to the village of Moonfleet in Dorset England.  The child is going to stay with his mother’s former boyfriend Jeremy Fox.  This man has the facade of a gentleman but he is actually the leader of a gang of swashbuckling bootleggers!!  John and Jeremy find themselves on the run from the British soldiers.  They must decipher a coded message in order to find a fabulous diamond hidden long ago!!  
     This film features pirates, villains and intrigue all handled by Jeremy Fox.  The movie deviates from the book but there are solid performances from Stewart Granger as Jeremy Fox and Jon Whitely as John Mohune.  There is smuggling set among the cliffs, caves and downs of Dorset.  What will be the outcome of the conflict between the smugglers and the revenue men?  This film would be in the category of historical romance.  Lang’s direction is good and he keeps the story moving along with male-bonding between Granger and Mohune.  There is grace, dignity and charm but also dueling, lying, killing.  I liked the clothing and makeup of this time period.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
   
87 min, Adventure directed by Fritz Lang and written by Jan Lustig, Margaret Fitts with Stewart Granger, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors, Jon Whiteley, Liliane Montevecchi, Melville Cooper, Sean McClory, Alan Napier, John Hoyt, Donna Corcoran, Jack Elam, Dan Seymour, Ian Wolfe, Lester Matthews, Skelton Knaggs, Richard Hale, John Alderson.

Note:  Goodreads gives the book 3.94* out of 5* with 44,472 ratings and 322 reviews, Imdb 6.7 out of 10 with 3,067 views, Rotten Tomatoes 69% with 13 critics 69% audience with 503 ratings, dvdtalk.com very good ++, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with 37 reviews, Letterboxd 3.4*. out of 5*.

Special Note:  Donna Corcoran’s brother Kevin Corcoran starred in a Disney film with a similar theme and similar title, Mooncussers 1962.  In the 50’s Errol Flynn was an aging actor and Stewart Granger was younger, tall, suave and cool by today’s standards. 

Reception:  This film ended up being rather crazy!!  It was much admired by European filmmakers but commercially it was a disaster.  According to MGM records the movie earned $567,000 in the US and Canada and $1,007,000 overseas.  The loss was $1,203,000!!!  Surprisingly, the prestigious French film publication Cahiers du Cinema named Moonfleet as one of the 100 most essential films ever made listing it as #32??  Filming was shot almost entirely on the MGM back lot with a few shots of the California coast added.  The producer was John Houseman and the Director Fritz Lang.  Houseman said he got along fine with Fritz even though they screamed and yelled at each other?  Stewart Granger said he hated working with Lang, he was German and it was a bloody awful film?  Granger wanted to produce and he made Lang and Houseman buy the book.  Associate producer, Jud Kinberg came down to the stage and he heard yelling??  He heard a German accent saying, "You are not a professional, we pay you a lot of money to be a professional actor, it seems to me you are stupid, lazy and nothing at all."  The recipient of the yelling was a little boy of eleven, Jon Whiteley!!  But, he wasn’t eleven, he was nine years old during filming??