Moontide (1942)

I would have wanted to see what Fritz Lang would have given us. As it is, I found it a big yawn.And what is that love music that we hear over and over to the point of nausea? It is not credited on the opening credits..but that same music was heard in Fox's 1954 Irving Berlin epic "There's No Business Like Show Business"...I think it might be called "Remember" ??? Can anyone confirm this and why it was not credited? Why is it so over-used in this film..I can't believe Lang would have done that.Rains is wasted talent here, when he did so many other great roles. Gabin is fine but this role is not a strong enough part, he just looks like a country bumpkin. Give me M.Hulot!! ;-)

One of two American made films that Jean Gabin did in Hollywood while in exile from his beloved France is this item Moontide. It's not anywhere in the class of The Grand Illusion, Pepe LeMoko, or La Bete Humaine in fact it goes over into melodrama. Still it's a good showcase for his talent and appeal.Gabin is a happy go lucky sailor who is beached with his pal Thomas Mitchell in the small coast town of San Pablo in California. He's a nasty drunk however who can be provoked to violence and has been. Another waterfront denizen Arthur Aylesworth is killed and Gabin is tormented by the fact that he was on one big bender the night of the homicide and it could be him.But that doesn't stop him from saving the life of Ida Lupino who tries to drown herself because of her own relationship problems. These two fall for each other and they plan to settle in San Pablo and marry. And of course there's no room for Mitchell in the new setup.Which doesn't please Mitchell at all. He's basically a leech who's attached himself to Gabin and he doesn't want to give up his meal ticket. Claude Rains who is a droll waterfront philosopher calls him a pilot fish which is a fish that hangs around sharks and lives off the scraps they leave. Time for Mitchell to find another shark.Given that this is the Code era and that a major studio 20th Century Fox produced Moontide the rather obvious homosexual attachment of Mitchell to Gabin is hard to miss. Perhaps that is something that the original director Fritz Lang might have explored a bit more. In fact the film could have been a classic had Lang stayed with it.Still the cast acquit themselves well in Moontide and a film with Jean Gabin is always something special.

To me, this film seems more like a homage to Frank Borzage, especially his film from 1933, "Man's Castle," with Spencer Tracy and Loretta Young. The two leading characters are the same as in the Borzage picture, as is the basic gloomy setting, which, through the development of the characters' love, turns luminous. In both, the lovers start out desperate and lost. They ultimately find meaning in a meaningless world only in each other. "Moontide" can be seen as "Man's Castle" done after the Code. The relationship between Gabin and Lupino is the same as the relationship between Tracy and Young in "Man's Castle," except special care has to be taken to emphasize the fact that Gabin and Lupino have not slept together, and are in fact getting married forthwith. For me, the homage to Borzage is what gives "Moontide" its charm. The film noir aspect of the film, by contrast, feels as if it was clumsily tacked on, almost as afterthought, and to me is to the film's detriment. Lupino is solid as always, and Gabin is good. He's sort of channeling Maurice Chevalier here, but without Chevalier's looks. Perhaps his looks, more akin to a supporting character, doomed his chances in America to become a leading star; that and the fact he was reportedly difficult to work with.

Director Fritz Lang was replaced by Archie Mayo as director of the 1942 "Moontide," and one wonders if the film would have been any better with Lang at the helm. With a script by John O'Hara, it's all dry ice, cheap sets, night shots and little action. The great French film star, perhaps the greatest, Jean Gabin, plays Bobo, a dockworker who enjoys being a free spirit. He suffers from blackouts when he's drunk, which is used to advantage by a so-called friend of his, Tiny (Thomas Mitchell), who gets money out of Bobo by hinting that he strangled a man in another town. When a waitress (Ida Lupiho) is rescued from the ocean after trying to commit suicide, Bobo covers for her so she won't be arrested. Eventually they fall in love. This doesn't fit in with the threatening Tiny's plans, as he wants Bobo to seek work elsewhere.The movie drags along, and it's easy to see the cheapness of the production throughout. It has a certain atmosphere, but it grows tired.It's a shame that Hollywood had no clue what to do with Jean Gabin, but seeing "Moontide," it's easy to figure out why. With his thick build, weathered face, unruly hair and large nose, he wasn't the leading man material Hollywood was used to, and he was too much a star to be a character actor. Few actors possessed his raw sexuality and charisma, seen much more clearly in Pepe LeMoko and as his signature role, Maigret. It's not for nothing that Marlene Dietrich chased him all across Europe during World War II. He only stayed in Hollywood until 1943 and worked in France as a national institution until his death in 1976. Lupino is very young, frail and pretty here and does a good job. Claude Rains as Nutsy, Bobo's friend, is good but wasted. Thomas Mitchell has the best role among the supporting players. It's a departure from his usual thick nice guys.If you're interested in Gabin, you'll want to see this. Otherwise, skip it.