The Moonlighter (1953)

An 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.

A 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".

One 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.

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.