Save your money for something good and enjoyable

One of the best films i have seen

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Little B-pictures like this don't tend to have a lot going for them. There is much about Moonfleet to indicate it comes from the lower end of studio output – a now-obscure adventure novel as its source text, minimal sets, outdoor scenes on the back-lot, garish costume design and Fritz Lang in the director's chair. Not that Lang was a bad director – far from it – but he was never allowed to get his hands on anything prestigious during his Hollywood years, and his name in the credits is as good as sign of "cheap and cheerful" as any. However the great thing about movie-making is that inventiveness and flair cost nothing, and these are things Lang had by the bucketful.The daunting and adventuresome spirit of the novel really seems to have inspired Lang, and from the offset he fills the screen with the kind of disturbing imagery that he always did so well – a nightmarish stone angel, hands appearing out of the earth, a hanged criminal creaking in the breeze, all shot with a painterly precision that heightens their macabre impact. Also integral to Lang's approach is the way he utilises the barren sets to create stark empty spaces in his shots. A great example is when Stewart Granger first appears. Lang has the camera track back, gradually opening out the space, which is all the more effective because the shots leading up to that moment had very close, tight compositions. Many of the compositions have some conspicuous empty space or distant vanishing point, and the whole picture acquires this desolate feel, as if we are a long way from law, safety and normal civilization. So what has this to do with the story? Well, it's very simple for feelings of fear and unease to flip over into ones of excitement. It's that fine line between the creepy and the thrilling that really brings the adventure plot to life. Lang even places us squarely inside the sense of danger with point-of-view shots in the scene where young Jon Whitely is hiding from the smugglers in the crypt.One of the biggest holes in these low-budget productions was often the cast, but while none of the performances in Moonfleet is exactly outstanding, there is a good balancing out of adequate ones. Whitely, Granger and the ubiquitous George Sanders give restrained and naturalistic turns, each convincing and never too exuberant. Granger in particular keeps things at a steady pace, and succinctly shows his character's conflicting emotions through subtle changes in his face. On the other hand we have some gloriously expressive and theatrical performances from various bit players, keeping up that slight unworldly tone, but only in roles which are small enough that they do not threaten to unbalance the picture. The stand-out among these latter players is Alan Napier as the fire-and-brimstone pastor, who gets one brief yet riveting appearance.Moonfleet also happens to be one of a number of pictures from the 1950s which it appears would later be reference points in the Indiana Jones movies of the 1980s. Specifically, the afore-mentioned crypt scene reminds me of the opening of Last Crusade, in which the teenage Indy spies on a gang of treasure-hungry hoodlums. The underground burial chamber is also reminiscent of the Venetian catacombs from later in the same movie. Although these similarities could be coincidental, it is perfectly believable that Moonfleet would fire the imagination of a nine-year-old Steven Spielberg and sear itself into his brain, all testament to the powerful imagery and keen sense of adventure that transcends its low-budget roots.

Moonfleet (1955) ** (out of 4) Dickens-like adventure tale of young John Mohune (Jon Whiteley) who is sent away by his dying mother in search of his uncle Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). Once there the boy learns that his uncle is pretty much a pirate who has a couple "higher folks" (George Sanders, Joan Greenwood) in his back pocket. Soon the uncle comes across a map that might lead to a priceless diamond that has been lost for generations but there are going to be many obstacles in his way. Some would argue that director Lang's later career is one poor movie after another but I would never go that far. I think it's safe to say that the director delivered many routine features at this point in his career and I think it's easy to say that he wasn't too involved with this film. Yes, he directed it but the overall feel of the movie is that of something with no energy and no passion so I can't help but think that Lang didn't think too highly of the material. This certainly isn't a horrid movie but at the same time there's very little going on here that's worth watching. One of the problems is that the characters simply aren't that interesting. I can't say that I was interested in the boy or his problems. I wasn't really worried about the uncle, the diamond or any of his relationships. The screenplay pretty much goes all over the place and at times I had a hard time trying to follow what was going on in terms of some of the relationships in the film but perhaps it's best because it probably would have just added more boredom. Whiteley is pretty bland in his role as is Granger. This isn't a good thing considering they're the ones suppose to be carrying the film. Sanders is always charming but he doesn't appear too often. MOONFLEET uses its 2.55:1 ratio for some nice images but this isn't enough to keep the film moving.

The book Moonfleet, by John Meade Falkner, belongs in that category of boyish swashbucklers occupied by other titles such as Treasure Island, The Prisoner Of Zenda and Kidnapped. In fact, I'd probably rate the book as one of my all-time favourites. It's definitely, for me, the best of the four I have just mentioned. I approached the film version in a positive and excited frame of mind, firstly because I was such a fan of the book, and secondly because the film's cast and crew bore much promise. Seasoned actors like Stewart Granger, George Sanders and Joan Greenwood are always a pleasure to watch, and director Fritz Lang's work is usually very good. Alas, the film version of Moonfleet remains stuck in mediocrity for its entire 87 minute duration. Never so bad that it becomes unwatchable, yet conversely never quite good enough to wholly grab the viewer's attention.John Mohune (Jon Whiteley), a young boy, is sent by his dying mother to the coastal village of Moonfleet to find her former lover, a man named Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). She promises the boy that Fox will take care of him once she has passed away. Young John does as he is instructed but soon discovers that Fox is not particularly the nice man he was expecting to find. Initially, Fox is very unwelcoming and uncaring towards young John, and spends much of his time either flirting outrageously with the female villagers or conspiring with various shifty-looking characters. Gradually young John comes to realise that Fox is in charge of a gang of smugglers, and is planning – with the aid of roguish local nobleman Lord Ashwood (George Sanders) - to step up into piracy. After a while a seed of friendship develops between John and Fox, and when the youngster reveals what he knows about a priceless diamond that once belonged to the Mohune family, they pair together to find the precious stone.Some aspects of the film work decently enough. Like so many films of this era, the photography (Robert Planck) captures the colours of the period beautifully and the music (Miklos Rosza) is typically rousing. Granger is a dab hand at these "likable villain" roles, and he provides yet another thoroughly enjoyable characterisation. On the flip side the sets are distractingly studio-bound, the narrative is rather muddled and the film tries unsuccessfully to improve upon the original source story (even though the original was fine as it was). I think movies adapted from books should remain at least partially faithful to the source - otherwise, what's the point? Wouldn't it be as well to promote the film as an original story and not claim it to be an adaptation? In the case of Moonfleet, the bare bones of the novel remain in place but an awful lot has been altered… and not really for the better. Perhaps if I hadn't read the book first I might have enjoyed the film more. On the whole, Moonfleet is a routine swashbuckler – it doesn't shine brightly as a leading title within its own genre, nor is it up to the high standards often attained by its director. Yet at the same time it doesn't fail so miserably that it is unworthy of a look.

This is one movie where I can honestly say that the adaptation to screen is better than the book. Not that it's great, mind you, just better. While watching Granger and Sanders in anything is entertaining, it seemed that screenwriter Jon Lustig wanted the character of John Mohune(John Trenchard in the novel) to be the focus(like, say, Jim Hawkins in "Treasure Island"), but couldn't quite figure out how to give him something useful to do without taking away from the top-billed stars. The finished film is more streamlined(and watchable) due to Lustig's and director Lang's desire for a tighter story. No way was a straight adaptation going to do *THAT* on screen! If Whitely's character, young John had acted as he does in the novel, and wrenching the story 90 degrees in a lesson on the "wages of ill-gotten gains", I probably would have thrown a brick at the t.v.(but then, that's just me). All in all, not one of Lang's(or Granger's, or Sander's, or Crain's) best, but worth a look. Especially, you've got to love Jack Elam's scene with the hats in the smuggler's grotto. THAT was funny...