Wonderful character development!

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

As a not often seen curiosity, Moontide is as close as it gets to 'Hollywood come Parisian'. Perhaps it could even be hailed as one of 20th Century Fox's earliest entries into 'Noir' drama. During the time exiled French leading man Jean Gabin was taking refuge in the USA (escaping the Nazis) he made two movies, this, and 'The Imposter' 44 ~ both relatively undistinguished at the time. Gabin, known for his difficult, gruff nature may well have been playing himself with his role as Bobo, a sailor with self destructive drinking habits. Bobo has a change of heart when he saves the life of a depressed young woman, played by a 20 something Ida Lupino. Lupino is the whole show, proving she was not simply a pretty face but a sterling dramatist of the highest degree. She steals every scene with strong, heart felt professionalism, a pure joy to watch! Other cast members are also of a special class, Claude Rains gives a great out of character performance as the warm hearted Nutsy, with Thomas Mitchell memorable as the nasty big lunk known as Tiny. Another odd character played by Jerome Cowan as a Dr having marital problems, has the feel of a part that may have been reduced in post production editing (could be interesting to know...?). Equally striking is the first class moody black and white (award nominated) cinematography of veteran Charles G. Clark, whose fluid camera weaves in and out of eerie fog bound waterfront settings. The interesting screenplay by talented, self opinionated, and somewhat self destructive, John O'Hara was adapted from the novel by writer/actor Willard Robinson. Some may know Robinson from his roles in: Deep Valley '47 and The Oxbow Incident '43, among many others. Portions of the screen play were penned (un-credited) by award nominated writer Nunnally Johnson, the multi-talented producer/screenplay writer of "The Grapes of Wrath" '40. Johnson was also hailed for his classic work as the writer/director of "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" in '56. Direction is fully credited (wrongly) to veteran all rounder, Archie Mayo but the project was started under the call of Fritz Lang. Lang was sacked after disputes with the difficult Jean Gabin. It's easy to see why many attribute much of the films atmospheric feel as being due to Lang's involvement. The sets, while visually interesting, are somewhat claustrophobic due to budget constraints. The off-the-wall montage dreamed up by unhinged 'artist' Salvador Dali during one of Gabin's binges is eye popping. The only other I've seen this good (if not better) was in Carol Reed's unforgettable classic, "Odd Man Out" '47. Producer Mark Hellinger of "The Killers" '46 and "Naked City fame" '48 ~ gives us yet another compelling watch, for those who like to trace early offbeat ventures into American 'noir' dramas.KenR.....

This interesting and surprisingly effective 1941 movie was one of the first films noir. Partly directed by Fritz Lang -- who quit after a few weeks due to a conflict with Jean Gabin, who was romancing Lang's ex-girlfriend Marlene Dietrich -- and featuring an international cast with creative input by Salvador Dali (!), the movie is a seminal work that helped establish some of the stylistic elements of classic film noir.The lovely 28 year-old British actress Ida Lupino delivers a convincing performance as a suicidal teenage runaway, aimlessly passing through a Californian fishing village on her journey to nowhere.French actor Jean Gabin exudes charm and star quality as a womanizing drifter with an insane capacity for hard liquor, who gets into drunken fights that he doesn't remember. Claude Rains and Thomas Mitchell round out the main characters with solid performances as Gabin's drinking buddies -- Rains as a failed British intellectual and Mitchell as a scheming Irish villain who is blackmailing Gabin. Dali's contribution to the movie is a startling scene where the drunken Gabin is conversing with a pretty prostitute whose head suddenly vanishes into thin air -- transforming her into a talking torso with surrealist images of spinning clocks.The direction is generally good. The cinematography is classic noir, especially the final scenes, which deliver an abundance of dark, haunting images as Gabin menacingly pursues Mitchell along the pier to his death. The Fox Film Noir DVD consists of a flawless high-quality print plus special features.

Jean Gabin didn't star in many American films, and Moontide was the only one I could find from my local library. Maybe it was for the best; his presence on screen is very (and I mean this as a compliment) French in tone and inflection and even in style of speak. In English he fares reasonably well, and gives a solid performance as the "gypsy turned peasant" Bobo who saddles up with ex-suicide-attemptee Ida Lupino on a tiny bay community. This being said it's a kind of character that works for Gabin's limitations in the language. Because Bobo is a Gypsy it works that Gabin's English is only so fluent and has the kind of facial expressions that reflect that (as opposed to say Grand Illusion where he was so natural that it was staggering). Lupino, thankfully, is a great match, and the two have some very nice scenes together as a married couple who face trouble when one of Bobo's prior troubles comes back to haunt him, even as it wasn't his fault.The direction is competent and the writing has some moments of cleverness or tenderness or even insight. And as the drama ratchets up one gets involved if only on a perfunctory, conventional level. But the director Archie Mayo (replacing, of all directors, Fritz Lang) some moments that really stand out for me. One that I might never forget, and should stand up among some of the quintessential early 40s noir films, is when Bobo has his drunken binge the first night at port and after causing a ruckus in the bar with punching out the guy and making the girl upset goes from bar to bar. In a montage that provides a drunken angle to the camera and editing tricks, we see Bobo going further and further, hearing characters repeat things like "drink, drink" or whatever and it is purely intoxicating to see this. It's the kind of sequence, which lasts a good long 5 minutes, that almost promises this to be a great film.It isn't, but it was worth a shot, and for those who are curious or just big Gabin or Lupino (or Claude Rains) fans, it's worth a shot.

This film may not be a masterpiece when paralleled with other films by Fritz Lang, as well as other projects starring Jean Gabin, and also films in which Ida Lupino excels. ( "Road House", with Richard Widmark and Celeste Holm). As well as the wonderfully sinister "Ladies in Retirement", in my opinion one of Ms. Lupino's most brilliant performances. But give this film a chance, it has a few redeeming performances and interesting scenarios.Ida Lupino is believable as Anna, a down on her luck waitress who attempts suicide. Apparently in the 1940's police used to arrest suicides, rather than help them. Gabin helps Lupino out of the problem, and she helps him decorate his ramshackle cabin on the docks of San Pablo, California. They eventually marry.Claude Rains has a rather odd role as "Nutsy", a barfly and friend, and Tom Mitchell is "Tiny", the requisite villain.While the theme is a bit sketchy, the sets are interesting, if a bit improvised, and the film is an oddity worth seeing for Lupino. Of course, I may be a bit biased. 8/10.