Wow! Such a good movie.

One of my all time favorites.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A western, a revenge epic in the Sergio Leone mode, a 3D novelty, a soap opera, and a reunion for Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, who were so great together in "Double Indemnity" and "Remember the Night." By those standards it's a letdown, and screenwriter Niven Busch, who did well by Babs in "The Furies," seems unable to concentrate on any one plot strand for very long. Fred's a cattle rustler, or moonlighter, who's awaiting trial but facing a lynching, when, for contrived plot reasons, the mob seizes the wrong man and lynches him. Fred breaks out and swears revenge. Then it's a romance, as he heads back to his former sweetheart, who, unpersuasively, is being courted by Fred's younger brother, the always-watchable William Ching. He feels young for Babs, though, and this is a little late in her career for her to be playing an ingenue. Then, with the two brothers trading Babs back and forth, old crony Ward Bond shows up, and Ching unconvincingly leaves his steady bank teller job to assist the other two in robbing the bank he works for. The love story doesn't work, the 3D is largely unemployed except for one waterfall sequence that must have looked good, and the happy ending is rushed and ridiculous. Still, there are some good sequences--the hanging, a swell Fred-Ward fight, the tense bank robbery. Roy Rowland directs, as he always did, anonymously.

Cattle rustler outwits a lynch mob and takes refuge with his Ma and kid brother; he reacquaints himself with a former sweetheart--but after he's involved in a bank robbery, the girl gets herself deputized and vows to bring him in "dead or alive". Mediocre western rides a familiar trail, the only hook for an audience (today, and most likely in 1953 as well) being the casting of the leads. Fred MacMurray is a terrific failed bad guy, his look of incredulousness suiting his hulking frame, while Barbara Stanwyck acquits herself well in cowgirl duds and handles both horse and rifle exceptionally well. Not a barn-burner by any means, and saddled with a stodgy direction from Roy Rowland, but an interesting b-item for admirers of the stars. ** from ****

The first 15 minutes of this Western are exciting and different. I was thrilled as it looked like this film was actually a break from the usual dull cowboy film. Sadly, as the film progressed, it only morphed into a rather typical film--losing all the promise and great plot at the beginning.The film begins with Fred MacMurray in jail for cattle rustling (i.e., "moonlighting"). However, the "good citizens" of the town don't want to wait for justice to take its course and attack the jail. They want to string up MacMurray, though the people don't know what he looks like. This is a SERIOUS problem, as one of the deputies had locked himself into the cell to protect himself from the mob. The mob mistakenly thought the deputy was the criminal (an odd mistake, granted) and string him up instead. MacMurray later returns to the town and one by one starts exacting revenge in the name of the dead man. Most of the killings are pretty cool and I loved this angle.Then, however, inexplicably, after Fred gets hurt, the entire plot changes. Why do this when the initial plot is so good?! All thoughts about revenge on the town vanish and the plot changes to a rather dull film about Fred and his old fiancée, played by Barbara Stanwyck. In addition to this not making any sense, what makes even less sense is when Fred's brother (always a good and law abiding citizen) decides to join Fred in a life of crime. The motivation for this just hadn't been established and seemed bizarre. If this isn't bad enough, Barbara later becomes sort of an action-hero and has a show-down with the ultra-bad guy (Ward Bond)--and SHE wins!! Then, in the end, Fred has a sudden change of heart and decides to turn himself in and go straight!! What happened to the writing and the common sense?! What started as a great film quickly degenerated into a confusing and unconvincing mess--most of which seem unmotivated and disconnected. Not a shining moment in the career of either of the stars of this film. It only manages a score as high as 4 because at least it started well.

The Moonlighter re-unites the stars of the great film noir Double Indemnity but to much less effect in this modest and rather tepid Western. Fred MacMurray plays the title character ,a moonlighter being a kind of cattle thief.As the movie opens he is in a prison cell awaiting trial while an inflamed mob is intent on lynching him before he can stand trial.They break into the gaol and summarily execute the wrong man due to mistaken identity. He sets out to wreak revenge on the killers but is wounded and returns home where he finds his sweetheart -played by Stanwyck-on the verge of marrying his bank teller brother.He becomes involved in a bank robbery with tragic results and Stanwyck sets out to bring him to justice.The performances are acceptable and the major problem is the script by Niven Busch which -perhaps through budgetary and time constraints -never gets to explore the ramifications of the story ,which ends abruptly.A minor Western it just about passes muster but could have been a lot better.It is however interesting to note that the Stanwyck character is the one most respected by the other characters and the town Marshall has no qualms about deputising her .In addition it is she who delivers the goods --early feminist Western maybe ?