Moonfleet (1955)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

J. Meade Falkner (novel)
Jan Lustig (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 June 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot:

Moonfleet is set in Dorset, England. The Fleet refers to the land just west of Portland, Southern England.

Plot Keywords:

Smuggling | Diamond | Based On Novel

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 8

12:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Stewart Granger	...	Jeremy Fox
George Sanders	...	Lord James Ashwood
Joan Greenwood	...	Lady Clarista Ashwood
Viveca Lindfors	...	Mrs. Minton
Jon Whiteley	...	John Mohune
Liliane Montevecchi	...	Gypsy (as Liliane Montevecchi of the Ballet de Paris)
Melville Cooper	...	Felix Ratsey
Sean McClory	...	Elzevir Block
Alan Napier	...	Parson Glennie
John Hoyt	...	Magistrate Maskew
Donna Corcoran	...	Grace
Jack Elam	...	Damen
Dan Seymour	...	Hull
Ian Wolfe	...	Tewkesbury
Lester Matthews	...	Major Hennishaw

Also Known As:

Das Schloß im Schatten (Austria) [de]
Das Schloss im Schatten (West Germany) [de]
Il covo dei contrabbandieri (Italy) [it]
Kätketty aarre (Finland) [fi]
Les contrebandiers de Moonfleet (France) [fr]
Los contrabandistas de Moonfleet (Spain) [es]
Mens bøddelen ventede (Denmark) [da]
O Tesouro do Barba Ruiva (Portugal) [pt]
O gentleman tou ypokosmou (Greece) [el]
Slottet i skuggan (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (1955) (cut) | USA:Approved (certificate #17271) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Oceanside, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

This was the final film for Skelton Knaggs. This film was released almost two months after his death.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Right at the beginning of the film, when the little boy comes to, there's a shot where we can see the people surrounding him (as seen by the boy). But judging by the boy's place on the table in the next shot, he should be looking at the people upside down.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Moonfleet" (1984)

On the Boundary between Gothic Horror and Swashbuckling Adventure

It is a long time since I read J Meade Falkner's novel, but I remember enough of it to realise that this film bears little resemblance to it. Around the middle of the eighteenth century John Mohune, the young son of a once-wealthy but now ruined aristocratic family, is sent after the death of his parents to stay with Jeremy Fox, the squire of the Dorset village of Moonfleet. Before her marriage to a cousin, Fox was the lover of John's mother, but they were prevented from marrying by the opposition of her family, who thought he was neither wealthy nor well-born enough for her. As the fortunes of the Mohunes have declined, however, so those of Fox have risen, and he is now the wealthiest man in the village, living in their ancestral mansion.

Fox takes a liking to the boy, and a friendship grows up between them. Unknown to John, however, Fox is not the respectable country gentleman he appears. His main source of wealth is his involvement in the lucrative, but highly illegal, smuggling trade, and he has plans to go into partnership with Lord Ashwood, a local nobleman, in a venture which involves plundering foreign ships and which effectively falls little short of piracy. The debonair Fox is also something of a ladies man, with at least two mistresses, one of whom denounces him to the authorities when he tires of her. The main plot concerns Fox and John's search for a long-lost diamond which had once belonged to one of the Mohune family.

"Moonfleet" has similarities to "Treasure Island" although it is set in Britain rather than on a remote tropical island. The relationship between the likable rogue Fox (a name presumably chosen because of its connotations of cunning) and young John parallels that between Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins. The film has been aptly described as situated on the boundary between a traditional cape and sword adventure and a Gothic horror movie. The style of acting is more that of the swashbuckling adventure. Stewart Granger, taking over where Errol Flynn left off, made something of a speciality of dashing heroes in historical costume dramas ("Blanche Fury", "Saraband for Dead Lovers", "Scaramouche" and "Beau Brummell" are other examples) and he makes an attractive hero here. The other contribution that stands out is from George Sanders, always a good villain, as the corrupt aristocrat Ashwood.

Director Fritz Lang, however, brings a very Gothic look to the film. Moonfleet may be situated on one of the most scenic counties in England, but it is no picturesque village. The atmosphere is often a dark, gloomy one, with numerous shots of the shabby alehouse or the mist-shrouded churchyard. Fox may be a likable rogue, but the smugglers are for the most part dangerous ones who would have no compunction about murdering a child. (There is a fine duel between Fox and one of their number fought to decide whether John should live or die after he inadvertently overhears their plans). This is not a great film, but is nevertheless a well-made, watchable adventure. 6/10