Moonrise ***½ (1948, Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn, Rex Ingram, Harry Morgan) – Classic Movie Review 3430

‘HER ARMS…HER LOVE…HIS ONLY ESCAPE FROM A HERITAGE OF HATE!’ Dane Clark stars as Danny Hawkins, the frustrated, tormented man who kills a bully from his childhood, Jerry Sykes (Lloyd Bridges), in director Frank Borzage’s dark and haunting 1948 film noir psychodrama Moonrise.

Danny, who is in permanent mental pain because his father was wrongly hanged for a killing, accidentally kills the man in a fight over a young woman, Gilly Johnson (Gail Russell). He is afraid to notify the police, and when the cops find the corpse, he goes on the run from the law and Gilly.

The terrific, ultra-imaginative handling from director Frank Borzage brings Charles F Haas’s somewhat clumsy noir-style screenplay from Theodore Strauss’s novel to life and the performances are highly impressive all round. And cinematographer John L Russell’s black and white images of the creepy bayou backdrops add more tension.

Also in the cast are Ethel Barrymore as Grandma, Allyn Joslyn as Sheriff Clem Otis, Rex Ingram as Mose, Harry [Henry] Morgan, Harry Carey Jr, Rex Ingram, David Street, Selena Royle, Irving Bacon, Houseley Stevenson, Phil Brown, Lila Leeds, Virginia Mullen, Oliver Blake, Tom Fadden, Harry Cheshire, Charles Lane, Clem Bevans, Helen Wallace, Archie Twitchell and Bill Borzage.

A scene in which a group of children tar-and-feather another child was cut at the request of the American Production Code Administration (PCA).

Moonrise is directed by Frank Borzage, runs 90 minutes, is made by Frank Borzage Productions, is released by Republic, is written by Charles F Haas, based on Theodore Strauss’s novel, and shot in black and white by John L Russell, is produced by Marshall Grant and Charles F Haas, is scored by William Lava and is designed by Lionel Banks.

Moonrise had one Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Recording (Daniel J Bloomberg) in 1948.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3430

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