The Moon-Spinners *** (1964, Hayley Mills, Peter McEnery, Eli Wallach, Joan Greenwood, John le Mesurier, Pola Negri, Irene Papas) – Classic Movie Review 7351

Director James Neilson’s 1964 British adventure The Moon-Spinners is the Walt Disney film where child star Hayley Mills is finally allowed to grow up and get her man. Alas it does not really add any spice to sweet Hayley’s sugary Sixties Disney career and did not make her an adult star.

Hayley plays teenager Nicky Ferris, who is on holiday on Crete with her aunt Frances (Joan Greenwood), aiming to collect and record local folk songs, when she meets an English boy, Mark Camford (Peter McEnery), who has been framed for a robbery by a nasty hotelier called Stratos (an amiably evil portrait by Eli Wallach).

The pre-tourist boom Greek scenery looks a treat, and the great silent movie star Pola Negri, in her first role for 20 years in what proved her final film, pops up as Madame Habib, a buyer of shady goods, along with John le Mesurier, Irene Papas, Paul Stassino, Sheila Hancock, Michael Davis, André Morell, George Pastell and Tutte Lemkow too. That is, the good, solid cast of the era are carefully assembled and in loyal support.

Meandering and undynamic though the movie is, running to an unnecessary 119 minutes, it is still an occasional charmer.

Michael Dyne writes the screenplay, based on the book by Mary Stewart.

Neilson and Mills earlier made Disney’s Summer Magic (1963) together.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7351

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