Moonrise

Moonrise (1948) Trapped in the Father’s Past (11,587 – 04 Apr 2025 – by Claudio Carvalho) In Virginia, the boy Daniel “Danny” Hawkins is bullied by the local boys led by Jerry Sykes since his father was hanged for murdering a man. After years of bulling, humiliations and beating, Danny (Dane Clark) is a man and Jerry (Lloyd Bridges) still bullies him. During a dance party, Jerry confronts Danny and fights him. However, Danny reacts, Jerry picks up a stone to hit him and Danny kills him in self-defense. Danny dances with Gilly Johnson (Gail Russell), who is engaged to Jerry and is his infatuation, and feeling guilty, he has a car crash with Gilly and two friends. When Dany realizes that he lost his rare pocketknife in the woods, he becomes worried. Danny and Gilly date each other but soon Danny’s guilty haunts him and he becomes paranoid, affecting his behavior. When he meets his grandmother (Ethel Barrymore), she tells him why his father killed a man and how he felt after the murdering, and Danny gets rid of his “bad blood” feeling and changes his attitude. “Moonrise” (1948) is an unusual film-noir, without several elements of the genre. The dramatic story discloses the life of a man, bullied and abused by the other children since he was a boy because his father was hanged for murder. When he kills a bully in self-defense, he does not go to the sheriff to report what happened to him. Instead, he becomes paranoid, and his behavior becomes erratic. This film was a flop on release but works reasonably well on DVD. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): “Ao Cair da Noite” (“At Nightfall”) My Blog: https://maniacosporfilme.wordpress.com/

Dreamy, captivating sets, and a glimpse of small town American life in the 1940s. But a slow movie. Also, I don't see what Russel sees in the lead, Clark. She falls in love with a sad, angry guy, who has no magnetism, and there is no zip of love until the last 20min. It was strange

I wouldn't go so far as to label the film the "complete subversion of film noir," as Moonrise wields a murder-driven spiral for most of its running time, and boasts some expressionist, moody photography and set pieces -- Danny's mental breakdown on a ferris wheel is an expertly crafted doozy of a moment -- for the duration. While there most certainly are aspects that render Moonrise atypical in the film noir canon, it nonetheless belongs. Noir is, after all, a style, and a genre. Therefore, the whats, whys and hows of its entries can be frustratingly slippery when attempting to classify.

The story idea isn't bad but this movie rendition is as sappy as they come and worse. The acting is plain bad and the dialogue is dreadful. Half of Dane Clark's lines consist of him saying Gail Russell's character's name "Gilly" over and over. Yuck!

Not a bad black and white Oldie. But got bored towards the end

The first ten minutes of Frank Borzage's film noir are fascinating and, although the film doesn't keep up the pace, it is full of interesting ideas and camera shots.

A fine example of the film noir, with Ethel Barrymore in the cast. The protagonist is tortured by the fate of his father, who was hanged for murder. YouTube has a good print of it.

A compromised film noir, due to themes of redemption and a happy ending, the newly restored Moonrise merits attention for it visual and sound elements, particularly stylized b/w cinematography of John Russell, who in 1960 shot Hitchcock's Psycho.

A Noir film that adds a twist to the genre by creating an atmosphere of hope, even if the outcome still may be grim. Perhaps personal victory and dignity is whats important here.

This is the first Frank Borzage film I've seen and I'm told it is atypical of his usual hazy romantic fare -- but to me the gauzy romance is still here, just layered on top of a noirish plot with expressionistic effects and lighting. It's a bit of a weird mix (and as some reviewers point out, verging on a Night of the Hunter mise-en-scene, but not nearly as good). There are things to like (Rex Ingram as Mose, Allyn Joslyn as the Sheriff) and things not to like (adults playing teenagers, the sullenness of the lead). Worth a look, but there would seem to be other places to start with Borzage.