Spikeopath Moontide is directed by Archie Mayo and adapted to screenplay by John O'Hara from the novel written by Willard Robertson. Its stars Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell and Claude Rains. Music is by David Buttolph and Cyril J. Mockridge, with cinematography by Charles G. Clarke.Sometimes weird, sometimes wonderful, but also wasteful, Moontide is a choppy experience. Hindered by production code strong arming and Fritz Lang and Lucien Ballard leaving the initial production, there's an over whelming feeling of what might have been. Story finds Gabin as Bobo, a salty sailor type living and working at the quayside, he likes a drink and after one particularly boozy night he wakes to think he may have killed somebody. Inconvenient since a troubled lady he helped has started to impact greatly on his life.Pilot Fish Pondering.Story is absorbing by way of the characters, around Bobo is Tiny (Mitchell), who is a leech by way of having a hold over Bobo. Then there's Nutsy (Rains), who not as his name suggests, is something of an intellectual, while Anna (Lupino) has attempted suicide and on whose appearance sets in motion a chain of dramatic events. All characters operate in and around the waterside, rubbing shoulders with various unseemly types, and it's this setting, with the tech craft on show, that grips from the get go.Most scenes are filtered through film noir lenses, with mists constant, dim lights prominent, and the glistening of the water belies the darker edges in the play. A drunken hallucinogenic dream is Dali in effect, which is one of a number of strange scenes throughout, of which one is where we find the bizarre sight of Tiny whipping Nutsy in the shower! Certain touchy things are inferred delicately, and conversations are never less than attention holding. If only the plot wasn't so erratic, with so many infuriatingly dangled carrots, then we could have had a higher end proto noir to savour.Splendidly performed, though, with Mitchell and Lupino not playing to their usual types, and the visuals a real treat for the so inclined of noirish persuasion (Clarke was Oscar Nominated for his work), giving us just enough to have a good time with. Still can't help hankering for Lang and Ballard though... 6.5/10

MisterWhiplash Jean Gabin didn't star in many American films, and Moontide was the only one I could find from my local library. Maybe it was for the best; his presence on screen is very (and I mean this as a compliment) French in tone and inflection and even in style of speak. In English he fares reasonably well, and gives a solid performance as the "gypsy turned peasant" Bobo who saddles up with ex-suicide-attemptee Ida Lupino on a tiny bay community. This being said it's a kind of character that works for Gabin's limitations in the language. Because Bobo is a Gypsy it works that Gabin's English is only so fluent and has the kind of facial expressions that reflect that (as opposed to say Grand Illusion where he was so natural that it was staggering). Lupino, thankfully, is a great match, and the two have some very nice scenes together as a married couple who face trouble when one of Bobo's prior troubles comes back to haunt him, even as it wasn't his fault.The direction is competent and the writing has some moments of cleverness or tenderness or even insight. And as the drama ratchets up one gets involved if only on a perfunctory, conventional level. But the director Archie Mayo (replacing, of all directors, Fritz Lang) some moments that really stand out for me. One that I might never forget, and should stand up among some of the quintessential early 40s noir films, is when Bobo has his drunken binge the first night at port and after causing a ruckus in the bar with punching out the guy and making the girl upset goes from bar to bar. In a montage that provides a drunken angle to the camera and editing tricks, we see Bobo going further and further, hearing characters repeat things like "drink, drink" or whatever and it is purely intoxicating to see this. It's the kind of sequence, which lasts a good long 5 minutes, that almost promises this to be a great film.It isn't, but it was worth a shot, and for those who are curious or just big Gabin or Lupino (or Claude Rains) fans, it's worth a shot.

edwagreen Rather routine story of a dock worker who finds love with a hash slinger. The dull, somber mood is reflective of the period shown here.Ida Lupino is excellent, as usual, because she plays the role that she was so well suited to play in films- the unhappy, vulnerable woman, who finds love and then tragedy.As the heavy, Thomas Mitchell shows some fine acting but he is not acting exactly like his drunken doctor in "Stagecoach" or Gerald O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind."As the man of the docks, Jean Gabin is appealing in the romantic lead. Problem with this film is that it's so obvious. Jerome Cowan is the unfaithful doctor who realizes his shortcomings and helps Lupino survive.

blanche-2 Director Fritz Lang was replaced by Archie Mayo as director of the 1942 "Moontide," and one wonders if the film would have been any better with Lang at the helm. With a script by John O'Hara, it's all dry ice, cheap sets, night shots and little action. The great French film star, perhaps the greatest, Jean Gabin, plays Bobo, a dockworker who enjoys being a free spirit. He suffers from blackouts when he's drunk, which is used to advantage by a so-called friend of his, Tiny (Thomas Mitchell), who gets money out of Bobo by hinting that he strangled a man in another town. When a waitress (Ida Lupiho) is rescued from the ocean after trying to commit suicide, Bobo covers for her so she won't be arrested. Eventually they fall in love. This doesn't fit in with the threatening Tiny's plans, as he wants Bobo to seek work elsewhere.The movie drags along, and it's easy to see the cheapness of the production throughout. It has a certain atmosphere, but it grows tired.It's a shame that Hollywood had no clue what to do with Jean Gabin, but seeing "Moontide," it's easy to figure out why. With his thick build, weathered face, unruly hair and large nose, he wasn't the leading man material Hollywood was used to, and he was too much a star to be a character actor. Few actors possessed his raw sexuality and charisma, seen much more clearly in Pepe LeMoko and as his signature role, Maigret. It's not for nothing that Marlene Dietrich chased him all across Europe during World War II. He only stayed in Hollywood until 1943 and worked in France as a national institution until his death in 1976. Lupino is very young, frail and pretty here and does a good job. Claude Rains as Nutsy, Bobo's friend, is good but wasted. Thomas Mitchell has the best role among the supporting players. It's a departure from his usual thick nice guys.If you're interested in Gabin, you'll want to see this. Otherwise, skip it.