Moontide (1942)

63% of users liked it
(93 ratings)

Forced to flee Paris during the Occupation, the great French leading man Jean Gabin starred in a brace of Hollywood films, the best of which was the first, 20th Century-Fox's Moontide. Cast to type, Gabin plays Bobo, a brooding itinerant dock-worker who gets mixed up in a drunken brawl. Upon… More Forced to flee Paris during the Occupation, the great French leading man Jean Gabin starred in a brace of Hollywood films, the best of which was the first, 20th Century-Fox's Moontide. Cast to type, Gabin plays Bobo, a brooding itinerant dock-worker who gets mixed up in a drunken brawl. Upon awakening, Bobo is convinced that he has killed a man by his mercenary "pal" Tiny (Thomas Mitchell). Despairing at the thought of having committed murder, not to mentioned being blackmailed for the rest of his life by the treacherous Tiny, Bobo is able to find a few fleeting moments of happiness with Anna (Ida Lupino), a suicidal young girl whom he has saved from a watery grave (The intensity of the love scenes may well be due to the allegedly real-life romance between Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino). Novelist John O'Hara adapted the screenplay from a book by actor Willard Robertson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Archie Mayo
Genres: Drama, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1942 Wide
On DVD: Sep 2, 2008

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Mushy Hollywood romantic drama posing as film noir.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

An engrossing little slice of dockside drama that is (unfortunately) more of a reflection of the Hayes Code than it is of the original source material.
Michael G

Moontide is a little ensemble movie that tries really hard to be film noir and really, really pretends but doesn't quite get the job done. Jean Gabin plays a vagabond Frenchman who pulls a suicidal waitress, played wonderfully by Ida Lupino back from the brink. The movie seems to… More
Moontide is a little ensemble movie that tries really hard to be film noir and really, really pretends but doesn't quite get the job done. Jean Gabin plays a vagabond Frenchman who pulls a suicidal waitress, played wonderfully by Ida Lupino back from the brink. The movie seems to coast on Gabin's European simplistic charm and the film's eclectic cast of characters, including the scene-stealing Claude Rains. Moontide does rack up noir points with a few vague murder mystery elements and some fantastic photography. The bender sequence toward the beginning designed by Salvador Dali especially. The stories behind Moontide are more interesting (see the making-of documentary on the DVD) than the movie itself, but it could've been worse.
jay n

Noirish wharf side drama with an excellent cast. Beautiful mood photography.