MOONLIGHTER EYE TIMER MOVIE

'The Moonlighter' could have been good with the right execution. But for my money it's not enough to make up for a really ridiculous plot in a film that neither star thought highly of. In color it would have been better, but there is a nice sequence at a waterfall involving the stars that must have been great in 3-D. After that the plot gets so ridiculous that I almost dare you to see it. Nevertheless Fred does attempt a robbery with old outlaw colleague Ward Bond. But she's now seeing his brother William Ching. Still a wanted man Fred goes back to the old home town where he wants to take up bank robbery and visit his sweetheart Barbara Stanwyck. Which allows him to take some revenge on those that wanted to do him in, like Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High. Either way it can get you lynched as a mob from the town where MacMurray is in jail does, but to the wrong guy thinking it's him.

MacMurray is in the title role and when one is a Moonlighter one is a cattle rustler who plies his trade during the evening hours. And why do this on a minor western? Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck who made the classic Double Indemnity for Paramount almost a decade earlier set off no sparks in The Moonlighter. That almost to me seems self defeating if you're trying to lure people out of their homes and away from their television screens. One wonders why Warner Brothers chose to make The Moonlighter in 3-D and yet not bother with color. In addition it is she who delivers the goods -early feminist Western maybe ? A minor Western it just about passes muster but could have been a lot better.It is however interesting to note that the Stanwyck character is the one most respected by the other characters and the town Marshall has no qualms about deputising her. The performances are acceptable and the major problem is the script by Niven Busch which -perhaps through budgetary and time constraints -never gets to explore the ramifications of the story ,which ends abruptly. He sets out to wreak revenge on the killers but is wounded and returns home where he finds his sweetheart -played by Stanwyck-on the verge of marrying his bank teller brother.He becomes involved in a bank robbery with tragic results and Stanwyck sets out to bring him to justice.

MOONLIGHTER EYE TIMER MOVIE

Fred MacMurray plays the title character ,a moonlighter being a kind of cattle thief.As the movie opens he is in a prison cell awaiting trial while an inflamed mob is intent on lynching him before he can stand trial.They break into the gaol and summarily execute the wrong man due to mistaken identity. The Moonlighter re-unites the stars of the great film noir Double Indemnity but to much less effect in this modest and rather tepid Western. Originally this was shown in 3D but outside of the opening credits I didn't see a single thing fly to the screen so this movie's reputation of being one of the worst 3D movies is probably true. The actors are fine and that includes Ward Bond as a bad guy but the film is just a mess. Even the big action climax at the end doesn't work as the director brings no suspense to it. The ending is without question one of the worst in film history and how characters just flop is downright silly. I think a lot of this is due to the silly screenplay, which just goes crazy in the second half of the film and even the director makes some silly mistakes including using a score meant for a comedy during a couple critical killing scenes. The two of them are always good together and their past films prove that but there's very little fire here between the two. Sadly, after this, the film turns into a silly soap opera and the love story between MacMurray and Stanwyck is never believable. The entire sequence is build around them wanting to lynch a cattle robber but there are many complications that come from this and it really leads to a terrific sequence. I will say that the entire sequence contains some terrific drama, great action and even a couple good laughs. I'm not going to spoil the first fifteen-minutes because it delivers a few key plot points that are best if you don't know them going in. THE MOONLIGHTER is an incredibly disappointing film when you consider the cast and especially after how well it got started. He then realizes that his former love (Barbara Stanwyck) is now seeing his younger brother (William Ching), which sets off a love triangle. Fred MacMurray plays a man believed dead but he shows back up at his mother's house swearing vengeance on what's happened to him. The Moonlighter (1953) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A rather bizarre Western starts off with a huge bang but then slowly dies into melodrama.

Moonlighter eye timer