Blood on the Moon (1948)

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Lillie Hayward (screenplay)
Luke Short (adaptation)

Release Date:

9 November 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

LUSTY! VIOLENT! SAVAGE!

Plot:

When a shady-looking stranger rides into town to join his old friend it is assumed he is a hired gun...

Plot Keywords:

Homesteader | Outlaw | Change Of Mind | Cattleman | Cowboy

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Jim Garry
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Amy Lufton
Robert Preston	...	Tate Riling
Walter Brennan	...	Kris Barden
Phyllis Thaxter	...	Carol Lufton
Frank Faylen	...	Jake Pindalest
Tom Tully	...	John Lufton
Charles McGraw	...	Milo Sweet
Clifton Young	...	Joe Shotten
Tom Tyler	...	Frank Reardon
George Cooper	...	Fred Barden
Tom Keene	...	Ted Elser (as Richard Powers)
Bud Osborne	...	Cap Willis
Zon Murray	...	Nels Titterton
Robert Bray	...	Bart Daniels

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

RKO Encino Ranch - Balboa Boulevard & Burbank Boulevard, Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

In 1953, RKO reissued this film theatrically on a double bill with another western, Fort Apache (1948) starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda, with the tag line "Two Rip-Roaring Action Hits!"

Quotes:

Jim Garry: [after Barden kills Reardon] Why did you do it?
Kris Barden: I always wanted to shoot one of you. He was the handiest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead Man (1995)

Moody

Blood On the Moon is a moody western drama from the late forties, adapted from a Luke Short story, and directed by Robert Wise. Robert Mitchum plays an itinerant copwpuncher who arrives in a ranching community in which he discovers an old friend of his, played by Robert Preston, also resides, and who turns out to be in the cattle rustling business. Since the locals are suspicious of him in the first place, Mitchum seems unsure as to which side he's on.

This is a well-acted film but somewhat of a downer. A good deal of the action takes place at night or in darkened rooms. It's very noir in tone, though technically a western. Mitchum's laconic, somewhat enigmatic personality helps it along, as does Preston's amiable-seeming bad guy. Barbara Bel Geddes gives a good performance as the love interest; and such capable players as Charles McGraw, Tom Tully and Walter Brennan are on hand to spice things up. While the movie is quite accomplished in what it sets out to do, it strikes me as somewhat of an experiment that doesn't quite come off. The western is at its best a rousing genre, full of action and movement. This one has precious little of either.