Dane Clark, Gail Russell & Ethel Barrymore in "Moonrise" (1948) - feat. Harry Morgan & Lloyd Bridges

Описание: When his wife becomes ill, Virginian Jeb Hawkins phones a doctor, but the doctor refuses to visit her, saying that her condition is not serious. Shortly thereafter, she dies, causing Jeb to lose control and kill the doctor.

Years after Jeb was hanged for murder, his son, Danny Hakwins (Dane Clark), visits a dance hall. His tormenter since childhood, a banker's son, Jerry Sykes (Lloyd Bridges), teases Danny for being a murderer's son. Danny grabs a rock, smashes his skull, and departs, leaving his pocketknife behind.

Danny returns to the scene with his only friend, a mentally handicapped deaf-mute, Billy Scripture (Harry Morgan, as Henry Morgan). Unable to find the knife, Danny goes to the dance hall to dance with Jerry's unsuspecting sweetheart, schoolteacher Gilly Johnson (Gail Russell). Danny takes her for a drive with another couple, but the drunken lad nearly crashes when he thinks he sees Jerry's corpse in the road.

Later, Danny visits his friend, Mose Johnson (Rex Ingram), at his home. As he watches Mose's bloodhounds chase and kill a raccoon, Danny begins to fear his own capture.

Mose finds Jerry's decomposing body. Danny watches Jerry's corpse being carried into the coroner's office. After a bank examiner tells J. B. Sykes that his son Jerry stole $2,000 from his cash box, Clem learns that Jerry owed some money to Ken Williams (David Street), the drummer for the dance hall band.

The next day, Sheriff Clem Otis (Allyn Joslyn) and his wife, Martha (Helen Wallace), see Danny and Gilly. Gilly tells Danny that after his missing knife was found by Billy, Clem came to ask her some questions. As Danny boards the ferris wheel with Gilly, he notices Clem and his wife also boarding the ride. After Danny panics and falls from his seat, he limps to Brother's Pond on a badly injured leg. Inside Mose's shack, Danny sees Billy resting peacefully and, in a fit of desperation, nearly strangles him. When Clem and his deputies arrive at the swamp, Danny limps to the home of his grandmother, who lives nearby. There, Danny takes up his father's rifle, but after a reflective moment at his mother's and father's graves, decides to turn himself in. When Clem sees that Danny is willing to cooperate, he forgoes the handcuffs and allows him to walk to jail "like a man."

A 1948 American Black & White film-noir crime romance drama film directed by Frank Borzage, produced by Charles F. Haas, screenplay by Haas, based on Theodore Strauss' 1946 novel of the same name, cinematography by John L. Russell, starring Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn, Rex Ingram, Harry Morgan (as Henry Morgan), David Street, Selena Royle, Harry Carey Jr, Irving Bacon, Lloyd Bridges, Houseley Stevenson, Phil Brown, Harry Cheshire, and Lila Leeds.

Ethel Barrymore gets third billing, but she does not appear until 10 minutes from the end of the film.

Yakima Canutt was the second unit director.

In December 1945, Paramount Pictures purchased the rights to adapt Theodore Strauss's yet-to-be-released novel, which was serialized by Hearst's International Cosmopolitan magazine in August and September 1946, and published as a book that October. Two independent producers purchased the film rights from Paramount, and reportedly spent $40,000 on advertising for the novel. The duo was unable to secure a completion bond, and were sued by William Wellman, whom they had hired as the film's director.

This tale of guilt and redemption was ultimately made by Republic Pictures, house of B-Movies. However, this was a relatively high-budget film compared to Republic's Westerns.

Daniel J. Bloomberg received an Oscar nomination for Best Sound Recording in 1948.

A scene in which a group of children tar-and-feather another child was excluded from the final print at the request of the PCA.

This grim melodrama is one of the better films, if not the best, directed by the veteran filmmaker, known for his romantic melodramas, Frank Borzage (“Farewell to Arms”/”7th Heaven”). It’s a humanist social conflict flick made on a low-budget for Republic, which was an unusual choice for the studio known mostly for their serials, action and Western films. This was Borzage’s last film until “China Doll” (1958). The blacklist forced him into a decade of no work. The next year he directed his last film, “The Big Fisherman” (1959).

Sundtrack music:
"The Moonrise Song (It Just Dawned On Me)" - Lyrics by Harry Tobias, Music by William Lava, Performed by David Street
"Lonesome" - Lyrics by Theodore Strauss, Music by William Lava, Performed by Rex Ingram
"I'll Be Home for Christmas" - Written by Walter Kent, Buck Ram and Kim Gannon

A dream-like dark film about a man driven to murder. Dark and atmospheric, this moody southern noir shines with beautiful black and white shading, and scenes that were shot in the moonlight. This is practically a one man show and perhaps Dane Clark's best performance. The film’s beauty lies in Borzage’s overpowering visual mise-en-scene.