The book Moonfleet, by John Meade Falkner, belongs in that category of boyish swashbucklers occupied by other titles such as Treasure Island, The Prisoner Of Zenda and Kidnapped. In fact, I'd probably rate the book as one of my all-time favourites. It's definitely, for me, the best of the four I have just mentioned. I approached the film version in a positive and excited frame of mind, firstly because I was such a fan of the book, and secondly because the film's cast and crew bore much promise. Seasoned actors like Stewart Granger, George Sanders and Joan Greenwood are always a pleasure to watch, and director Fritz Lang's work is usually very good. Alas, the film version of Moonfleet remains stuck in mediocrity for its entire 87 minute duration. Never so bad that it becomes unwatchable, yet conversely never quite good enough to wholly grab the viewer's attention.
John Mohune (Jon Whiteley), a young boy, is sent by his dying mother to the coastal village of Moonfleet to find her former lover, a man named Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). She promises the boy that Fox will take care of him once she has passed away. Young John does as he is instructed but soon discovers that Fox is not particularly the nice man he was expecting to find. Initially, Fox is very unwelcoming and uncaring towards young John, and spends much of his time either flirting outrageously with the female villagers or conspiring with various shifty-looking characters. Gradually young John comes to realise that Fox is in charge of a gang of smugglers, and is planning with the aid of roguish local nobleman Lord Ashwood (George Sanders) - to step up into piracy. After a while a seed of friendship develops between John and Fox, and when the youngster reveals what he knows about a priceless diamond that once belonged to the Mohune family, they pair together to find the precious stone.
Some aspects of the film work decently enough. Like so many films of this era, the photography (Robert Planck) captures the colours of the period beautifully and the music (Miklos Rosza) is typically rousing. Granger is a dab hand at these "likable villain" roles, and he provides yet another thoroughly enjoyable characterisation. On the flip side the sets are distractingly studio-bound, the narrative is rather muddled and the film tries unsuccessfully to improve upon the original source story (even though the original was fine as it was). I think movies adapted from books should remain at least partially faithful to the source - otherwise, what's the point? Wouldn't it be as well to promote the film as an original story and not claim it to be an adaptation? In the case of Moonfleet, the bare bones of the novel remain in place but an awful lot has been altered and not really for the better. Perhaps if I hadn't read the book first I might have enjoyed the film more. On the whole, Moonfleet is a routine swashbuckler it doesn't shine brightly as a leading title within its own genre, nor is it up to the high standards often attained by its director. Yet at the same time it doesn't fail so miserably that it is unworthy of a look.
John Mohune (Jon Whiteley), a young boy, is sent by his dying mother to the coastal village of Moonfleet to find her former lover, a man named Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). She promises the boy that Fox will take care of him once she has passed away. Young John does as he is instructed but soon discovers that Fox is not particularly the nice man he was expecting to find. Initially, Fox is very unwelcoming and uncaring towards young John, and spends much of his time either flirting outrageously with the female villagers or conspiring with various shifty-looking characters. Gradually young John comes to realise that Fox is in charge of a gang of smugglers, and is planning with the aid of roguish local nobleman Lord Ashwood (George Sanders) - to step up into piracy. After a while a seed of friendship develops between John and Fox, and when the youngster reveals what he knows about a priceless diamond that once belonged to the Mohune family, they pair together to find the precious stone.
Some aspects of the film work decently enough. Like so many films of this era, the photography (Robert Planck) captures the colours of the period beautifully and the music (Miklos Rosza) is typically rousing. Granger is a dab hand at these "likable villain" roles, and he provides yet another thoroughly enjoyable characterisation. On the flip side the sets are distractingly studio-bound, the narrative is rather muddled and the film tries unsuccessfully to improve upon the original source story (even though the original was fine as it was). I think movies adapted from books should remain at least partially faithful to the source - otherwise, what's the point? Wouldn't it be as well to promote the film as an original story and not claim it to be an adaptation? In the case of Moonfleet, the bare bones of the novel remain in place but an awful lot has been altered and not really for the better. Perhaps if I hadn't read the book first I might have enjoyed the film more. On the whole, Moonfleet is a routine swashbuckler it doesn't shine brightly as a leading title within its own genre, nor is it up to the high standards often attained by its director. Yet at the same time it doesn't fail so miserably that it is unworthy of a look.