Moonfleet (1955)

[bonehica]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Wow, I just bought this as I work my way through Lang's lesser-known films, and I was AMAZED.

I found it to be an almost perfect mix of adventure, humor and genuine heart. The emotion is amplified enormously by Miklos Rozsa's stunning score, but I was also really impressed by all of the performances.

This is a witty, clever script, beautifully directed by Lang. It reminds me a lot of another utterly forgotten period adventure that also starred George Sanders, A Scandal in Paris, which I also thoroughly enjoyed as I did my Douglas Sirk deep dive about two years ago.

I'll grant that ti does feel a bit choppy, a few narrative lines feel underdeveloped, as if they're remnants of larger elements, but I still found it thoroughly engrossing.

Among all of Lang's American films that I've seen so far, I'd say this is possibly tied with The Big Heat as my favorite.

This review has moved up my timeline to watch this. I am very director-centric in my collection and have 27 Lang blu's up to this point. Most being blind buys, including this one. I have watched about half so far and have yet to be disappointed. Some are better than others, of course, but even when Lang was off his game, he still could deliver.