OVP: Moonrise (1948)

Film: Moonrise (1948)

Stars: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Rex Ingram, Lloyd Bridges

Director: Frank Borzage

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Sound Recording)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

Next week I'll be publishing a review of a different film I have seen recently (I've been watching a lot of truly random movies lately, hence the reviews on the blog being all-over-the-place...hopefully you're picking up a recommendation or two in the process), that will talk more about this, but the Sound Recording nominations, particularly those before 1960, don't really follow the rules we think of for the sound category at all.  Today the category is dominated by action movies, musicals, animated films, and Best Picture nominees...anything outside of that is truly out-of-the-ordinary (the only movie in the past ten years that strays from that methodology at all is All is Lost, and that still is about a man's survival on the open ocean so plenty of sound design work to highlight).  But before that era, you would run into movies that are relatively run-of-the-mill in terms of Oscar bait...comedies, social issue pictures, romantic dramas...that would get cited for their sound work, making it difficult to judge as we're so used to looking at sound design through our modern Oscar lens.  Next week, the film that we'll discuss left me flummoxed.  Today it was more shock at Oscar's remarkable good taste, finding a hidden craft gem that totally lives up to its sole Oscar nomination (and should've gotten a few more).

(Spoilers Ahead) Moonrise is a short film from Republic Pictures, but it's not a western (despite the studio & title giving you hints that it should be).  It's instead a dark film noir, one about obsession & destiny.  Danny Hawkins (Clark) is the son of a murderer who was hanged for his crimes, a burden he has borne his whole life (and been bullied incessantly for).  Danny, during the film's opening moments, is harassed by Jerry Sykes (Bridges), one of his former classmates now grown up & living a life of inherited success that Danny envies.  In a fight, Danny accidentally kills Jerry in self-defense, and flees the scene in fear.  As the film progresses, Danny tries to run from the law (with increasing failure), and romances Jerry's (now former) girlfriend Gilly (Russell), whom he is in love with, and as the film continues, she falls for him.  Eventually, after a long discussion with his grandmother (Barrymore), Danny decides to turn himself in, and proving that owning his crimes will ensure he is not, in fact, his father.

The film is brief (90 minutes), and as a result has little fat on it.  Despite coming from Republic Pictures, it appears that it was filmed with a larger budget than the studio would usually give its westerns (random explanation if you don't live-and-breathe Old Hollywood-Republic Pictures was a mini-major film studio, which is what they called smaller studios in that era that weren't places like Fox or MGM...it's most famous for creating westerns, and many of the movies of John Wayne, Roy Rogers, & Gene Autry from the era you may know were produced by Republic).  This money is well-spent.  The film is moodily lensed by John Russell (most famous for doing cinematography on the shower scene in Psycho), with it living up to the title (moonlight is awash many of the film's most pivotal scenes), and it has a great story, even if the ending is probably sunnier than it needed to be.  Danny as portrayed is not a bad guy, but someone consistently abused by his peers & desperately struggling with trauma, and he is sensitively portrayed by Dane Clark.

The movie is actually littered with great performances.  Ethel Barrymore spent most of the 1940's getting Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations, frequently for playing grand dame roles that don't even require her to get out of her chair.  For some reason, with Moonrise, she wasn't nominated despite this being maybe the best thing I've ever seen her do onscreen.  Her gigantic soliloquy to Danny, carrying the burden of a mother who has not just seen her son turn to crime, but now her grandson, is harrowing stuff, and she contains all of the shame of that in her face & vocal tone.  Rex Ingram is also excellent as Mose Jackson, a stereotypical role (cinema oftentimes leans into the trope of the wise, all-knowing African-American figure who helps the white protagonist), but one that he elevates.  There's a great scene where he is talking, looking distantly away from Clark, alternating between offering riddles through song & trying to guide Clark's character down a different part...it's moody & terrific, and he just nails the performance.

This is the first moment that comes to mind for me in terms of the film's A+ sound work.  The film eschews a traditional background score in key scenes like this one between Mose & Danny, instead letting Ingram's solemn guitar playing & the croaking of frogs in the background give a darker, more harrowing backdrop to the scene.  This is the way the entire movie approaches its sound design.  Every scene is shot with care, never trying to over-dramatize an already dramatic picture.  That devotion to rich realism pays off.  Moonrise is a terrific noir, one that sits in your stomach & stays with you long after the picture has ended.