Moonfleet (1955)

Director: Fritz Lang

Starring: Stewart Granger, Jon Whiteley, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Wild and wonderful as the thrill-packed novel that inspired it!

Plot: Young John Mohune comes to Dorset to meet a man called Jeremy Fox who he believes was a friend of his late mother and will help look after him. Expecting a friend in Fox, John is upset to find an uncaring man who has no interest in John. He persists though in trying to gain the friendship and attention of Fox even in the face of great dissuasion. All Fox's acquaintances are rather desperate men, which fly in the face of his rather "proper" appearance. John doesn't suspect anything, being a child, but the area is famous for smugglers and Fox may be connected and perhaps be more dangerous than anyone realises – not least the innocent John Mohune.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah. Once was fine.

For some reason I was misled to believe this was a swashbuckler. It's not but there was one scene where a sword was used but that would cause me to spoil the picture. There's a lot going for it, the casting, Miklos Rozsa's score, Fritz Lang the director, the look of the picture. Some of that, though, is kind of a detriment. While I dig the Gothic look of the film, it's almost too dark as most of it takes place at night. And as much as I like Stewart Granger, he's such a cad with his mistreatment of the boy (he does redeem himself eventually) that it's really difficult to like him. He broods a lot. The young boy, on the other hand, John Mohune (Whiteley) is fantastic. He's so adorable, innocent and doesn't know how bad he's being treated. You'd have to be heartless not to be on this kid's side from the get go. It's a nice, light adventure/dark drama that has a rewarding kick in the nuts finale that half left me in tears (thanks to the kid's performance).