Moonfleet (1955 film)
| Moonfleet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Fritz Lang |
| Produced by | John Houseman |
| Written by |
Jan Lustig Margaret Fitts |
| Based on |
Moonfleet 1898 novel by J. Meade Falkner |
| Starring |
Stewart Granger George Sanders Joan Greenwood Viveca Lindfors |
| Music by |
Vicente Gómez Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Robert H. Planck |
| Edited by | Albert Akst |
| Distributed by | MGM |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,955,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,574,000[1] |
Moonfleet is a 1955 Eastman Color film filmed in CinemaScope directed by Fritz Lang which was inspired by the novel Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner,[2] although significant alterations were made in the characters and plot.
A gothic melodrama set in England during the eighteenth century, the film is about John Mohune, a young orphan, played by Jon Whiteley, who is sent to the Dorset village of Moonfleet to stay with his mother's former lover, Jeremy Fox. Fox, played by Stewart Granger, is a morally ambiguous character, an elegant gentleman intimately involved with smugglers.[3] On the run from the law, Mohune and Fox must decipher a coded message in their pursuit of a fabulous diamond hidden long ago.
Cast
- Stewart Granger as Jeremy Fox
- George Sanders as Lord James Ashwood
- Joan Greenwood as Lady Clarista Ashwood
- Viveca Lindfors as Mrs. Minton
- Jon Whiteley as John Mohune
- Liliane Montevecchi as Gypsy
- Melville Cooper as Felix Ratsey
- Sean McClory as Elzevir Block
- Alan Napier as Parson Glennie
- John Hoyt as Magistrate Maskew
- Donna Corcoran as Grace
- Jack Elam as Damen
Production
The movie was shot almost entirely on the MGM backlot, augmented by a few shots of the California coast. During filming, James Dean visited the set; Stewart Granger said his manner was rude and dismissive.[4]
Reception
The film was a critical and financial failure on release. According to MGM records the movie earned $567,000 in the US and Canada and $1,007,000 overseas. It made a loss of $1,203,000.[1]
The film was released in France in 1960 and had 917,219 admissions.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles
- ↑ Moonfleet at IMDB
- ↑ Halliwell's Film Guide, 6th edition, 1987, p. 703
- ↑ Bret Wood, 'Moonfleet' at Turner Classic Movies
- ↑ Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
External links
- Moonfleet at the Internet Movie Database
- Moonfleet at AllMovie
- Moonfleet at TCMDB
- Moonfleet at the American Film Institute Catalog