- An overlooked gem from the early days of film noir, Moontide depicts the strange intersection of an itinerant dockworker named Bobo (Jean Gabin) and Anna (Ida Lupino), the woman he rescues from killing herself. The two of them seem completely mismatched -- Bobo is brash and overconfident while Anna is self-doubting and introverted -- but eventually their shared decency links them inextricably. The only complication is an interloper named Tiny (Thomas Mitchell) who extorts money out of Bobo the same way a pilotfish attaches itself to a shark. Although Bobo's friends (Claude Rains, Jerome Cowan, Chester Gan) all support his marriage to Anna, Tiny sees it as a major threat to his freeloading way of life.
- Directed by Archie Mayo and an uncredited Fritz Lang, this film borrows heavily from Marcel Carné's Port of Shadows, from the casting of Jean Gabin (complete with stray dog!) to fog-drenched docks and people walking out into the water. Nevertheless, Moontide also stands on its own merits, largely due to its wonderfully constructed waterfront settings, several excellent acting performances (especially from Mitchell, cast completely against type), and a remarkably surreal drunk hallucination scene inspired by Salvador Dali. The film is also to be commended for its positive portrayals of Japanese characters when their real-life counterparts likely would have become victims of internment. (Sure, the actors were both Chinese-American, but the sentiment is appreciated.) From the fact that Fritz Lang quit the film and Jean Gabin was anywhere near it, there must have been some interesting happenings behind-the-scenes, but I am happy to report that the onscreen material is all pretty great.
