A seedy California coastal town serves as the backdrop for a group of people trying to eke out a life for themselves in Moontide (1942), a noir film of love and betrayal. The mist swirling in from the ocean sets the darkness of the scenes. Moontide stars Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains and Jerome Cowan.

Bobo (Jean Gabin) is a wharf rat, a drifter who has befriended another wanderer, Tiny (Thomas Mitchell). Bobo is a kindly soul - when he's sober - but Tiny is a parasite who lives off Bobo's hand-outs. Tiny is always telling Bobo about some great job that's available in some other town, always urging him to move on. One morning a drinking buddy is found murdered. Bobo believes he might have committed the crime while in a drunken stupor. On his way out of town, Bobo rescues Anna (Ida Lupino) from her attempt at suicide, and the couple move into an old bait barge together. They fall in love, and on their wedding day, Tiny, realizing his meal ticket is moving on without him, threatens blackmail and worse.

Slow and plodding during the first two-thirds, Moontide relies on atmosphere to give it its noir designation. The build-up to the final confrontation drags, and only at the very end, when retribution is about to be exacted does the film come to life.

Special Features

• Audio commentary by author Foster Hirsch.

• Turning of the Tide: The Ill-Starred Making of Moontide featurette with comments by the usual film critics and historians including Robert Osborne, Eddie Muller, Megan Abbot, Gary Giddens, and Aubrey Solomon among others. The glimpse into the making of the film is better than the film itself. We are told that the filmmakers made many changes from the original novel. Plans to film at the beach were scuttled after the Pearl Harbor attack caused the government to tighten security. So filming was done on a sound stage. Salvador Dali was hired to design the drunken scene, but his ideas weren't used.

Director: Archie Mayo

Screenplay: John O'Hara from the novel by Willard Robertson

Cast: Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains, Jerome Cowan

Rating: Not Rated. Subject matter not suitable for children

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2 and a half out of 5 stars

DVD Release Date:  September 2, 2008

Run Time: 95 minutes

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Format: Black & White, Full Frame

Photo credits: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment