Blood on the Moon **** (1948, Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan) – Classic Movie Review 10,604

Robert Wise’s first-class 1948 RKO black-and-white psychological Western film noir stars Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan. It is a Martin Scorsese favourite.

‘The deadliest range war ever to EXPLODE on the screen!’

Director Robert Wise’s first-class 1948 RKO Radio Pictures black and white psychological Western film noir Blood on the Moon stars Robert Mitchum as cowhand drifter Jim Garry, who gets involved in his dishonest buddy Tate Riling (Robert Preston)’s wicked cattle schemes with cattleman John Lufton (Tom Tully) who is targeting the homesteaders, but young woman-in-need Amy Lufton (Barbara Bel Geddes) forces him on to the straight and narrow.

Screen-writer Lillie Hayward’s intelligent screenplay from Luke Short’s dark-hued 1941 Saturday Evening Post serial story and novel Gunman’s Chance (adaptation by Luke Short and Harold Shumate) gives powerful, eagerly grabbed acting opportunities to the three charismatic stars, plus energetic support from the character actors.

All the elements are assembled admirably, with taut direction from Wise and fine, moody Nicholas Musuraca photography, adding up to an excellent Western with some splendid highlight moments, including he bar brawl between Garry and Rilling that took three days to shoot, with Mitchum and Preston performing the fight themselves. No wonder it was an extended shoot, afflicted by bad weather and bad weather forecasts too. Filming ran from February to May 1948.

The cast includes Tom Tully, Walter Brennan, Phyllis Thaxter, Frank Faylen, Charles McGraw, Clifton Young, Robert Bray, Tom Tyler, George Cooper, Bud Osborne, Zon Murray and Tom Keene [Richard Powers].

It is shot on RKO Encino Ranch, Balboa Boulevard and Burbank Boulevard, Encino, Los Angeles; Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles; Monogram Ranch, 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California; Calabasas, California (cattle stampede); and Red Rock Crossing, Sedona, Arizona.

Blood on the Moon made a lasting impression on Martin Scorsese as a child and it influenced him in making his 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon.

Blood on the Moon is directed by Robert Wise, runs 88 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Lillie Hayward, Harold Shumate (adaptation) and Luke Short (adaptation), based on the novel Gunman’s Chance by Luke Short, is shot by Nicholas Musuraca, is produced by Theron Warth, and is scored by Roy Webb.

Release date: November 9, 1948 (US).

The budget was $1.5 million and the box office was $2.4 million (US rentals).

RKO boss Howard Hughes then ended Barbara Bel Geddes’s studio contract, alleging she was ‘not sexy enough’.

The cast are Robert Mitchum as Jim Garry, Barbara Bel Geddes as Amy Lufton, Robert Preston as Tate Riling, Walter Brennan as Kris Barden, Phyllis Thaxter as Carol Lufton, Frank Faylen as Jake Pindalest, Tom Tully as John Lufton, Charles McGraw as Milo Sweet, Clifton Young as Joe Shotten, Tom Tyler as Frank Reardon, George Cooper as Fred Barden, Tom Keene as Ted Elser, Bud Osborne as Cap Willis, Zon Murray as Nels Titterton, and Robert Bray as Bart Daniels.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,604

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Luke Short’s novel Gunman’s Chance.