Moontide
Moontide is a 1942 American romantic drama film with elements of a thriller. It was produced by Mark Hellinger and directed by Archie Mayo, who took over direction after the initial director Fritz Lang left the project early in the shooting schedule. The screenplay was written by John O'Hara and Nunnally Johnson (uncredited), based on the 1940 novel Moon Tide by Willard Robertson. The film features French star Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell and Claude Rains.
Plot
After blacking out from an all-night drinking binge, dock worker Bobo wakes up in a decrepit shack on a San Pablo Bay barge. The barge's owner, fisherman Takeo, reminds him how they met the previous night and that he agreed to work for Takeo. Bobo does not remember the encounter and intends to leave. A police boat passes, and hearing that the police are searching for the murderer of local bar-fly Pop Kelly, who was strangled to death sometime during Bobo's drinking spree, causes Bobo to put the brakes on his plans to go. He is afraid he may have killed the man due to drunken violence he has been capable of in the past.
More details
| author | John O'Hara |
|---|---|
| director | Archie Mayo Fritz Lang |
| editor | William Reynolds |
| genre | crime drama thriller |
| keywords | act chat create dark history disturb drink hear hunt injured kill married life morning on the beach plan rock san pablo bay search strangled to death sweep away think wed young woman |
| musicBy | Cyril J. Mockridge |
| nomination | Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White |
| producer | Mark Hellinger |
| productionCompany | 20th Century Fox |
| publisher | 20th Century Fox |
| theme | film noir romantic drama |