Blood On The Moon

Blood On The Moon is a fine 1948 Western from RKO, with a terrific performance by Robert Mitchum, who late in the film is rightly accused of having a conscience. Directed by Robert Wise, who was still relatively new on the scene, it's an example of his greatness as a filmmaker, though it does seem a long way from The Sound Of Music.

The opening of the film, during the credits, is magnificent camera work. Mitchum is riding alone in a rainstorm. He makes camp for the night, but his little nest is overrun by steers. He meets a cattle rancher, Tom Tully, who is suspicious of Mitchum, because he is engaged in a battle with gunmen employed by local farmers. When Mitchum gets to town, he finds that the main gunmen is his old friend, Robert Preston, who had sent for him to help in the dispute.

Soon enough, Mitchum realizes that Preston is only looking to get rich, teaming with a corrupt Indian agent. Helped somewhat by the mutual attraction to Tully's daughter, Barbara Bel Geddes, Mitchum switches sides. It should be noted that when Mitchum and Bel Geddes first meet, they are shooting at each other. In Westerns, if a man and woman begin their relationship with gun play, you can be sure they will be kissing by the end.

Holding the film together is Mitchum, every inch the rugged individualist. He is a man of few words, and always tells the truth, except when he is tricking the Indian agent. He and Preston have a doozy of fistfight in a saloon, and of course they will face off at the end.

Also in the cast is Walter Brennan, as a farmer who loses a son in the fighting. He is also a man of principle. Blood On The Moon is a film that takes a moral stand.