This is a late Fritz Lang effort for MGM, an odd assignment for him in that it's a Stewart Granger costume picture, not the sort of project one would expect the director to have been hired for. The film turns out quite nicely. It's a fairly conventional story of smuggler's on the English coast, features a fine cast of veteran players, many of whom had appeared in pictures of this sort before.

That the story is presented in large part through the eyes of a small boy lends it a measure of distinction. We see Granger's character much as the boy does, as a hero, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. Granger is excellent in the lead. Despite what appears to be a modest budget, this is a handsome film, in the grand manner. That it's a back-lot picture, thus not a real spectacle, is more than made up for by Lang's manner of dealing with his material. The movie feels like a fairy tale. The ending is unexpectedly moving, surprised me, and is still vivid in my memory.

While not a masterpiece, Moonfleet should satisfy admirers of its director and costume picture fans as well.

The plot to "Moonfleet" sure sounds like it would be a very exciting film. A young boy has been sent by his dying mother to live with Jeremy Fox (Stewart Granger). Soon the boy comes to realize that Fox and his friends are a bunch of rogues....rogues who smuggle various goods and would just as soon stab you as say hello! Amazingly, it's NOT interesting in the least....and I really struggled to pay attention to the picture. Much of the problem is that the story is dark...so while there's color, the sets and outdoor scenes (which were mostly made in a sound stage) were DARK. Add to that the slowness of the film, I cannot imagine kids wanting to watch this or even finishing it. Good acting but a slow, slow story.

Although Treasure Island and Moonfleet are set at the same time in Hanoverian Great Britain with a child protagonist, no two stories could be more different. Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island by becoming custodian of a treasure map with the help of some friendly adult companions battles pirates to gain the treasure and has a great old adventure out of it.

Young John Mohune played by Jon Whiteley is an orphan lad alone in the world who is sent by his dying mother to seek out a man named Jeremy Fox in the coastal town of Moonfleet for protection and guidance against the cruel world. Fox is played by Stewart Granger who is in one of his least heroic roles on the screen. Granger is the Long John Silver of the story, the leader of a band of pirate smugglers who operate out of that town. Granger gets plenty of protection because he's got the local squire George Sanders and his pleasure driven wife Joan Greenwood on his payroll so to speak. But that's an alliance of convenience.

Having young Whiteley dropped on him is certainly cramping his style, but the innocent young man in his explorations has found what could be clues to a big Hope Diamond like diamond that was the foundation of his family fortune, but has been lost for generations. Naturally everybody wants a piece of what that bauble will bring.

Fritz Lang returns to a familiar theme of a doomed man who cannot escape what the fates have in store. It's a theme Lang's used over and over in such films as You Only Live Once, Scarlett Street, The Woman In The Window, Human Desire, and others. His best work however in this film is reserved for young Jon Whiteley. I've rarely seen pure innocence better portrayed on the screen than with Whiteley. The young man's scenes with Stewart Granger are some of that actor's best work as well.

In fact Stewart Granger was often quoted as saying that he regarded Moonfleet as one of his best films. I think Granger was absolutely right. The film hasn't aged one iota since its release in 1955, it's still great viewing for people of all ages.