“I've
been mixed up in a lot of things, Tate, but up to now, I've never been hired
for my guns.”
Whenever
I think of Film Noir I think of Out of
the Past, Night of the Hunter, Laura, Daisy Kenyon, The Killers,
Leave Her Heaven, Whirlpool, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Black
Widow. I think of tough guys with guns roaming the streets of New York with
revenge on their minds or poor everymen who have had a tough time and they get
mixed up in something they never wanted. These films take place in cities where
everything is gritty and fast paced. Never in a million years would I have
thought a Noir could take place in the Midwest with cowboys and ranchers. One
such western Noir is Blood on the Moon
starring a recurrent Film Noir actor Robert Mitchum.
Jim
Carry (Mitchum) is heading out to an old friend of his named Tate. He was just
about to camp out for the night when a herd of cattle come stampeding towards
him. He manages to get up into a tree before he is crushed. In the chaos he
loses his horse and all his camping equipment. A man comes by and makes Jim
follow him to his camp. The leader of the group is a man named Lufton. They are
having trouble with a rancher who has kicked Lufton off the Indian reservation
where his cattle feed. Lufton tells Jim his house is near the basin and for him
to go there. As Jim is riding by the basin he is shot at. He finds out the
shooter is one of Lufton’s daughter’s named Amy (Barbara Bel Geddes). She keeps
shooting at him before her brother stops Jim.
The
bad guy Milo hears that Jim has been asking for Tate. Milo thinks Jim is a
cattle detective. Jim is only looking for a job he is not in town to be on
anyone’s side. Eventually Jim gets into a shoot out with some of Milo’s men.
Tate has been working with Milo. He gets his information about where Lufton and
his group will be from Lufton’s other daughter Carol who is in love him. Tate
recognizes Jim in the shoot out and tells his men to stop firing. When the two
former friends are alone Tate tells Jim that Lufton is the enemy the government
has been working to get Lufton off the reservation. Tate has the plan to corner
Lufton and then buy his cattle cheap. He has told the men that they are
fighting for their own land when in reality they will not be getting any.
Carol
and Tate meet secretly at a small house. Carol knows what Tate does. She was
trying to make her father see both sides. She gets information out of her
father. Everyone thinks Jim was the one to gave away the information of where
Lufton would be. Lufton tells Amy he has Jim pegged as the spy all along. Jim
winds up saving Lufton and Amy from two of Tate’s men in town. He leaves after
this so he will not cause or become entangled in anymore trouble. Tate catches
up with Jim in another town. They get into a fight and Jim beats Tate unconscious.
One of Tate’s men goes to shoot Jim but he saved when a man named Kris shoots
the guy.
After
the fight Jim goes back to Lufton’s house. He wants to warn him of what had
happened. He leaves again but this time Amy wants to go with him and follows.
She wants Jim to go back and accept her father’s apology. Jim likes Amy and
decides to go back yet again. Carol goes back to Tate. She has learned the
truth about him through Jim. Tate is not denying what he is doing. She feels
used and upset.
Now
Tate is desperate for the land. He has his men surround Lufton’s house. He is
looking for a shoot out with Jim.
Blood on the Moon was alright. I liked
the Noir feel of it. I never knew before this that there was such a thing as a
western Film Noir. Robert Mitchum was perfect for his part. To me, besides Dana
Andrews, he is the male face of Film Noir. Mitchum did not over act he always
seemed calm and cool. Blood on the Moon,
to me, was a boring story but to see a Film Noir set in a western made it
interesting to watch. Blood on the Moon
is not available to watch through Youtube and it is not available to own on DVD
in the US. Keep an eye out for it on TCM.
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