The Moon Is Blue

Of the films I saw that were directed by Otto Preminger, they were dramas and controversial ones at that.

In between his many successes (and failures) of the 1940's and 1950's, he made an unconventional film: a comedy. Like his other films, it too garnered its share of controversy upon its release back in 1953. What with the use of shocking words like "virgin" (which the female lead is), "mistress" and "pregnant". Of course, the mention of those words isn't that big of a deal nowadays.

The three main actors of The Moon Is Blue are William Holden, Maggie McNamara and David Niven. Holden and Niven I'm the most familiar with, though McNamara I knew of faintly. They're fine in their roles, but McNamara came off as too talkative.

Of the trio, the one that stood out the most was not Holden (the biggest name in the cast) nor McNamara (who got an Oscar nomination for her work here). It was Niven. His pithy commentary makes the film a little more bearable.

Back then, The Moon Is Blue was one of the most scandalous films ever released. Now, especially watching it after seeing Shame, its once-infamous controversy has faded considerably. Still, you can tell it's an Otto Preminger film.

My Rating: ****