Cattle rustler outwits a lynch mob and takes refuge with his Ma and kid brother; he reacquaints himself with a former sweetheart--but after he's involved in a bank robbery, the girl gets herself deputized and vows to bring him in "dead or alive". Mediocre western rides a familiar trail, the only hook for an audience (today, and most likely in 1953 as well) being the casting of the leads. Fred MacMurray is a terrific failed bad guy, his look of incredulousness suiting his hulking frame, while Barbara Stanwyck acquits herself well in cowgirl duds and handles both horse and rifle exceptionally well. Not a barn-burner by any means, and saddled with a stodgy direction from Roy Rowland, but an interesting b-item for admirers of the stars. ** from ****

It seems hard to imagine that in the era of such great westerns as Shane and Wagonmaster a film like The Moonlighter could have been so lacking. This film is let down in nearly all of its scenes by its script. Yet while the script falters, Roy Rowland kind of saves the film through directing some interesting action scenes, including an opening lynching that is fairly riveting to watch, as well as a later fistfight between MacMurray and Ward Bond and horseback riding through a cascading waterfall, all done in decent black and white by ace cinematographer Bert Glennon. It's completely puzzling that the story behind the lynching is dropped in favor of the one about Fred, his brother, and Barbara Stanwyck, a strange love triangle. The roles of MacMurray and the actor who plays his brother should have been reversed, with the younger brother playing Fred's part as the moonlighter (cattle rustler) and Fred playing the loser bank clerk. Yet by the end of the film, it seemed at least slightly better than it was looking like it was going to be. Stanwyck looks convincing in a pretty decent rifle fight even if her affair with moonlighter Fred MacMurray is not anywhere near as hot as it was with him when they were in Double Indemnity.

The first 15 minutes of this Western are exciting and different. I was thrilled as it looked like this film was actually a break from the usual dull cowboy film. Sadly, as the film progressed, it only morphed into a rather typical film--losing all the promise and great plot at the beginning.The film begins with Fred MacMurray in jail for cattle rustling (i.e., "moonlighting"). However, the "good citizens" of the town don't want to wait for justice to take its course and attack the jail. They want to string up MacMurray, though the people don't know what he looks like. This is a SERIOUS problem, as one of the deputies had locked himself into the cell to protect himself from the mob. The mob mistakenly thought the deputy was the criminal (an odd mistake, granted) and string him up instead. MacMurray later returns to the town and one by one starts exacting revenge in the name of the dead man. Most of the killings are pretty cool and I loved this angle.Then, however, inexplicably, after Fred gets hurt, the entire plot changes. Why do this when the initial plot is so good?! All thoughts about revenge on the town vanish and the plot changes to a rather dull film about Fred and his old fiancée, played by Barbara Stanwyck. In addition to this not making any sense, what makes even less sense is when Fred's brother (always a good and law abiding citizen) decides to join Fred in a life of crime. The motivation for this just hadn't been established and seemed bizarre. If this isn't bad enough, Barbara later becomes sort of an action-hero and has a show-down with the ultra-bad guy (Ward Bond)--and SHE wins!! Then, in the end, Fred has a sudden change of heart and decides to turn himself in and go straight!! What happened to the writing and the common sense?! What started as a great film quickly degenerated into a confusing and unconvincing mess--most of which seem unmotivated and disconnected. Not a shining moment in the career of either of the stars of this film. It only manages a score as high as 4 because at least it started well.

Fred McMurray left Barbra Stanwyck five years ago, always promising to return. But, while Babs drifts into an engagement with Fred's brother, Fred has been stealing cattle by moonlight (and barely misses getting lynched for his efforts). Will Babs find true love with THE MOONLIGHTER when he returns to town, or will the production code force Fred to pay some awful penalty before she gets the chance? Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurray made four movies together. Three of them are classics. This justifiably obscure western is the one that isn't. This is true, even though screenwriter Niven Busch was responsible for the great Stanwyck western -- The Furies. What goes wrong here is a mediocre and very disjointed plot that always seems to be darting off in a new, random direction, just when the old plot elements are developing some tension. There's nothing wrong with the acting. Fred and Babs play their roles well. It's just that the movie itself gives the two stars less scenes together than you would think, and cheats Babs of screen time to develop her character in the later portion of the film. Finally the film suffers from a tacked on ending that is five parts production code nonsense and five parts 3-D outdoor spectacular climax.A western disappointment. All parties involved have done better work.