''The Moonlighter'' is a 1953 American 3D

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Roy Rowland and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. Distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, it premiered alongside the 1953 Looney Tunes 3-D

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

cartoon, '' Lumber Jack-Rabbit'' and the 3-D Lippert short, ''Bandit Island''.

Plot

Wes Anderson (MacMurray) has been "moonlighting," rustling cattle at night under the moon. A lynch mob led by rancher Alex Prince accidentally hangs the wrong man due to a mixup from a cell change during a jail cleaning. Wes escapes. Rela (Stanwyck), his former sweetheart, after a 5 year absence by Wes, is now involved with Wes' younger brother Tom, who works in a bank. Tom has always admired Wes. Wes seeks vengeance on the lynch party and begins killing some of Prince's hands who lynched the innocent man. Tom is fired at the Rio Hondo bank by Mott, his boss. Cole Gardner, an outlaw, persuades Wes to rob the bank, and Tom decides to join them. Rela angrily warns Wes that if any harm comes to Tom, she will hold him responsible. During the robbery, Wes and Cole get away with the money but Tom is shot by his former boss. A posse is formed and Rela demands to be deputized and bring back Wes dead or alive. Cole double-crosses his partner, taking the money and leaving Wes tied up. When Cole encounters Rela on the trail, she outflanks and shoots Cole and then finds Wes tied up, taking him prisoner. On the way back to town, Rela slips in a waterfall and nearly drowns. Wes saves her life. Ashamed of his ways, Wes offers to ride back to town alongside Rela to turn himself in to the law and accept his fate of possibly 25 years to life imprisonment. Wes asks Rela to wait for him.

Cast

* Barbara Stanwyck as Rela * Fred MacMurray as Wes Anderson * Ward Bond as Cole Gardner * William Ching as Tom Anderson *

John Dierkes John Dierkes (February 10, 1905 – January 8, 1975) was an American actor who appeared in a number of classic Hollywood films. Before becoming an actor, he had been an economist. Life and career Dierkes was born on February 10, 1905 in ...

as Sheriff Daws *

Morris Ankrum Morris Ankrum (born Morris Nussbaum; August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. Early life Born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in ...

as Alexander Prince *

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villainou ...

as Slim, Strawboss *

Myron Healey Myron Daniel Healey (June 8, 1923 – December 21, 2005) was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spa ...

as Joe *

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...

as Clemmons Usqubaugh - Undertaker *

Norman Leavitt Norman Turner Leavitt (December 1, 1913 – December 11, 2005) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Leavitt was born in Lansing, Michigan. He began his stage career in 1935, appearing as a wedding guest in the Broadway ...

as Tidy *

Sam Flint Sam Flint (born Samuel A. Ethridge; October 19, 1882 – October 17, 1980) was an American actor. Flint appeared in more than 230 films, often as a "judge, lawyer, military officer, senator, sheriff, chief of police, or doctor." Flint was ...

as Mr. Mott, Bank President * Myra Marsh as Mrs. Anderson

Production

The railroad scenes were filmed on the

Sierra Railroad The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates th ...

Tuolumne County, California Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises th ...

References

External links

* * 1953 Western (genre) films 1953 3D films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films 1953 films Films directed by Roy Rowland American Western (genre) films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld American 3D films 1950s American films {{1950s-Western-film-stub