Robert Mitchum is an actor who did everything. He was in almost every film genre. He fits very comfortably in a western. Blood on the Moon is tailored for him. He plays Jim Garry, a gunman, looking for work. He finds it as an enforcer, for a rancher John Lufton, (Tom Tully). He found employment through his one time associate, Tate Riling, (Robert Preston).
Jim Garry finds love with Amy Lufton, (Barbara Bel Geddes). She is the boss’ daughter. The two have an interesting introduction. She believes he is an outlaw, and shoots at him. She misses. Garry shoots at her, and intentionally misses. It is a comical scene. The two come to realize the common enemy are the enforcers, hired by her father. They are rustling the cattle, and causing other disruptions.
Jim Garry is seriously injured, after being shot, and is recuperating. He is nursed back to health, by Amy Lufton. It is while Garry is still bedridden, that the bad guys led by Tate Riling attack. They’ve come for Jim Garry. Amy Lufton and Kris Barden, (Walter Brennan), desperately try to hold off the bad men. It is at this point, that Jim Garry, leaves his bed, to confront the bad men.
Blood on the Moon appears to be just another western. It isn’t quite that. It has a few scenes that give it character. In the beginning, of the film, Jim Garry is relaxing by his fire, and drying his boots. He hears a noise. He realizes that it is stampeding cattle. He quickly climbs a tree, to avoid being trampled. The camera shows Garry’s view from the tree.There is another scene of a cattle stampede. This results in one of the ranch hands, being trampled. This shows the danger and tragedy of a stampede. The most interesting scene is the fight that Mitchum’s character has. It takes place in near dark conditions, and after Jim Garry looks like he was involved in a real fight. All of these scenes were made possible, by Robert Wise. He was a few years away from notoriety. He directed every type of movie. He was an Oscar recipient twice. They were both for musicals, West Side Story and The Sound of Music. These were the cinematic achievements of his career. Robert Wise showed his skill long before Hollywood honored him. Blood on the Moon is the director taking low budget and giving the audience quality entertainment.
This movie is made better by its leads. Robert Mitchum has a very unique style of acting. He would act with almost every leading lady in Hollywood. Barbara Bel Geddes doesn’t lose out to any of Mitchum’s leading ladies. There is great chemistry between him and Barbara Bel Geddes. She is best known for being the Ewing family matriarch, Miss Ellie, on Dallas. However, she was an accomplished actress on screen and on the stage. These two actors prove that good acting can help a picture. It certainly does for Blood on the Moon.