The Moon Is Blue
Encyclopedia
The Moon Is Blue is a 1953 American comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger
. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert
, based on his 1951 play of the same title, focuses on a young woman who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building
and quickly turns his life upside down.
, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty O'Neill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the top of the Empire State Building and accepts his invitation to join him for drinks and dinner in his apartment. There she meets Donald's upstairs neighbors, his ex-fiancée Cynthia and her father, roguish David Slater. Both men are determined to bed the young woman, but they quickly discover Patty is more interested in engaging in spirited discussions about the pressing moral and sexual issues of the day than surrendering her virginity to either one of them. After resisting their amorous advances throughout the night, Patty leaves and returns to the Empire State Building, where Donald finds her and proposes marriage.
production of F. Hugh Herbert's play with Barbara Bel Geddes
, Donald Cook
, and Barry Nelson
in the lead roles. Its successful run of 924 performances prompted him to contract with United Artists
to finance and distribute a screen adaptation over which he would have complete control. He deferred his producer's and director's salaries in exchange for 75% of the film's profits.
Preminger cast David Niven
over the objection of studio executives, who felt the actor's career was in a decline. The director cast him in a West Coast production of the play to prepare for the film. Last of the leads to be cast was Maggie McNamara
, making her screen debut in a role she had played on stage in Chicago.
Herbert's play had been a huge success in Germany, and Preminger decided to film English and German language versions simultaneously, using the same sets but different casts. The director estimated this method would increase the filming schedule by only eight to ten days and production costs by only 10 to 15 percent. The budget for both films was $373,445.
On July 13, 1951, the Breen office
contacted Herbert and advised him his screenplay was in violation of the Motion Picture Production Code because of its "light and gay treatment of the subject of illicit sex and seduction." On December 26, Preminger submitted a revised draft of the script which, due to numerous lines of dialogue exhibiting "an unacceptably light attitude towards seduction, illicit sex, chastity, and virginity," was rejected on January 2, 1952. Contrary to later legend, the words "virgin," "mistress," and "pregnant," all of which had been in the original play's dialogue, were not singled out as objectionable. On January 6, Preminger and Herbert advised the Breen office they disagreed with its decision and would film the screenplay without further changes.
In a display of solidarity, United Artist heads Arthur B. Krim
and Robert S. Benjamin amended their contract and deleted the clause requiring Preminger to deliver a film that would be granted a Production Code seal of approval. After ten days of rehearsals for each of his casts, Preminger began principal photography of both films on January 21, filming an English language scene and then its German equivalent in quick succession. Johanna Matz and Hardy Krüger
, the stars of the German adaptation, briefly appear in the English language version as the young couple waiting to use the coin-operated telescope at the top of the Empire State Building, cameo roles
Holden and McNamara play in the German version. (Preminger later stated he much preferred The Moon is Blue to Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach
because he felt the psychology of the plot did not translate well.) Filming was completed in twenty-four days and it previewed in Pasadena
on April 8. Two days later, Breen notified Preminger the film would not be approved. Outraged at Breen's "unwarranted and unjustified attack" on "a harmless story," the director joined forces with UA executives to appeal the decision with the Motion Picture Association of America
board of directors, who ruled against them.
United Artists decided to release the film without the seal of approval, initially in major urban markets where they hoped its success would encourage exhibitors in rural areas to book the film. The film premiered for an "adults only" audience in one movie house in Chicago on June 22 and opened in one theater in San Francisco on June 25. On June 30, Variety
reported three major nationwide theater chains were willing to exhibit the film, and it went into general release on July 8. (In its year-end report, Variety said the film had ranked #15 at the box office with a gross of $3.5 million.)
Kansas, Ohio, and Maryland banned the film, and Preminger and United Artists decided to bring suit in a Maryland court. On December 7, 1953, Judge Herman Moser reversed the State Censor Board. In his ruling, he called the film "a light comedy telling a tale of wide-eyed, brash, puppy-like innocence." Preminger and UA then appealed in Kansas, but the state's Supreme Court upheld the state board of review's decision to ban the film. Determined to win, the director and studio took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States
, which overturned the finding of the Kansas Supreme Court on October 24, 1955.
The success of the film was instrumental in weakening the influence of the Production Code. On June 27, 1961, the PCA granted both The Moon is Blue and The Man with the Golden Arm
, Preminger's similarly controversial 1955 release, the seals of approval they initially withheld.
In later years, the film was the focus of an episode of the television series M*A*S*H, in which the characters, having heard about the controversy surrounding it, attempt to get a copy shipped to their mobile hospital in Korea. The film actually was released in the closing days of the Korean War
.
of the New York Times observed it "is not outstanding, either as a romance or as film. The wit of Mr. Herbert . . . is turned almost wholly on his freeness with the startling idea or phrase, as glibly tossed off (for the most part) by a young lady who appears a wide-eyed child. And Otto Preminger's lifting of the play from the stage to the screen is much too rigidly respectful of its conversational form. As a consequence, the movement is restricted and the talk is exceedingly long. At times, it gets awfully tedious, considering its limited range."
TIME Magazine found the film to be pleasant.
The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the movie a "C", "Condemed" rating, despite giving the original play a milder "B", "Unobjectionable for adults" rating.
In his review of the DVD release of the film, Tim Purtell of Entertainment Weekly
called the film a "trifle" that "seems overly talky and slight".
Maggie McNamara was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
but lost to Audrey Hepburn
in Roman Holiday
. Otto Ludwig
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing but lost to William A. Lyon for From Here to Eternity
. Herschel Burke Gilbert
and Sylvia Fine
were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for the title tune but lost to Sammy Fain
and Paul Francis Webster
for "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane
.
F. Hugh Herbert was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award
for Best Written Comedy but lost to Ian McLellan Hunter
, Dalton Trumbo
, and John Dighton
for Roman Holiday.
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert
F. Hugh Herbert
Frederick Hugh Herbert was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director....
, based on his 1951 play of the same title, focuses on a young woman who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
and quickly turns his life upside down.
Plot
A comedy of mannersComedy of manners
The comedy of manners is a genre of play/television/film which satirizes the manners and affectations of a social class, often represented by stock characters, such as the miles gloriosus in ancient times, the fop and the rake during the Restoration, or an old person pretending to be young...
, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty O'Neill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the top of the Empire State Building and accepts his invitation to join him for drinks and dinner in his apartment. There she meets Donald's upstairs neighbors, his ex-fiancée Cynthia and her father, roguish David Slater. Both men are determined to bed the young woman, but they quickly discover Patty is more interested in engaging in spirited discussions about the pressing moral and sexual issues of the day than surrendering her virginity to either one of them. After resisting their amorous advances throughout the night, Patty leaves and returns to the Empire State Building, where Donald finds her and proposes marriage.
Production
Otto Preminger had directed the 1951 BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of F. Hugh Herbert's play with Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes was an American actress, artist and children's author. She is best known for her role in the television drama series Dallas as matriarch Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing. Bel Geddes also starred in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the role of Maggie...
, Donald Cook
Donald Cook (actor)
Donald Cook was an American stage and film actor.Born in Portland, Oregon, he originally studied farming but later started business with a lumber company. He joined the Kansas Community Players and through this received an offer of stage work...
, and Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.-Early life:...
in the lead roles. Its successful run of 924 performances prompted him to contract with United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
to finance and distribute a screen adaptation over which he would have complete control. He deferred his producer's and director's salaries in exchange for 75% of the film's profits.
Preminger cast David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
over the objection of studio executives, who felt the actor's career was in a decline. The director cast him in a West Coast production of the play to prepare for the film. Last of the leads to be cast was Maggie McNamara
Maggie McNamara
Marguerite "Maggie" McNamara was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Early life:Born in New York City, McNamara was one of four children born to Irish American parents. Her mother was born in England to Irish parents. She attended Textile High School in New York and worked as a teen...
, making her screen debut in a role she had played on stage in Chicago.
Herbert's play had been a huge success in Germany, and Preminger decided to film English and German language versions simultaneously, using the same sets but different casts. The director estimated this method would increase the filming schedule by only eight to ten days and production costs by only 10 to 15 percent. The budget for both films was $373,445.
On July 13, 1951, the Breen office
Joseph Breen
Joseph Breen is an American soap opera actor.He played contract parts on both Guiding Light and Loving before being offered his most front-burner role to date: that of Lisa’s long-lost son, Scott Eldridge, on As the World Turns...
contacted Herbert and advised him his screenplay was in violation of the Motion Picture Production Code because of its "light and gay treatment of the subject of illicit sex and seduction." On December 26, Preminger submitted a revised draft of the script which, due to numerous lines of dialogue exhibiting "an unacceptably light attitude towards seduction, illicit sex, chastity, and virginity," was rejected on January 2, 1952. Contrary to later legend, the words "virgin," "mistress," and "pregnant," all of which had been in the original play's dialogue, were not singled out as objectionable. On January 6, Preminger and Herbert advised the Breen office they disagreed with its decision and would film the screenplay without further changes.
In a display of solidarity, United Artist heads Arthur B. Krim
Arthur B. Krim
Arthur B. Krim was an American entertainment lawyer, the former finance chairman for the U.S. Democratic Party, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson and the former chairman of Eagle-Lion Films , United Artists , and Orion Pictures . He was also a partner at the firm of Phillips Nizer Benjamin...
and Robert S. Benjamin amended their contract and deleted the clause requiring Preminger to deliver a film that would be granted a Production Code seal of approval. After ten days of rehearsals for each of his casts, Preminger began principal photography of both films on January 21, filming an English language scene and then its German equivalent in quick succession. Johanna Matz and Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger is a German actor. He is thought of as one of the greatest German actors of the 1960s. He was born in Wedding, Berlin, German Reich...
, the stars of the German adaptation, briefly appear in the English language version as the young couple waiting to use the coin-operated telescope at the top of the Empire State Building, cameo roles
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
Holden and McNamara play in the German version. (Preminger later stated he much preferred The Moon is Blue to Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach
Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach
Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach is a 1954 American comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Carl Zuckmayer is a German language translation of the script for The Moon is Blue by F...
because he felt the psychology of the plot did not translate well.) Filming was completed in twenty-four days and it previewed in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
on April 8. Two days later, Breen notified Preminger the film would not be approved. Outraged at Breen's "unwarranted and unjustified attack" on "a harmless story," the director joined forces with UA executives to appeal the decision with the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
board of directors, who ruled against them.
United Artists decided to release the film without the seal of approval, initially in major urban markets where they hoped its success would encourage exhibitors in rural areas to book the film. The film premiered for an "adults only" audience in one movie house in Chicago on June 22 and opened in one theater in San Francisco on June 25. On June 30, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported three major nationwide theater chains were willing to exhibit the film, and it went into general release on July 8. (In its year-end report, Variety said the film had ranked #15 at the box office with a gross of $3.5 million.)
Kansas, Ohio, and Maryland banned the film, and Preminger and United Artists decided to bring suit in a Maryland court. On December 7, 1953, Judge Herman Moser reversed the State Censor Board. In his ruling, he called the film "a light comedy telling a tale of wide-eyed, brash, puppy-like innocence." Preminger and UA then appealed in Kansas, but the state's Supreme Court upheld the state board of review's decision to ban the film. Determined to win, the director and studio took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, which overturned the finding of the Kansas Supreme Court on October 24, 1955.
The success of the film was instrumental in weakening the influence of the Production Code. On June 27, 1961, the PCA granted both The Moon is Blue and The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold...
, Preminger's similarly controversial 1955 release, the seals of approval they initially withheld.
In later years, the film was the focus of an episode of the television series M*A*S*H, in which the characters, having heard about the controversy surrounding it, attempt to get a copy shipped to their mobile hospital in Korea. The film actually was released in the closing days of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Cast
- William HoldenWilliam HoldenWilliam Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
..... Donald Gresham - David NivenDavid NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
..... David Slater - Maggie McNamaraMaggie McNamaraMarguerite "Maggie" McNamara was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Early life:Born in New York City, McNamara was one of four children born to Irish American parents. Her mother was born in England to Irish parents. She attended Textile High School in New York and worked as a teen...
..... Patty O'Neill - Tom TullyTom TullyTom Tully was an American actor.-Biography:Born in Durango, Colorado, Thomas Kane Tulley served in the United States Navy, was a private pilot and worked as junior reporter for the Denver Post before going into acting because he felt the pay was better. Tully started out on stage before eventually...
... Michael O'Neill - Dawn AddamsDawn AddamsDawn Addams was an English actress in motion pictures of the 1950s.-Life and career:She was born Victoria Dawn Addams in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England, the daughter of Ethel Mary and Captain James Ramage Addams. Her mother died when she was young, and she spent her early life in Calcutta, India...
..... Cynthia Slater
Critical reception
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
of the New York Times observed it "is not outstanding, either as a romance or as film. The wit of Mr. Herbert . . . is turned almost wholly on his freeness with the startling idea or phrase, as glibly tossed off (for the most part) by a young lady who appears a wide-eyed child. And Otto Preminger's lifting of the play from the stage to the screen is much too rigidly respectful of its conversational form. As a consequence, the movement is restricted and the talk is exceedingly long. At times, it gets awfully tedious, considering its limited range."
TIME Magazine found the film to be pleasant.
The Catholic Legion of Decency gave the movie a "C", "Condemed" rating, despite giving the original play a milder "B", "Unobjectionable for adults" rating.
In his review of the DVD release of the film, Tim Purtell of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called the film a "trifle" that "seems overly talky and slight".
Awards and nominations
David Niven won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.Maggie McNamara was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
but lost to Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
in Roman Holiday
Roman Holiday
Roman Holiday is a 1953 romantic comedy directed and produced by William Wyler and starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. It was written by John Dighton and Dalton Trumbo, though with Trumbo on the Hollywood blacklist, he did not receive a credit; instead, Ian McLellan Hunter fronted for him...
. Otto Ludwig
Otto Ludwig (film editor)
Otto Ludwig was a film editor who worked on American and British films.-Partial filmography:*Brown on Resolution *You Can't Cheat an Honest Man...
was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing but lost to William A. Lyon for From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the troubles of soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the...
. Herschel Burke Gilbert
Herschel Burke Gilbert
Herschel Burke Gilbert was a prolific orchestrator, musical supervisor and composer of film scores as well as television scores and theme songs, including the themes for The Rifleman , Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater and The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor...
and Sylvia Fine
Sylvia Fine
Sylvia Fine was an American lyricist, composer, producer and the wife of the comedian Danny Kaye...
were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for the title tune but lost to Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain was an American composer of popular music.-Biography:Sammy Fain was born in New York City. In 1923, Fain appeared with Artie Dunn in a short film directed by Lee De Forest filmed in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process. In 1925, Fain left the Fain-Dunn act to devote himself to...
and Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster
Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
for "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane (1953 film)
Calamity Jane is a "Wild West"-themed film musical released in 1953. It is loosely based on the life of Wild West heroine Calamity Jane and explores an alleged romance between Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in the American Old West. The film starred Doris Day as the title character and Howard...
.
F. Hugh Herbert was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for Best Written Comedy but lost to Ian McLellan Hunter
Ian McLellan Hunter
Ian McLellan Hunter was an English screenwriter, most noted for fronting for the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo as the credited writer of Roman Holiday in 1953. Hunter was himself later blacklisted.-Roman Holiday:...
, Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
, and John Dighton
John Dighton
John Dighton was a successful British playwright and screenwriter.Dighton wrote for the stage until 1936, when he made the transition to films...
for Roman Holiday.
Further reading
- Lev, Peter, The Fifties: Transforming the Screen, 1950–1959. University of California Press, 2006. ISBN 0-520-24966-6. pp. 89-90.