A hard watch. Most of the films Preminger did in the 50’s — if not all of them, were known for their so called shocking value, unfortunately that ‘value’ is nowhere to be seen here. Granted, characters got away with words such as “virgin”, “seduction”, “mistress”, etc. (everyone must be tired of hearing it by now) during the Breen Production Code, but they’re delivered so stiffly you’d think they’d pat themselves in the back everytime they finish their lines.

The entire plot of the movie revolves around only four or five characters, but we’re intersted in only three of them, of course William Holden, David Niven and Maggie McNamara. It’s not a classic love triangle and that’s a relief but there’s not a single piece of dialogue or situation that doesn’t feel staged. That’s because it’s an adaptation of an equally controversial play that Preminger himself produced and its closed off nature makes The Moon Is Blue feel exclusively a product for Broadway and Broadway only. A stage play for a specific audience in a specific time period, 1952. Everyone else will scratch their heads thinking how unfunny and tame it has become.

A hard watch. Most of the films Preminger did in the 50’s — if not all of them, were known for their so called shocking value, unfortunately that ‘value’ is nowhere to be seen here. Granted, characters got away with words such as “virgin”, “seduction”, “mistress”, etc. (everyone must be tired of hearing it by now) during the Breen Production Code, but they’re delivered so stiffly you’d think they’d pat themselves in the back everytime they finish their lines.

The entire plot of the movie revolves around only four or five characters, but we’re intersted in only three of them, of course William Holden, David Niven and Maggie McNamara. It’s not a classic love triangle and that’s a relief but there’s not a single piece of dialogue or situation that doesn’t feel staged. That’s because it’s an adaptation of an equally controversial play that Preminger himself produced and its closed off nature makes The Moon Is Blue feel exclusively a product for Broadway and Broadway only. A stage play for a specific audience in a specific time period, 1952. Everyone else will scratch their heads thinking how unfunny and tame it has become.