Blood on the Moon (1948)

Robert Mitchum plays Jim Garry, a drifter who answers the summons of an old friend named Tate Riling (Robert Preston) and heads to the town of Sun Dust.

But before he can meet Riling, Garry runs into a nervous cattleman named John Lofton and his trigger-happy daughter Amy (Barbara Bel Geddes).

Lofton’s nervous because he’s in danger of losing his herd. And he’s heard his arch enemy is hiring guns, so a rider arriving alone is bound to make a man nervous.

When Garry meets Riling, he learns the rest of the story.

Riling is in cahoots with Indian agent Jake Pindalest. Their plan calls for Pindalest to refuse to buy Lofton’s beef, then give him a deadline to get the cattle off reservation land.

With the help of settlers in the area — who think they’re fighting for their land — Riling figures to make Loften miss that deadline, buy his beef cheap, then sell it to the Indian agent.

And, yep, it’s Garry’s gun he’s interested in buying, for the handsome price of $10,000.

Garry goes along with the plan at first. Until he watches a settler’s son killed in an attempt to stampede Lofton’s herd. And until he learns Riling is romancing Lofton’s daughter Carol to get information about her father’s plans. And until two of Riling’s other hired guns try to ambush Lofton on the streets of Sun Dust.

That’s the breaking point for Garry, but he’s not heading back to Texas. Amy, Lofton’s other daughter, will do her best to see that doesn’t happen.

Robert Mitchum as Jim Garry, a man with a plan to save the Lofton herd in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Robert Preston as Tate Riling, the man with a dastardly get-rich plan in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Review:

“Blood on the Moon” is an apt title for a film where most of the violence takes place at night. And it’s excellently handled by director Robert Wise and cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca.

Add a smart, tightly woven story and a no-nonsense performance by Robert Mitchum, and the result is a solid 1940s Western.

One of the best scenes comes early, when Jim Garry is trying to cross a creek and a suspicious Amy Lofton is on the watch for strangers from the other side.

She fires several warning shots at Garry, who quietly circles around her and begins shooting in her direction, forcing her to back up until she’s standing in the middle of the creek.

Naturally, they’re kissing instead of shooting at one another by the time the film ends.

The film also benefits from the presence of Walter Brennan as the father of the man killed in the aforementioned stampede and Phyllis Thaxter as the daughter who preaches to Amy about the folly of falling for Garry, only to learn Rilings been playing her for a fool all along.

Barbara Bel Geddes as Amy Lofton, helping protect her man in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Walter Brennan as Kris Borden, a settler learning his son has died in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Directed by:
Robert Wise

Cast:
Robert Mitchum … Jim Garry
Barbara Bel Geddes … Amy Lofton
Robert Preston … Tate Riling
Walter Brennan … Kris Borden
Phyllis Thaxter … Carol Lofton
Frank Faylen … Jake Pindalest
Tom Tully … John Lofton
Charles McGraw … Milo Sweet
Clifton Young … Joe Shotten
Tom Tyler … Frank Reardon
George Cooper … Fred Barden
Tom Keene … Ted Elser
as Richard Powers
Bud Osborne … Cap Willis
Zon Murray … Nels Titterson
Robert Bray … Bart Daniels

Runtime: 88 min.

Frank Faylen as Jake Pindalest, an Indian agent plotting with Riling in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Phyllis Thaxter as Carol Lofton, realizing she’s been used by Tate Riling in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Memorable lines:

Tate Riling, explaining his plans to buy Lofton beef cheap and sell it to the government for standard prices: “Your cut will be $10,000.”
Jim Garry: “What do I have to do to earn it?”
Riling: “Lofton’s tough and my ranchers aren’t. You make up the difference.”

Jim Garry to Amy Lofton, after he saves her dad from an ambush: “Don’t let a man’s whim fool you.”

Jim to Tate Riling: “I’ve seen dogs wouldn’t claim you for a son, Tate.”

Jim Garry to Kris Borden, after he’s saved his life by gunning down Frank Reardon: “Why’d you do it?”
Borden: “I always wanted to shoot one of ya. He was the handiest.”

Tom Tully as cattleman John Lofton and Bud Osborne as foreman Cap Willis, suspicious of a stranger in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Barbara Bel Geddes as Amy Lofton, fretting because she’s falling for a gunman in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Robert Preston as Tate Riling, explaining his plan to old friend Jim Garry in Blood on the Moon (1948)

Robert Mitchum as Jim Garry, getting the first hint he’s ridden into trouble in Blood on the Moon (1948)