Review: The Stalking Moon

Gregory Peck plays a veteran cavalry scout in the Old West who reluctantly agrees to escort Eva Marie Saint to a railroad station. Saint had just recently been rescued by Peck and his comrades from the clutches of some Apaches she’d been with for quite a long spell. It has clearly taken a toll on her emotionally and mentally, and she just wants to go back to the home she hasn’t seen in years. Also going along for the ride is Saint’s half-breed son, whose father is none too happy for this to happen. That’s why she’s especially eager to get as far away as possible as soon as possible. Trouble follows them anyway. Robert Forster plays the most Italian-sounding half-breed you’ve ever heard, as Peck’s youthful sidekick/protégé scout. Frank Silvera plays an Army Major, whilst Lonny Chapman plays an intimidating type who clearly doesn’t much like Saint or her little boy.

 

Although you could argue that it’s a little surprising to see the liberal Gregory Peck starring in a western that isn’t entirely Native American friendly, this 1969 flick from director Robert Mulligan (“To Kill a Mockingbird”, “The Spiral Road”) is nonetheless a good, solid genre film. Scripted by Wendell Mayes (“Anatomy of a Murder”, “The Revengers”, “The Poseidon Adventure”, “Death Wish”) and veteran Alvin Sargent (“Ordinary People”, “What About Bob”, “Spider-Man 2”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”), it’s one of the better films of its type, even if 1969 sure does feel a little late in the game for such a film. Perhaps it won’t bother you, but I have to admit it did give me pause, a little bit that this wasn’t following the rather revisionist trend of the time. I will say, though, that Robert Forster’s appalling miscasting as a half-breed seemed far more questionable to me. He never for a moment convinces and is very silly.

 

Although her halting speech pattern is a bit corny, Eva Marie Saint gives an otherwise good, haunted performance. This woman has been through a lot and looks to have barely survived mentally. She’s broken and only slowly starting to find herself again. Star Gregory Peck gives a vintage Peck performance: His character is cranky, reticent but ultimately decent. We know he’ll do the ‘right’ thing, because that’s what Gregory Peck always does, unless he’s playing a Nazi or is starring opposite a boot-polished Jennifer Jones. This guy’s no Atticus Finch, but he’s definitely a white hat guy at the end of the day and Peck’s a good choice, if you can get around his Liberal image being in league with a film that, although not quite Indian-hating or lacking intelligence, is far more straight-shooting than many more socially conscious westerns of the 60s and 70s.

 

The plot is pretty straight-forward, and it actually plays a bit like a thriller, just set in the Old West, which inevitably means the Native American will be the villain of the piece (And an almost entirely off-screen, one-dimensional one at that). In smaller roles, an intimidating Lonny Chapman has a memorable cameo, and Frank Silvera is good too, so it’s a shame neither is around for long. As shot by cinematographer Charles B. Lang (“Some Like it Hot”, “The Magnificent Seven”, “Charade”), it’s a terrific-looking, dusty film. In fact, with all that dust flying around one wonders if it was a bit of a pain to shoot for cast and crew. The music score by Fred Karlin (“Westworld” and a plethora of work on television), meanwhile is very fine too.

 

Robert Forster is ridiculously unconvincing as cinema’s first-ever Italian-accented half-breed Indian, and the film could stand to have a bit more action, but otherwise this is pretty worthwhile stuff. A solid western-thriller, Peck is rarely less than good value, and Eva Marie Saint has rarely been as impressive. This one’s possibly worth a second look if you dismissed it at the time, and worth a look for those like me who weren’t born yet.

 

Rating: B-