Moonrise

What I did was resign from the human race.

Directed by Frank Borzage and adapted from the novel by Theodore Strauss, Moonrise sees Dane Clark playing Danny Hawkins, the son of a man who was hanged for his crimes. Tormented by his father's past and bullied about it as a child, Hawkins grows into a confused and resentful man. Striking out at anyone foolish enough to cross his fractured state of mind, tragedy is quick to strike, sending Hawkins deep into the Southern mire. Can solace come in the form of Gilly Johnson? (Gail Russell) or is it simply too late to rejoin the human race?

We open with a hazy reflection that merges into the feet of walking men, men walking to the gallows as Danny Hawkins' father is hanged. The mood is well and ...

This is actually quite a complex psychological thriller which very much looks at the sins of the father being visited on the child. In this case Dane Clark is "Danny Hawkins" whose father was hanged for murder. Persecuted and shunned by his peers as a youth, he is finally starting to get his life in some sort of order when he accidentally gets into a fight and kills a man over a girl "Gilly" (Gail Johnson) in whom he confides. When she tries to get him to notify the police, he gets spooked and flees. The contours of the film offer a love story and a murder mystery along with some interesting observations - especially from Rex Ingram as the sagely old "Mose" about human dignity and integrity. On the downside, Clark is just a bit too lightwei...