User Reviews

NOR THE MOON BY NIGHT is yet another British film of the 1950s obsessed with exoticism and big game in Africa. The scenes shot in the Kruger National Park have a real air of authenticity about them and generally there's an emphasis on wildlife protection rather than destruction, albeit with a few exceptions. The story offers a familiar love triangle, with Patrick McGoohan as a slightly stuffy character whose ravishing penpal, Belinda Lee, comes to stay. Before long his dashing brother Michael Craig has her in his arms, and it kind of goes from there. Animal attacks make up the drama and there are some fun moments enlivened by a score from Hammer composer James Bernard which sounds distinctly DRACULA-esque most of the time. It's more sedate but less cliched than the usual African-set adventure, which means it may be worth a look.

I had to go on Safari to track down a copy of this movie. Finally cornering my quarry I found that the it was a very different animal to the one I had thought I was hunting.

Patrick McGoohan plays the part of the senior Game Warden, managing a worthy post-Colonial attempt to preserve the African wildlife. To the contemporary eye it strikes one that they might have spent more time caring about the African people; however this was not a political film. It does form a moderate historical archive, as other Reviewers have noted. Belinda Lee is superb in suggesting a modern thinking person, trapped into playing a Fifties squealing female. The fact that she rises above the directors' plan for her, forms it's own tribute to her skill. Her transformation into carnal lust against the background of wet-shirted bosomy African rain-dancers is amazing.

The film shows a series of animal vignettes that demonstrate the wonder of the 1957 audience at seeing wild animals in colour. In these modern days of Wildlife documentaries it is worth considering how exciting such pictures would have been. Unlike today, it is also gloriously non-PC. An elephant is shot and dies on camera. A cobra is clubbed to death, Patrick McGoohan pushes himself from underneath a clearly dead (or maybe drugged) lion. Nature in the raw!

It also has some gloriously funny scenes where a game-warden earnestly plots the movement of a herd of elephants and the Chief-warden on a huge wall-map. A big cut-out elephant is moved from one section of the map to another as radio messages keep HQ informed as to the latest developments; akin to a scene from a British WWII movie, from the RAF map-room: young ladies pushing spitfire models around a map of Kent, as the defenders close in on the Luftwaffe.

The first two thirds of the film create a cogent, good story. The last third becomes a series of patched-together linking scenes and apparently random plot-lines. This may have been because Ms Lee went a.w.o.l. from Location, disappearing to Italy where her poison prince had, well, poisoned himself. Although supposedly betrothed, McGoohan and Lee only shared one sustained scene. Meanwhile his treacherous brother spent most of the film stealing the heart of the beautiful Belinda. Fortunately McGoohan found love with the 'girl next door', the French woman playing a Pole, Anna Gaylor. He even gets to kiss her, although he is careful to position his head backwards to the camera, presumably so as not to upset the wife! Patrick McGoohan adds gravitas to the thankless role of a good guy. He manages to conduct his scenes with the native chief in such a way as to convey a respect of the local culture. He even makes a contrived scene at the end of the movie, where Eric Pohlman tries to whip him to death, at least physically convincing; albeit you have no idea why Pohlman wants to kill him. Whilst escaping from lions McGoohan even comes up with the clever idea of strapping himself with his belt, into the upper boughs of a tree, so that he doesn't fall down in unconsciousness.

If you get the chance, this film is worth a watch or two. If you are a Belinda Lee or Patrick McGoohan fan as well - well it hardly gets any better!

The original British title, 'Nor the moon by night', proved a little too abstract for US distributors, so they came up with the hopelessly boring 'Elephant Gun'. Big mistake. Who seriously would want to see a film about an elephant gun?

The original title comes from a biblical psalm: 'The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is the shade on your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day nor the moon by night.' It doesn't have much to say about the film, but it's one of the best film titles ever, as is the title song.

The plot stands somewhere within the African Hollywood great white tradition - between King Solomon's Mines (redemption through plunder), African Queen (missionary cynicism) and Hatari (zoo capitalism). Of course, the plot centres on the love triangles and power struggles of the whites, with the inscrutable Africans forming a Greek chorus. Even so, it's a riveting drama that grips you from the start. A repressed correspondence bride (Lee) travels to Africa to marry her long-time pen pal (McGoohan), only to find that he is off on African business stuff and she has to deal with his sexy brother (Craig), who picks her up to deliver her to her destination. Along the way love and lust intervenes. Meanwhile, the pen-pal brother is busy falling for the daughter (Stirling) of local game-mafia hood and domestic abuser (Pohlmann).

All in all, it's a good yarn. Made too early to seek British amends for the plundering of African wildlife and resources, but at least the surrounds have become a major tourist destination.