The Moon Is Blue (1953)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Sylvia Fine (lyrics)
F. Hugh Herbert (play)

Release Date:

8 July 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Sensationally Funny -- Recommended for Adults.

Plot:

Two aging playboys are both after the same attractive young woman, but she fends them off by claiming that she plans to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Both men determine to find a way around her objections.

Plot Keywords:

Bathrobe | Fog | Punched In The Face | Whistling | Taxi Ride

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

William Holden	...	Donald Gresham
David Niven	...	David Slater
Maggie McNamara	...	Patty O'Neill
Tom Tully	...	Michael O'Neill
Dawn Addams	...	Cynthia Slater
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Television performer
Gregory Ratoff	...	Taxi Driver

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | UK:PG (1988) | UK:X (1953) (cut) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

Otto Preminger Films

Trivia:

This movie was used as a part of a plot line in the "The Moon is Not Blue" episode of "M*A*S*H." (The plot line focuses on Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicut trying to obtain a copy of the movie for the 4077th after hearing it has been banned in Boston. But when they get the film, they discover it is far less scandalous than the Boston ban implied. As Hawkeye says upon viewing the film, the reason a character in the movie says the word "virginal" is because "Everyone in the movie *was*!")

Quotes:

Patty O'Neill: I've cured more hangovers than you could shake a stick at.
David Slater: Never shake a stick at a hangover.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Express (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Moon is Blue

Would they have been satisfied if she had called herself a slut?

"The Moon is Blue" was denied a Production Code seal and the refusal was upheld upon appeal to the board of the Motion Picture Association, primarily because the character played by Maggie McNamara announced that she was a Virgin and intended to remain one until she was married. The words virgin and seduction were used frequently in this film that was mainly a comedy about being occupied or pre-occupied with sex and,for those reasons it was denied approval, and it was released and shown minus approval. It wasn't the first film to be denied a Production Code seal, but it was the one that led to the ultimate demise of the power of the Hays Office, the Legion of Decency and various local blue-nose censor boards to determine what could not be said or done on screen.