Moonrise Page #4

Synopsis: Danny Hawkins, who lives in a psychological shadow because his father died by a hangman's noose, accidentally kills a man in a fight over a girl, Gilly Johnson, and is afraid to notify the police. He wins the love of the girl but when she tries to influence him to admit his guilt, he runs away.
Director(s): Frank Borzage
Production: Republic
 
IMDB:
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
PASSED
Year:
1948
90 min
175 Views


But Sheriff's with Williams. They...

Uh-uh. Let Williams off free an hour

ago, and Martha's fit to be tied.

Says the whole town will think

he's off his head.

Course, I've got my own ideas

about what happened.

Well, I've gotta be going.

I wish they had that cinnamon bar this year.

That knife's yours all right.

Billy must've found it

when you were hunting.

Good night.

Try your skill.

Six balls for a quarter.

Six balls to try

and spill the milk...

What kind of questions

did the sheriff ask you?

He asked about everybody.

Asked whether you had ever shown

a grudge against Jerry.

If you please, folks, either step up and

take a chance, or don't block the way.

You look like you've got

a pretty good arm, fella.

Why not win the young lady a prize?

OK, pal, six balls for a quarter.

Here we go!

Take a box of candy home to your mother!

What did you tell him?

I told him I didn't

know you very well.

One down and five to go.

That's true, I don't.

Did you have a grudge against Jerry?

Ah, a baseball player, huh?

Let's change the subject, cos

I don't like to talk about Jerry.

I know.

All right. Who'll be next?

Six balls for a quarter.

Come on, young fella,

you got three to go.

Show the folks how easy it is

to win a prize for your girl.

Forget it, man.

I'm sorry.

Hey! Hey, wait a minute!

Wait, your prize! Your box of candy!

You're pushing people, Dan.

Let's get on a ride.

Six, please. Don't crowd,

you'll all get on.

How old are they?

It's disgusting, that's what it is,

releasing that cold-blooded killer.

One of the finest boys in this town

has been murdered.

Sure is remarkable how dying

can make a saint of a man.

Dan?

Go ahead. Grab a seat.

Two, please.

Well, she sure didn't wait long

to tie up with another boy.

Martha? Martha!

Who's Gilly Johnson tied up with?

For heaven's sake, Clem,

with Jessie Hawkins' nephew.

Been thick as fleas

ever since Jerry disappeared.

There's something to figure.

Dan.

Why do you always

get angry so sudden?

I'm not angry.

Gilly, look up -

it's like you're floating.

Gilly?

Gilly...

Dan, you keep trying to tell me

something. What?

When the sheriff was talking to me,

he said something about your father

and how Jerry and the others

had always used it against you.

Is that why you keep hitting out

at people, trying to get even?

Pa had it pretty tough.

After I was born, Ma...

Ma took sick at night.

The doctor said it was too far to come.

It wasn't serious.

Gave Pa a bottle of pills.

She died the next day.

Pa carried me to Grandma's cabin

and came into town.

Shot the doctor.

Shot him dead.

Took three bullets to kill him.

Took them three weeks to hang Pa.

- Let's get outta here.

- Dan, wait!

I gotta get off!

- Hey!

- Let us out of here, will you?

- I gotta get off!

- Dan, what is it?

I'm being followed.

I gotta get off!

Dan!

- Get me out of here.

- They're looking for Dr Peabody.

No... No doctor.

Get me out of here.

I'm all right.

Gilly, get me out of here.

All right, darling, I'll try.

# I warned her not to leave me

# Warned her not to grieve me

# Never to deceive me... #

Have you been back in the hills

to see your grandmammy lately?

Not lately.

Pretty old lady, isn't she?

I'll go see her one of these days.

Mighty peaceful there, up that way.

I have a feeling for mountains.

# Daylight coming in the morning

# Hangman waiting on this dawn

# Rope hanging from the gallows

# Death waiting for my bones... #

- What you singing?

- A story, Daniel.

A blues story.

#... Don't send me flowers

# Don't send me mail

# For where I am going

# I won't need no mail... #

You're saying something.

All stories say something.

You're saying it to me.

I'm just talking.

Talking to Mr Guitar.

You're talking to me,

but you won't speak it plain.

#... Daylight coming in the morning

# Hangman waiting on this dawn... #

How long have you known?

Since coon hunt night.

How?

I never saw you

kick a dog before.

#... Lonesome,

# lonesome...

Are you going to tell?

No. I figure I'll let you

do the telling.

You have to tell someone, Daniel.

You have to.

Or else you'll go on killing a dead man

over and over.

And you can't do that.

I'm sorry I kicked your dog.

Where have you got the knife?

Where have you got the knife?!

Where's the knife?!

WHERE'VE YOU GOT IT?!

Check the railroad station and the bus stop.

Did George pick up the schoolteacher?

OK.

I think you've gone plum crazy

on this case.

Why'd you let Williams go?

We had enough simple facts

to convince a jury.

What's a simple fact?

A man's dead! That's a fact.

The simplest fact there is.

Jake, you're a doctor. You ought

to know a lot about folks.

I knew a man once, kept accusing

his wife of being unfaithful.

After listening to him for 12 years,

she was.

Proves he was right.

He was just a little premature,

that's all.

I say the husband was a lot

responsible for what his wife did.

Sometimes, murder's like love.

It takes two to commit it.

The man who hates and the man who's hated.

The killer and the killed.

Yeah...

All I know is

I've got a corpus

delicti with a hole in his head.

You might end up writing the history

of the world.

You should have been a preacher,

not a bloodhound.

All I know is that a human being

and what's made him is a lot more

than you cut out of him

at the autopsy table.

Not when they're dead.

Come in, Miss Johnson.

Sit down.

I've got a problem.

I thought maybe you might help me.

Are you in love with Daniel Hawkins?

Yes.

What would you say if I told you

Daniel killed Jerry Sykes?

I wouldn't believe you.

Because you wouldn't want

to believe it?

No!

Because he's not hard

like he pretends.

Because inside he's gentle

and lonely and lost.

Because you won't let him forget

that his father died like a criminal.

Because...

I know all that.

That's why I want him to come back

and confess of his own accord.

Daniel Hawkins left town

some time last night.

When you used to see him, you must've

gone someplace,

someplace special.

Where?

No special place.

What are you trying to get from me,

Sheriff?

Why do you want me to help you?

So you can hound him like

he's been hounded all his life?

Right now I can send Daniel

to jail for life.

Worse, maybe.

Juries might not believe a man who

has to be brought back in handcuffs.

I don't want him punished

beyond what's right.

He's taken his share already,

for a long time.

I know Danny.

I knew Jerry.

Jerry's been attacking him

ever since they were school kids.

Then you think it was self-defence?

Only Daniel could tell us what happened.

That's why I want him to come back himself,

then the jury will believe him.

You don't have to stay any longer,

Miss Johnson.

Only, if you know where

to find the boy, find him,

tell him to come back

before it's too late,

while he still has time

to pay his punishment

and still has most of his life

to live like an ordinary human.

Danny.

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Charles F. Haas

Charles Friedman Haas (November 15, 1913 – May 12, 2011) was an American film and television director. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He began his career at Universal Studios in the mid-1930s, becoming assistant director and eventually a director of non-dramatic films. He turned to television in the 1950s, and during this period had a brief stint directing low-budget films. Ultimately, however, he settled in television, directing episodes of such popular series as Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Outer Limits, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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