The Moon is Blue

In Brief: More historically notable than actually good, The Moon Is Blue (1953) may be the best evidence in support of the argument that Otto Preminger should have stayed away from romantic comedies. One of the first films to challenge Hollywood’s self-imposed Production Code, The Moon Is Blue was banned by the Legion of Decency on its release, thus ensuring its financial success as well as its place in the history of American cinema, even if it seems exceedingly tame by modern standards. All the fuss was over the inclusion of words like “virgin,” “mistress" and “seduce” in the script, all of which were holdovers from the stage play from which the film was adapted. And it’s the adaptation part of the equation that’s a big part of the problem here, as The Moon is Blue was shot in a rigidly stage-like fashion. Even strong performances from William Holden and David Niven can’t quite overcome the film’s interminably talky tedium, but it’s worth a look if only to see what pressed the censors’ buttons in 1953.