French drifter Bobo (Jean Gabin) makes a temporary home in San Pablo Bay, where he rescues the beautiful Anna (Ida Lupino) from drowning. One night he drinks himself until he blacks out – and when he wakes, he fears he may have murdered someone.

Moontide, directed in 1942 by Archie Mayo, is a romantic drama inflected with elements of an atmospheric, noir-like thriller. It was a commercial failure upon release, but time has revealed it to be a very well-performed and effective film. The acting is top-notch, the production design evocative, and the photography deeply effective. Cinematographer Charles G. Clarke score an Oscar nomination at the time, but the film honestly deserved better.

The film was intended to be a showcase for French star Jean Gabin, making his American debut here. Personal conflict with original director Fritz Lang saw the filmmaker replaced with Archie Mayo shortly into the shoot. The breakout of war with Japan led to the film’s entire location shoot being scrapped, and the finished production making use of an elaborate ocean bay set. A planned dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali was dropped at the studio’s behest. There were also problems with the American censors and Willard Robertson’s source novel, which featured themes of rape, murder, and even cannibalism. Gabin was instrumental in picking the source, but it simply proved too provocative for 20th Century Fox to make. What remains is edgier than average for its time, but one can clearly see where the content has been pulled back into a less controversial shape.

Gabin and Lupino are tremendously watchable and charismatic on screen. Gabin in particular is adorably watchable, and represents a significant missed chance for American cinema: had Moontide found an audience at the time, there is a good chance we would have seen a lot of interesting English-language films from the actor. A strong supporting cast includes the likes of Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, and Jerome Cowan. Victor Sen Yung has a key supporting role as Takeo, an Asian American on whose barge Bobo agrees to work. It is remarkable to see Yung playing such a positive, likeable role at the precise time that the American government was rounding up Japanese citizens and interning them in camps.

Necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes, and the circumstances that pushed production of Moontide entirely onto the soundstage result in the film having a remarkably gothic and moody aesthetic. The foggy surrounds of San Pablo Bay give Bobo’s personal crisis a tremendous amount of additional depth and gravitas, and contrast powerfully against the film’s brighter romantic elements. It all looks tremendous, and plays out as tremendously effective. This is a classic diamond in the rough, or a hidden gem – pick your stereotype. The film is well worth tracking down.