Robert Preston

Blood on the Moon sounds like it might be sci-fi. It’s directed by Robert Wise, who’d later do The Andromeda Strain and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Without any other clue that would be a fair assumption to make. Until you learn it’s from 1948. Bit early for sci-fi. It’s a western, in fact, and a good propulsive one, even if character is occasionally sacrificed to the need to get on and tell the story, almost as if this were an episode in a western serial. The dynamic is homesteaders versus ranchers, with neither side over-demonised as they square off over who’s going to get control of a big swathe of fertile land … Read more