User reviews

This is not your common variety of western, it's not even an action entry but presents a thoughtful look at the last days of the Indian tribes before the reservations took hold. It's a plausible story of these times that unfolds at a leisurely pace and builds to a suspenseful climax. It's also devoid of the simplistic over the top foolishness of the Italian spaghetti Westerns. Moon is a violent renegade Indian, who's hunting down a group of people who have rescued his forcefully abducted white woman, along with her/his young son, as they attempt to move them to the safety of civilisation.

Movie making veterans, director Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird '60) & director of photography Charles Lang (The Magnificent 7 '60) capture superb mountain vistas along with the murderous 'stalking' being performed by this sociopathic Indian known as the 'ghost of the moon'. An evocative music score by Fred Karlin adds much haunting atmosphere to this seemingly little remembered film.

Stalking Moon should interest patient viewers of the genre & those who follow the careers of Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint, etc - the always interesting and under used Italian/Irish Robert Foster (Pieces of Dreams '70) makes an impression as Peck's half breed tracker friend, along with Frank Silvera as Major. Some have unfairly described this as a racist story but Pecks close friendship with Foster, and many of his comments and actions throughout the film tend to disprove this. Recommended for lovers of the more serious western stories.

Unusual Western deals with a veteran cavalry scout named Sam Varner( a magnificent Gregory Peck) ready to retire to a farm in New Mexico who takes pity and protects a white woman named Sarah Carver (Eva Marie Saint , the unforgettable starring of ¨On the waterfront¨) and her half-breed son (Clay) recently rescued and have been captives from Indians for ten years . He agrees to help them and learn that the woman 's Indian husband nicknamed ¨Savage¨ is hunting them down . The Savage is an avenger and killer Apache and sooner or later a final grisly confrontation is almost inevitable.

This interesting Western contains action , thrills, intrigue , being ravishingly photographed and carefully made . Sensational performance by Gregory Peck plays a mature army scout attempting to save a women rescued and his Indian son from a marauding and feared father . Enjoyable appearance from Robert Foster as scout friend who teaches the little boy to count by means of the rules of poker . Ample support cast in brief acting as Charles Tyner , Joaquin Martinez , James Olson , Frank Silvera , Richard Bull and uncredited Richard Farnsworth , among others . In its initial exhibition the picture had average reviews , accused as racist and failed at the box office ; however , today is best considered with rave critical . It's an offbeat Western/drama/thriller from same tandem , Alan J Pakula-Alvin Sargent-Robert Mulligan who made ¨To kill a mockingbird¨ . Colorful cinematography showing spectacular outdoors by Charles Lang who long time ago won Oscar for his cinematography on ¨A farewell to arms(1933)¨. This motion picture with skeletal plot is well directed by Robert Mulligan , a filmmaker more specialist in human drama and with sure touch in the interior scenes . Mulligan has been out-stripped in reputation by his one time partner/producer Alan J Pacula . Mulligan directed good dramas as ¨A great impostor¨, ¨Love with the proper stranger¨, ¨Inside Daisy Clover¨ and ¨Summer of 42¨ that was extremely successful . His last works as ¨Blood Brothers¨ , ¨Same time next year¨ , ¨Kiss me goodbye¨ , ¨Clara's heart¨ failed to bring the required response from the cinema-goers public . Rating . Above average , worthwhile watching .

From the same folks who brought you To Kill a Mockingbird, a good western thriller The Stalking Moon blends old west action with Alfred Hitchcock type suspense.

Gregory Peck is an old army scout who helped rescue captive white woman Eva Marie Saint and her son Noland Clay by one of the Apache chiefs. The father isn't about to give up his son and he pursues Peck all the way to his ranch after he quit the cavalry. The last 40% of the film deals with Peck and his ranch guests being stalked by a clever and dangerous Indian opponent.

The film itself touches on themes used in both The Searchers and Two Rode Together by John Ford and the fine Joel McCrea-Barbara Stanwyck western, Trooper Hook. But director Robert J. Mulligan took his style cues from Alfred Hitchcock.

We don't ever see the opponent except in long shot right up to the very end. We only know him from what is said about Nathaniel Narciso from what is said and the death and destruction in his wake. The anticipation is all the more terrifying.

Western and suspense, The Stalking Moon is a nice blend of film genres and fans of Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint will be pleased.

This western was released when Hollywood was about finished with the genre and the film went largely unnoticed. However, the movie is well photographed, with good work by Gregory Peck, although Eva Marie Saint doesn't have much to do in the way of dialogue. Peck is a cavalry scout who quits the military to ranch in New Mexico and takes Saint and her half-breed son with him. Peck and Saint eventually turn up the romantic flames, but her boy is the object of a deadly game of search and destroy. The lad's father, a murderous Apache warrior, wants to reclaim him, and perhaps kill the woman for deserting him. The film has plenty of suspense, creepy shadows, and eerie noises in the dark and at times seems more like a mystery than a western. Most of the action occurs at picture's end, and Fred Karlin's plaintive yet thrilling score builds up the tension as Peck and Salvaje edge towards their showdown.

Scout Sam Varner (Gregory Peck) is retiring from the Army. He guides a squad of US troopers to round up a group of native Indians. Among the mostly women and children are Sarah Carver (Eva Marie Saint) and her half-Indian son Ashki. She is desperate to leave immediately. Only Varner is leaving right away to his new homestead in New Mexico. He agrees to take them to a stage coach station. Death follows her. It's the boy's father, a great warrior named Salvaje.

This is an opportunity to have a great western. If Salvaje is to be feared, his brutal killings need to be shown. The military detachment needs to be massacred. I don't mind the station massacre. It's a nice ghostly affair. This could be a fearsome western but it doesn't have the power of other more modern westerns. Director Robert Mulligan's most famous movie is probably "To Kill a Mockingbird" also starring Peck. Mulligan doesn't have the action thrills. As for Eva Marie Saint, her character is far too quiet. I understand the nature of her plight but she should be talking the native tongue with her son. The movie is a bit too quiet. Instead of increased mood, it slows the pacing. The potential is there for a landmark western.

I happened to be searching for this title as I have wanted to collect it for years. It is difficult to find although it has been on cable a number of times.

It is an extraordinary look at life in the west from several important perspectives. I was reading comments and a critic's review of this great film and I would like to make 2 primary comments:

1. If you haven't seen the movie or didn't pay attention, you should not comment on it. You may talk someone out of a memorable entertainment experience. At least get the particulars correct.

2. Nothing could be further from the truth regarding it being a "forgettable" film. On the contrary it is a compelling and "unforgettable film." It's the real thing and very much worth watching!

I rank this film right up there with "The Wild Bunch", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", "True Grit", "The Magnificent Seven", "Hombre", "Shane", "Jeremiah Johnson","The Outlaw Josey Wales" and others.

Despite other comments, Robert Forster played the memorable role of "Nick" a "half-breed" scout taught by Sam Varner (Gregory Peck.) It was Nathaniel Narcisse who played the much feared Native American warrior, Salvaje, who tracked Sam and the others in search of his son and only heir.

This film was the quintessential film about scouting and tracking of that era. It was the first and only (serious) western film that was a thriller. The haunting sound track effects, sets, and the stealth and terror created by it's antogonist, Salvaje, was riveting. This "brave" could get in and out of places and kill many, single-handedly, without being heard or seen-like a ghost! He is more stealth and deadly in this film than "Rambo" was in the forest sequence in the movie "First Blood."

The movie is about a retiring army scout, Sam Varner (Gregory Peck) who agrees to transfer a white woman-who had been kidnapped years before by Indians-to someplace other than the reservation. She had a son by a fearsome warrior whom she feared would return to claim that son. On the way Sam (Peck) decided he would offer her and her half-breed son a new start at his ranch where he was headed to in retirement. That is where all of his (Peck's) trouble started. Salvaje wants his son and stops at nothing to find and take him.

This movie has every important element, the scenery and cinematography, full characters you care about, great soundtrack, fantastic acting, and unbelievable drama and terror. And the facts of living in that period are accurate and you live the experience. It is not predictable. It will have you on the edge of your seat!

With the exception of "To Kill a Mockingbird", this may well be Gregory Peck's finest performance. He is in his prime.

The tracking scenes are unforgettable. Whether you are a western buff or not this is a great movie. There will never be another western like this one.

Liberated from an Apache tribe 10 years after being abducted, raped and bearing a half-breed son, a white woman (Eva Marie Saint) neglects to mention to her Army rescuers that the boy's father is a fierce, bloodthirsty warrior who will stop at nothing until he gets his son back. Director Robert Mulligan was never a filmmaker of compact means--neither he nor his editors over the years ever shaped any of their projects with energy or excitement--and so, to put a western in Mulligan's hands was suicidal. He dawdles over everything, in much the same way that Saint has been made to dawdle over her dialogue. As the retiring scout who takes on the savage beast, Gregory Peck is amusingly shifty-eyed and granite-jawed, but laughs are not what Mulligan is after (humor is wasted on him). The film has the pomp and circumstance (but not the sweep) of a location-rich epic--one complete with a theme, the eternal struggle between races, guaranteed to be taken as metaphor for the racial divide of the times--but it's a dramatic suspense story that falls flat without interesting characters or tension. *1/2 from ****

I had seen this movie when I was twenty, and it had lingered somewhere in my mind in a most favorable way. In later years I recalled a good movie and strong acting by two favorites, Gregory Peck and Frank Silvera. Then I saw it again this year at fifty two, and after watching it a second time, I confess that only two of my three favorable impressions remained: Peck and Silvera. The movie is utterly hollow.

The premise of the movie is outstanding. An unseen, deadly presence is out there and most definitely coming. It's only a matter of time before the showdown occurs. Armed with the likes of Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, and Frank Silvera, the director had an A team assembled for what could have been a thriller with a ton of suspense. But Eva Marie Saint was relegated to the role of a mute statue, Frank Silvera was used almost grudgingly, and Gregory Peck was left to tote this slow moving, preposterous dud on his back from promising beginning to dismal end. The other characters in the movie are entirely too wooden to even mention.

As I have grown older, I have come to believe that the first impression of a movie is the only one that counts. For some reason, the movie impressed me when I was twenty. Then, perhaps, it really was original. I have seen it again after seeing much better creations in the same genre. Second impressions are badly colored.

After this disappointing viewing of "Stalking Moon", I have decided not to see another of my favorable lasting impressions of the era, "Vanishing Point" again. The same thing might happen.

Plays a bit like a 1950ies B-Western.

Now, it isn't from the 1950ies, but rather 1968, where Sergio Leone's Westerns and movies like Martin Ritt's Hombre have long since ushered in new and bolder times for the Western.

Hell, The Stalking Moon is only a year removed from Peckinpah's Wild Bunch.

What I'm trying to say is this: The Stalking Moon is just a bit dull - and the 6 rating from me is very generous, actually.

Not even listed as one of Gregory Peck's better films, I consider this to be one of the most exciting Westerns I have ever seen. The Stalking Moon, Jeremiah Johnson, High Noon,.. all three are Western Classics.

The movie begins slowly but the sense of foreboding builds throughout the film as Sam and his adopted family wait for the inevitable. Eva Marie Saint portrays an abused woman with spare dignity and understated grace, the little boy is great and Gregory Peck is a formidable presence, growing stronger in character and determination as his feelings for the woman and her son develop. Nathaniel Narsisco, as the Stalker is realistically and excruciatingly frightening as he silently tracks his prey.

Although almost 40 years old the movie holds up well even when compared to films like Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.I have just read Roger Ebert's condemnation of this film and cannot believe that he and I differ so greatly as to its relative merits. How ever this is the man who loved "over the top" Donald Pleasance in "Will Penny" so one should not be surprised.

The Stalking Moon is directed by Robert Mulligan and adapted by Wendell Mayes & Alvin Sargent from the Theodore V. Olsen novel. It stars Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint and Robert Forster. Fred Karlin scores the music and cinematography comes from Charles Lang. It's a Technicolor and Panavision production. Plot sees Peck as veteran army scout Sam Varner, who agrees to escort former Apache captive Sarah Carver (Saint) and her half-Indian son to safety. Easier said than done, for as they make their way across the sprawling terrain of the Southwest, they are being tracked by a savage renegade Indian who is intent on getting the boy back.

Along with producer Alan J. Pakula, the Mulligan and Peck teaming sees the three principals involved in To kill a Mockingbird reconvene for this late 60s Oater. Coming out at a time when the Western was fast becoming a fading genre, it's a film that has largely been forgotten about. Garnering mixed reviews from those that have seen it, it's a film that frustrates and enthrals in equal measure. From the outset it's probably best to put out there that it's very much a slow build piece, one that is more about dealing in suggestion and anticipation than it is in actual events.

There's a strong lead performance from Peck, a performance he was privately said to have been fond of, and the photography from Lang, as he sumptuously brings to life Red Rock Canyon & Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, gives a nice contrast to the grim mood generated by the protagonists' journey. There's also an interesting score from Karlin, not very traditional, but it does work and leaves a favourable impression. While there's enough tension throughout, born out of Mulligan smartly keeping the villain off screen for the majority of the picture; letting it play out as if there's some sort of supernatural foe in the midst.

However, if the ending, though, pays you off after your patience? And after having got you to buy into the slow build? Well that's the deal breaker as to if you can give this film two thumbs up or not. Personally it held no surprise for me, and that was a bit of a let down. You sense the makers wanted to make something a bit different as the genre was beginning to wane, instead they revert to type and it hurts the film considerably. A shame is that. 6.5/10

This film was not worthy of either Peck or Saint. The plot could have resulted in a fine western, but the execution was abysmal. The action scenes were ridiculous, in that the killer was known to so effectively sneak up on his 20-30 previous victims that they never heard him or saw him coming, yet our heroes never seemed concerned that he was around and constantly gave him big targets to shoot at. The dialogue was slow, stilted, and meaningless, with no character development for the child at all, and very little for Saint's character. Even the musical theme was boring and poorly done. If the scenery were not so grandly American, I would have expected that this film had been made in France or Italy.

I found this to be a taut and exciting western. The film builds scene by scene to give the characters depth and to instill a sense of unknown dread. The music soundtrack is superb in enhancing this sense of dread. The film puts to good use the concept that what cannot be seen is sometimes more frightening than what can be seen. This concept is used for terrific effect with the psychotic Indian who is the stalker. Peck, Saint and Forster give outstanding performances and create realistic characters that we can care about. I believe this to be one of the finest westerns made and consider it be a very underappreciated film by critics.

Robert Mulligan directs this late 60's western that is near the end of the classical style of film-making. As in most westerns, the visuals carry this film. In it, Gregory Peck is a retiring army scout who befriends Eva Marie Saint, a captive who had a child with an Indian Warrior (Robert Foster). After an Apache massacre, the captives are set free and Eva begs Peck to take her away. The visuals pick up here as Peck takes Saint with him to a cabin in New Mexico. The story-line is not the best though (somewhat predictable) as their path is followed by Forster who wants his son back. This adds the tension and gun-fights. Of course other western material is in here too, horses, ranches, trains, etc.... However, the movie is carried by Peck and by the visuals. Therefore, if you don't have a big-screen or access to a cinemascope/letterbox copy, you may wish to skip it (if it is even available--; viewed in 16mm scope:rating 6/10)

A kindly cowboy takes a woman and her young son under his wing, only to be stalked by her murderous captor/mate all the way. The first half I found quite enjoyable, however, when the hammer comes down in the third act and the stalker wreaks havoc, I knew exactly who would live and who would die. I found the mother and her son a bit unlikeable after a while.

I could never understand what the son (who by the way is never named, even when they try to give him a name) kept wanting to go back to his murderous father, even after he attempted to kill his mother for no reason. The chemistry between Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint was nonexistent. I figured they would show no more chemistry than platonic friends and I was right.

The stalker kills the dog of an old man Peck is partners with and for some idiotic reason the man runs out into the woods with no weapons. I knew he was a goner the moment he was introduced, but I had no idea he would be so foolish about it.

A likeable character resurfaces in the film to aid the protagonist and I knew he would not make it to the end credits. I was right.

The only thing I could not predict was how unsatisfied I was with the climax. Isn't the scene where the good guy blows away the bad guy supposed to be satisfying?

Despite my nit-picks, I did enjoy most of the film. I liked the music, which was humble, adventurous, and frightening when it needed to be. I loved the cinematography and sweeping landscapes, specifically the surroundings in the third act. The final battle is grueling and brutal, which kept me on the edge of my seat until the final part. I just wish the film weren't so predictable.