Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

malcolmgsw For some reason all of the reviews for this film are from the state's.As this film was recently shown on London Live I can redress this.Firstly the colour is typical of pre war Technicolour and is quite beautiful.The sound was totally audible,at least to me.This was not the only London Film held up for release,21 Days being another.In any event since British film production had fallen to a low level due to bombing and requisition of studios,the release of these films would help British cinemas cope with their quota requirements.It is not a film which will rate highly in the careers of either stars.The plot must have hackneyed even at the time of production.Oberon inherits a lot of money and is then perused by a lot of aristocratic Chinese wonders who can offer a title in return for large wads of cash..Incidentally there is a really fine musical number by the immortal Elizabeth Welch which license up the proceedings.

MartinHafer "Over the Moon" is a decent enough film, but in its present form it's a bit tough to watch. This is because a lot of conservation work needs to be done on it--at least on the copy shown on Turner Classic Movies (and usually they show the best copy available). The problems are with the picture and sound. The film is in early Technicolor but the print is so muddy that it's actually pretty ugly. Additionally, the sound is a bit muddy--making it very hard for non-Brits like me to understand everything they are saying. Cleaning the sound and/or installing closed captions would be a HUGE boon to watching the film.The film also suffers from a bizarre problem--one that is even weirder than using Jean Harlow's double to finish "Saratoga" after she died part-way through filming. The star of the film, Merle Oberon, went through HUGE changes in her looks in the late 1930s--going from a somewhat unattractive lady to a more vivacious lady due to studio folks who saw her potential. Here is the problem with this--much of the film was made in 1937 and then the project was shelved. Then, two years later, she looked like a totally different lady--and that's when they filmed the rest!! So, in the '37 portions, she has shaved and penciled eyebrows (like Jean Harlow) and very unattractive hair that emphasized her large forehead. In the '39 portions, she has normal eyebrows and a much more becoming hairstyle--making it look like two different actresses played the role. And, since it was NOT filmed in sequence, it's very disconcerting--much like when Luis Buñuel DELIBERATELY used two different actresses to play the same role in "That Obscure Object of Desire". With Buñuel, it worked because he was a surrealist but in "Over the Moon" most viewers will just be left confused.As for the story itself, it's a decent tale of a poor girl (Oberon) who instantly becomes a very, very, very wealthy heiress and how this helps to mess up her life. Lots of selfish hangers on suddenly become her 'friends' and her fiancé (Rex Harrison) is driven off by her new lifestyle and nasty friends. But, no matter how much charm and magic the film has, all the factors listed above do a lot to undo the good--making the film a bit of a chore to watch.

blanche-2 Though made in 1939 and released right after Hitler started his march through Europe, the Alexander Korda production Over the Moon actually looks older. That's because production started in 1937. It's in color with a very young Merle Oberon who, in the beginning, looks less like the Merle Oberon we knew once she came to Hollywood, but later has a new look, and a very young Rex Harrison.The sound on this was fuzzy, so I didn't get all of it.Anyway, Oberon plays Jane Benson who lives in the family home in Yorkshire. She's in love with the local doctor, Freddie (Harrison) and wants to marry him. They decide to marry, but then, Jane inherits an absolute fortune - 18 million pounds. Freddie dumps her. So right away, you know this isn't based on a true story.Freddie feels her money would ruin his ambition, and he isn't interested in the trappings of money. Jane wants to spend about 2 million on frivolities and then give it all away. She goes on her spending adventure and attracts two men; meanwhile, Freddie has gotten a lot of attention for turning down an heiress.Some gorgeous European scenery to be had here, but the film moves a bit slowly. Still, it's nice to look at, and it's always a pleasure to see Oberon and Harrison, two fine actors.

eschetic-2 The exotic beauty Merle Oberon was primed by her producer husband Alexander Korda for great things (it was at his behest she changed her name from Estelle Merle Thompson to Oberon and they were married the year OVER THE MOON was released) but is today probably remembered for only a few of the more than two dozen films she made before World War II and the relative handful she made after it - none more than the first American film she made immediately after this release, WUTHERING HEIGHTS.OVER THE MOON was a top drawer release in 1939 just as World War II was breaking out - it opened in London barely a month after Hitler invaded Poland - and well received. The story of a young doctor who rejects the image of marrying for money and the woman on the rebound having to cope with that money and all the advice, good and bad, that comes with it, allowed for ravishingly beautiful Technicolor vistas of European sights from Paris to the Riviera, Venice and beyond in a world still at peace.If the film itself hasn't aged as well as, say, Bernard Shaw's THE MILLIONAIRESS, it is more because the writers were not in Shaw's league than any of the other elements. Truth be told, it may come across as a little dull for those not willing to go with the quiet pace of the screenwriters' telling of the Robert Anderson/Lajos Biro story. It would be interesting to know why such an apparently important film was released in Lisbon a full eight months before its London premiere - was there re-editing involved, or did the film when initially released cause reservations in the distributors and the London premiere only get pushed because of the War? Whichever, the result was successful at the time.Nevertheless, OVER THE MOON (as of this date unreleased on video in the US - but available in a Greek PAL DVD release) is worth seeking out for the relatively early performance by Rex Harrison as the naive doctor (still two and six years before his career defining Shaw and Coward films, MAJOR BARBARA and BLYTHE SPIRIT) and an all too-rare performance by the great Elisabeth Welch (an expatriate American singer/actress renowned for creating "Solomon" in Cole Porter's NYMPH ERRANT in the original 1933 London production of that show) as a cabaret singer.Minor OVER THE MOON may be today, but like its star, Ms. Oberon, it remains lovely to look at and a worthy diversion for a rainy afternoon.