The Moon is Blue (1953 Comedy) William Holden, Otto Preminger

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***UPLOADERS NOTE*** This film is a major plot point in an episode of the TV show MASH, which is what inspired me to take a look at it in the first place (details below), so I have also included that episode of MASH for extra fun.

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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046094/
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Blue
 
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The Moon Is Blue is a 1953 American comedy film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert, based on his 1951 play of the same title, focuses on a young girl who meets an architect on the observation deck of the Empire State Building and quickly turns his life upside down.

A comedy of manners, the film centers on virtuous actress Patty ONeill, who meets playboy architect Donald Gresham on the top of the Empire State Building and accepts his invitation to join him for drinks and dinner in his apartment. There she meets Donalds upstairs neighbors, his ex-fiancée Cynthia and her father, roguish David Slater. Both men are determined to bed the young woman, but they quickly discover Patty is more interested in engaging in spirited discussions about the pressing moral and sexual issues of the day than surrendering her virginity to either one of them. After resisting their amorous advances throughout the night, Patty leaves and returns to the Empire State Building, where Donald finds her and proposes marriage.
Production

Otto Preminger had directed the 1951 Broadway production of F. Hugh Herberts play with Barbara Bel Geddes, Donald Cook, and Barry Nelson in the lead roles. Its successful run of 924 performances prompted him to contract with United Artists to finance and distribute a screen adaptation over which he would have complete control. He deferred his producers and directors salaries in exchange for 75% of the films profits.

Preminger cast David Niven over the objection of studio executives, who felt the actors career was in a decline. The director cast him in a West Coast production of the play to prepare for the film. In lieu of a salary, William Holden agreed to accept 20% of the profits. Last of the leads to be cast was Maggie McNamara, making her screen debut in a role she had played on stage in Chicago.

Herberts play had been a huge success in Germany, and Preminger decided to film English and German language versions simultaneously, using the same sets but different casts. The director estimated this method would increase the filming schedule by only eight to ten days and production costs by only 10 to 15 percent. The budget for both films was $373,445.

On July 13, 1951, the Breen office contacted Herbert and advised him his screenplay was in violation of the Motion Picture Production Code because of its light and gay treatment of the subject of illicit sex and seduction. On December 26, Preminger submitted a revised draft of the script which, due to numerous lines of dialogue exhibiting an unacceptably light attitude towards seduction, illicit sex, chastity, and virginity, was rejected on January 2, 1952. Contrary to later legend, the words virgin, mistress, and pregnant, all of which had been in the original plays dialogue, were not singled out as objectionable. On January 6, Preminger and Herbert advised the Breen office they disagreed with its decision and would film the screenplay without further changes.

In a display of solidarity, United Artist heads Arthur B. Krim and Robert S. Benjamin amended their contract and deleted the clause requiring Preminger to deliver a film that would be granted a Production Code seal of approval. After ten days of rehearsals for each of his casts, Preminger began principal photography of both films on January 21, filming an English language scene and then its German equivalent in quick succession. Johanna Matz and Hardy Krüger, the stars of the German adaptation, briefly appear in the English language version as the young couple waiting to use the coin-operated telescope at the top of the Empire State Building, cameo roles Holden and McNamara play in the German version. (Preminger later stated he much preferred The Moon is Blue to Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach because he felt the psychology of the plot did not translate well.) Filming was completed in twenty-four days and it previewed in Pasadena on April 8. Two days later, Breen notified Preminger the film would not be approved. Outraged at Breens unwarranted and unjustified attack on a harmless story, the director joined forces with UA executives to appeal the decision with the Motion Picture Association of America board of directors, who ruled against them.

United Artists decided to release the film without the seal of approval, initially in major urban markets where they hoped its success would encourage exhibitors in rural areas to book the film. The film premiered for an adults only audience in one movie house in Chicago on June 22 and opened in one theater in San Francisco on June 25. On June 30, Variety reported three major nationwide theater chains were willing to exhibit the film, and it went into general release on July 8. (In its year-end report, Variety said the film had ranked #15 at the box office with a gross of $3.5 million.)

Kansas, Ohio, and Maryland banned the film, and Preminger and United Artists decided to bring suit in a Maryland court. On December 7, 1953, Judge Herman Moser reversed the State Censor Board. In his ruling, he called the film a light comedy telling a tale of wide-eyed, brash, puppy-like innocence. Preminger and UA then appealed in Kansas, but the states Supreme Court upheld the state board of reviews decision to ban the film. Determined to win, the director and studio took their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, which overturned the finding of the Kansas Supreme Court on October 24, 1955.

The success of the film was instrumental in weakening the influence of the Production Code. On June 27, 1961, the PCA granted both The Moon is Blue and The Man with the Golden Arm, Premingers similarly controversial 1955 release, the seals of approval they initially withheld.

In later years, the film was the focus of an episode of the television series M*A*S*H, in which the characters, having heard about the controversy surrounding it, attempt to get a copy shipped to their mobile hospital in Korea. The film actually was released in the closing days of the Korean War.

Cast

William Holden ..... Donald Gresham
David Niven ..... David Slater
Maggie McNamara ..... Patty ONeill
Tom Tully ... Michael ONeill
Dawn Addams ..... Cynthia Slater
Critical reception

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times observed it is not outstanding, either as a romance or as film. The wit of Mr. Herbert . . . is turned almost wholly on his freeness with the startling idea or phrase, as glibly tossed off (for the most part) by a young lady who appears a wide-eyed child. And Otto Premingers lifting of the play from the stage to the screen is much too rigidly respectful of its conversational form. As a consequence, the movement is restricted and the talk is exceedingly long. At times, it gets awfully tedious, considering its limited range.
In his review of the DVD release of the film, Tim Purtell of Entertainment Weekly called the film a trifle that seems overly talky and slight.

Awards and nominations

David Niven won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Maggie McNamara was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress but lost to Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. Otto Ludwig was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing but lost to William A. Lyon for From Here to Eternity. Herschel Burke Gilbert and Sylvia Fine were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for the title tune but lost to Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster for Secret Love from Calamity Jane.

F. Hugh Herbert was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written Comedy but lost to Ian McLellan Hunter, Dalton Trumbo, and John Dighton for Roman Holiday.