Nor the Moon by Night

Nor the Moon by Night (1958)

When Alice Lang flies out to Kenya to marry gamekeeper Andrew Miller she is met by his brother Rusty, who is initially opposed to the marriage. The two become attracted to each other, but when Andrew is attacked by a lion, Alice nurses him back to health. Now torn between affection and duty, she must decide which path to follow.

Date of release
1958-08-07
TMDB
6.2 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
Drama
Director
Ken Annakin

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: South Africa and Pinewood Studios

Nor the Moon by Night is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Belinda Lee, Michael Craig and Patrick McGoohan. It was written by Guy Elmes based on the 1957 novel of the same title by Joy Packer and partly filmed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The title is a quote from the Old Testament passage, "The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." The film was released in the United States as Elephant Gun. It has several sections in Swahili but is not subtitled.

Production

Joy Packer's novel Nor the Moon by Night was published in 1957. Film rights were bought by John Davis of the Rank Film Organisation, in part because Davis's wife Dinah Sheridan was a fan of the novel. Packer later wrote she sold the rights via a "contract which reduced me to nothing and made me feel like the man who sold his shadow to the devil".

In the late 1950s, the Rank Organisation made a series of adventure films in colour shot on location which were aimed at the international audience. These included The Black Tent, Robbery Under Arms, Ferry to Hong Kong, Campbell's Kingdom and Nor the Moon by Night.

The film was directed by Ken Annakin who was making it under a two picture contract he had with Rank. He says that he did not really want to do the job. The film he really wanted to make was The Singer Not the Song but when he could not get the casting he wanted for that film he decided to make the second film under his deal, Nor the Moon by Night. He agreed because it gave him the chance to see South Africa.

Packer says producer Stafford flew out to South Africa to meet with her and secure her help in making the movie. He showed her the script which she found "amazingly fresh and new. The basic situation and a few names and places were vaguely familiar. I recognised none of the dialogue and only part of the action, but the story sounded exciting."

to the youngsters,” Annakin said in September 1957. “And for that reason I want a predominantly young cast, preferably under 30." Michael Craig was the first actor announced.

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