Nor the Moon by Night is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Belinda Lee. It was based on the novel by Joy Packer and partly filmed in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The title is a quote from the Old Testament passage (Psalm 121:6); "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.
Plot summary
Two brothers, Rusty and Andrew Miller, are game wardens in Africa. Andrew's fiancée visits from the UK, and falls in love with Rusty.
A broken headlight caused by a crashed Land Rover starts a bush fire, and the humans try to beat it out as the wildlife stampedes to escape. Meanwhile, Andrew has tied himself into a tree to escape the lions but threatens to be burnt in the fire.
Cast
Belinda Lee ... Alice Lang
Michael Craig ... Rusty
Patrick McGoohan ... Andrew Miller
Anna Gaylor ... Thea Boryslawski
Eric Pohlmann ... Boryslawski
Pamela Stirling ... Mrs. Boryslawski
Lionel Ngakane ... Nimrod
Joan Brickhill ... Harriet Carver
Ben Heydenrych ... Sergeant Van Wyck
Alfred Kumalo ... Chief
Doreen Hlantie ... Oasis
Production
Development
Joy Packer's novel was published in 1957. Film rights were bought by Sir John Davis of the Rank Film Organisation, in part because Davis' 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 Midnight. He agreed because it gave him the chance to see South Africa. He later wrote "At this period, both Guy and I believed we could turn almost any material into a viable screenplay, and the opportunity to travel again and make a movie with the easygoing John Stafford finally swept away any scruples I had. “It’s really only just to give us time to hook Brando and make the big movie next,” he assured me."
Packer says producer John 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."
Packer felt Belinda Lee was physically miscast to play the role, but Annakin pointed out she was under contract and felt "she'll play Alice very convincingly. She's very intense - is Belinda". Filmink said "Lee’s part was in the "sensible girl" realm, a spinster who discovers love on the veldt in between being attacked by wildlife." Annakin later wrote "our great coup was supposed to be Belinda Lee, a very beautiful model, who had been picked up by Rank and was now regarded, at least by John Davis, as their ‘Big Attraction’. Nobody thought of her as a great actress, but she did look great, and I felt with careful direction, she could be adequate."¿
Packer later wrote "none of the cast bore the faintest resemblance to my characters."
Shooting
Filming began on 23 November 1957 on location in South Africa. The unit was based at Cato Ridge. The bulk of location shooting took place in the Valley of a Thousand Hills near Durban, with second unit work involving animals hear Johannesburg. At one stage the film was known as The Voice of the Lion.
Production was plagued by a number of difficulties. Belinda Lee left the unit during the shoot to see her married lover in Italy who had been threatening to kill himself; they both attempted suicide. Patrick McGoohan suffered concussion after crashing his car. Anna Gaylor fell ill with dysentery.