The Moon-Spinners (Disney) (1964)

WALT DISNEY’S “MOON-SPINNERS’ HAS COLORFUL, HISTORICAL SETTINGS For those who like their mystery and romance played against colorful and historic backgrounds, Walt Disney’s feature motion picture, “The Moon-Spinners,” is a must. Not since “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” has Disney offered so much opulence in a picture. The fabled island of Crete with its rugged mountains, ancient ruins, colorful customs, dance festivals, snow white beaches and deep blue waters provides a spectacular setting for a suspenseful plot in which a brutal jewel thief hunts down young lovers who would expose him. The hair-raising chase is played against splendrous sights like great, ornate caves dating back to the fabulous Minoan civilization — circa 1600 B.C.,—a church built by Venetians during the thirteenth century, roads constructed by the Romans in 100 A.D., temples built by the Byzantines during the second century, and plenty of vivid blue skv and mountain vistas. The most luxurious setting, however, is a contemporary, man-made one that enhances the screen character of Pola Negri. The former siren of the silent era plays an eccentric jewel fancier, Madame Habib, whose home is a vast yacht, and who entertains in a salon that would be the envy of a queen. The furnishings alone — a mahogany, hand-tooled desk, Spanish carpet, ceramic table, crystal and ivory statuettes — have been appraised at $20,000. These. plus a large assortment of jewelry, a full length mink stole, valuable paintings and elaborate decorations add up to glamorous living in anyone’s book. In color by Technicolor, “The Moon-Spinners” stars Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood and Irene Papas. Also, Pola Negri returns to the screen. Bill Anderson co-produced with Walt Disney, and Hugh Attwooll was associate producer. James Neilson directed the Buena Vista release. Disney Crew Faces New ObstacleA Raki Siesta During the filming of Walt Disney’s feature motion picture, “The Moon-Spinners,” on the torrid island of Crete, U.S. artisans among the production crew disovered what some might consider an improvement on the traditional American coffee break. The Cretans retire to the nearest bar for a wallop of raki, their own 100-proof grape juice, then to their homes to sleep the whole bit off. The raki break is pleasant but time-consuming, though, and during production in Elounda, where Walt’s crews did most of their work, the liquid siesta was suspended in the interests of getting the picture made on time. But all is normal again. The Americans have gone, raki is back, and the Elounda inn featured in “The Moon-Spinners” is doing the same old business at the same old yarn-spinning stand. In color by Technicolor, “The Moon-Spinners”’ stars Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood and Irene Papas. Also, Pola Negri returns to the screen. Bill Anderson co-produced with Walt Disney, and Hugh Attwooll was associate producer. James Neilson directed the Buena Vista release. Mat MS-2K SHOCKER — Hayley Mills comes upon the stretched-out form of Peter McEnery in an ancient crypt in Walt Disney's suspense-thriller, ‘The Moon-Spinners.’’ The Technicolor Mat MS-1J IRENE PAPAS, international star, plays the sympathetic role of an honest woman who suspects a member of her family (Eli Wallach) of villainy, in Walt Disney's “The Moon-Spinners.”’ The suspense-mystery stars Hayley Mills. PIXIE HAYLEY IS A LOVELY MISS IN ‘MOON-SPINNERS’ Don’t look now, but Hayley Mills, that spindly little pixie with the button nose who won the hearts of thirty million viewers in “Pollyanna” on “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color’ last season, and many more in her movies for Walt, is a svelte, lovely eighteen-year-old with a twinkle in her eye that means more than mischief. That’s how she appears in Disney’s first suspense-mystery, “The Moon-Spinners,” the happy-golucky tale of an English girl on a vacation in Crete who risks her life for the boy she loves. And the impact Hayley is certain to make with her legions of fans is bound to be devastating. Hayley is becoming beautiful, a facet of her personal fortunes, already fabulous in a fabulous industry, which had been hardly expected by her actor father, John Mills; her writer mother, Mary Hayley Bell; her beauteous older actress sister, Juliet, her younger student-brother, Jonathan, or anyone else for that matter. The reason: Hayley had never needed beauty, since she has for four years been internationally acclaimed as the best and most promising teenage actress in the business. But she has it now, an unquestioned assist in the growing up she must accomplish both as a person ae leading lady she must hope to be. (©1964 Walt Disney Productio feature also stars Eli Wallach and Joan Greenwood. A Buena Vista release. Page 8 ELI WALLACH’S ACTING CHALLENGE -HATE HAYLEY It is a pretty difficult thing to hate Hayley Mills. Few people, if any, do. But in Walt Disney’s feature motion picture, “The Moon-Spinners,” Eli Wallach must. Hayley is a sweet young thing in the story who, with her romantic lead, Peter McEnery, stumbles on to a murderous jewel thief and his loot. The thief is Wallach. Thus Eli must hate Hayley and show it, How? “When I was making ‘Baby Doll’ I had to look out a window and watch my cotton gin burn to the ground,” he explains. “Now I couldn’t care less, really, if every cotton gin in creation burned down. So how was I to face the camera with real concern and anger blazing out of -my eyes? “It proved simple, when I put my wife and kids into that gin, in my imagination. I got pretty sore at the thought and Elia Kazan was more than satisfied at the results.” That scowl, and the rest of his performance, brought Eli the British Academy Award. “Baby Doll” was the first picture for an award-winning Broadway player. Eli has been a great fan of Hayley since he took his youngsters to see “The Parent Trap,” which made his job just that much tougher. “It was tough,” he says, on his return from location shooting on the Grecian island of Crete. “She’s just about the most charming young girl in the world. I had to think of something, so why not income taxes, with her the collector. It worked out fine.” In color by Technicolor, “The Moon-Spinners” stars Hayley Mills, Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood and Irene Papas. Also, Pola Negri returns to the screen. Bill Anderson co-produced with Walt Disney, and Hugh Attwooll was associate producer. James Neilson directed the Buena Vista release. ‘MOON-SPINNERS’ SETS RECORD FOR BIG CAST Colossal — really Hollywood’s middle name — is the only adjective powerful enough to describe the Feast of King Minos, a tumultuous carnival scene in “The MoonSpinners” which sets a Disney record for both casting in quantity and for noisemaking. A thousand gals and guys shout and cavort about a Cretan street dressed as Fire Birds, Centaurs, Pottery Jars, Snake Goddesses and other artifacts and characters while Hayley Mills, looking more grownup than ever, gets her first kiss from Peter McEnery in a participating hearse. Actually, the festivities happen not to have anything to do with McEnery’s marvelous luck. They are, instead, a colorful story whose legends include that of “The MoonSpinners,” a tale of mythological treasure trove whose presence at the bottom of the Bay of Dolphins may be revealed by the daughters of a sea king when they choose to spin a full moon. The $400,000-plus in stolen jewels McEnery is looking for in the picture have nothing to do with the legend, but Peter has reason to believe that they, too, lie under the bay and it is in his odyssey there that he finds something even better — Hayley Mills at a carnival. In color by Technicolor, “The Moon-Spinners” stars Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood and Irene Papas. Also, Pola Negri returns to the screen. Mat MS-2L EXPRESSIVE FACE of Hayley Mills was never more in evidence than when she showed her silent disapproval of an odorous fish in Walt Disney's ‘The Moon-Spinners.’’ Traveling with Hayley in this and other harrowing scenes of the suspense-mystery is Joan Greenwood. POLA NEGRI MAY START NEW TREND IN WALT DISNEY’S ‘MOON-SPINNERS’ Pola Negri, tempestuous queen of the silent era, who has probably started more trends than any other actress in the history of the movies, may have launched another one. In Walt Disney’s “The Moon-Spinners,” her first movie role in 20 years, the celebrated Miss Negri appears as an eccentric millionairess with a pet cheetah. During the filming of “The Moon-Spinners” Miss Negri introduced Kinno, the cheetah, to reporters while stroking the oversized feline gently. In the Disney movie Kinno gets pampered by both Miss Negri Natives Perform Colorful Scenes in The ‘Moon-Spinners’ Always a stickler for authentic color and background, Walt Disney has produced on film the very essence of the Meditteranean culture which has existed for centuries on the Isle of Crete. For “The MoonSpinners,” a suspense thriller starring Hayley Mills, Disney enlisted the real experts on the local customs — the Greeks and Cretans themselves. Making their screen debut in a gay wedding sequence, nineteen Greek girls whirl in their magnificent costumes and perform authentic Greek dances. The girls, whose ages range up to 27 years, attend the Lyceum of Greece at Iraklion, Crete, an institution dedicated to the preservation of national art and costumes. Some of the authentic dresses are 300 years old and cannot be replaced. The dances they perform are the same ones handed down from the preChristian Minoan civilization. Another highlight of the picture is the spectacular Minoan carnival sequence for which over 1,000 citizens were recruited from all over Crete. The masks and figures displayed in the carnival sequence were created by Corcoro Jannis, the man responsible for a famous carnival in Peloponnese, the largest in Greece. He had a team of eight carving the ancient, bizarre Cretan figures which spring to life in a gay mardi gras. and Hayley Mills. With such treatment from the best of two generations of femininity, cheetahs may become the rage of Fifth Avenue and Wilshire Blvd. Miss Negri is credited with having created a number of fads in her time, including painted toenails, turban hats for women, false eyelashes, and a beauty mark under the left eye. Back in 1923, Pola caused a sensation in the United States when she trimmed her tootsies with red nail polish. The late Adolph Menjou, then her leading man, thought the worst the first time he saw her painted toenails. “My God, you’re bleeding!” he exclaimed. She gave the Easter parade a fashionable new entry when she arrived from Europe with a wardrobe that included ladies’ turban hats, which are once more considered the height of fashion. A femme fatale extraordinary, Miss Negri made good use of the false eyelashes and beauty mark she brought to the screen. Her heavy-lidded sex appeal actually caused men to faint in the aisles, and the flappers took to beauty marks like bootleggers to bathtub gin. In color by Technicolor, “The Moon-Spinners” stars Miss Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery, Joan Greenwood and Irene Papas. Also, Miss Negri returns to the screen. Bill Anderson co-produced with Walt Disney, and Hugh Attwooll was associate producer. James Neilson directed the Buena Vista release. SURPRISE! — While Eli Wallach and Peter McEnery battle over stolen jewelry, innocent bystander Hayley Mills comes up with the prize in Walt Disney's suspense-mystery, “The Moon-Spinners." A Buena Vista release.