The newest edition to MVD Entertainment Group’s popular “Rewind Collection” library will be heading home on Feb. 8 with the Blu-ray debut of writer/director David Fisher’s 1982 tragic love story, Liar’s Moon.
Matt Dillon had just scored remarkably well as the heavy in director Tony Bill’s summer of 1980 film, My Bodyguard, and was signed for the leading role in Fisher’s Liar’s Moon, which was his debut film as both a writer and a director.
Newby actor, new director, modest budget and it was ready to begin filming in Houston Texas in the fall of 1980 … but there was a problem, they didn’t have a lead actress, but Fisher had the backing of producer and co-writer Billy Hanna (his only screen credits), so the production was delayed for several weeks until Cindy Fisher could be cast as Ginny.
There doesn’t appear to be any direct relationship between the director and Cindy Fisher. However, as a bit of trivia, she will forever be remembered for the scene where John Belushi, as Joliet Jake in director John Landis’ The Blue Brothers, is trying to convince Mr. Fabulous (Alan Rubin), who is now the Maître d’ at the Chez Paul, to rejoin the band.
Mr. Fabulous is having nothing to do with it. Frustrated, Jake pulls out all of the stops and offers to “buy” the two girls at the next table from their father (Fisher is the older of the two) … Mr. Fabulous rejoins the band!!
One month behind schedule, the film’s seven-week film scheduled pushed the completion to mid-December. The film was screened at the Houston International Film Festival in 1981 and shortly thereafter Crown International picked up the theatrical distribution rights.
Arthouse film? Teen angst romantic drama? Hard to tell exactly what Crown, who was noted for action, horror and sexploitation films, was going to do with Liar’s Moon, so they arranged for special exhibitors screenings at the ShoWest Convention (industry trade group) in Las Vegas during February of 1982. The film finally opened in September of that year, nearly two-full years after production had wrapped.
As to the film itself, there is a pre-story hook at the beginning of the film which will come to have meaning during the third act. Here we meet Ellen “Babs” Duncan (Margaret Blye — Hombre, The Italian Job, Hard Times, The Entity, etc.), who has come to Dr. Black’s (Tony Frank) office with her infant son … she has an urgent request and he agrees to help her. That’s it.
We pick up the action 18 years later and the little baby is none other than Matt Dillion as Jack Duncan. There’s a “meet-cute” at the local carnival, where Jack is chasing a greased pig and crashes into on-looker Ginny, who skipped the local high school for a prep school and will be heading off to Vassar soon.
Ginny’s father, Alex (Christopher Connelly — Benji, Hawmps!), the local banker, warns her to stay away from Jack … Jack’s mother does her best to discourage the relationship as well.
Discourage all you will, young love takes root and soon enough the pair have run off to get hitched in neighboring Louisiana, where Ginny can legally marry at just 17. Jack gets a job as a construction worker and nature takes its course with Ginny becoming pregnant.
Meanwhile, Alex has become frantic and has hired a nasty private eye by the name of Logan (Richard Moll — House, Survivor, The Dungeonmaster, etc. … and as Nostradamus 'Bull' Shannon in the Night Court sitcom) to track down his wayward daughter and get her off to Vassar.
It takes a while, but Logan finds the couple and the third act of this tragedy unfolds.
Bonus goodies include the newly-prepared feature-length documentary titled The Making of Liar's Moon, an alternate ending and the featurette titled “The Music of Liar’s Moon.”
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