By the Light of the Silvery Moon (Blu-ray Review)
Director
David ButlerRelease Date(s)
1953 (January 27, 2026)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. Pictures (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
In an annual poll of the top 10 box-office U.S. stars at the end of 1952, Doris Day was named top money-making female star. By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) was her first film after achieving that position. A sequel to Warner Bros. popular On Moonlight Bay, By the Light of the Silvery Moon features the same principal actors in the same roles and picks up the characters a few years later, immediately after World War I.
Marjorie Winfield (Doris Day) learns that her sweetheart Bill Sherman (Gordon MacRae) is returning from his wartime stint in the army. Marjorie expects they will marry but Bill isn’t sure about rushing to the altar. They’re both very young (Marjorie is 18, Bill is 20), and Bill wants to establish himself in a career and save money. He reasons that if they marry so young, they won’t be able to deal with the responsibilities and expectations of a married couple.
This doesn’t sit well with Marjorie, who has already taken out her wedding dress and is eager to tie the knot. But Bill’s hesitancy suits piano teacher Chester Finley (Russell Arms) just fine. Chester has been trying, and failing, to spark a romance with Marjorie, ever since Bill was drafted.
Day’s strength as an actor is her sunny personality, which coaxes even tepid material to come alive. Her star quality drives the movie, and MacRae is a non-threatening co-star. Day was a cash cow for Warners and her presence in By the Light of the Silvery Moon elevates the film’s stature considerably.
When he sings, MacRae is fine and serves as a good duet companion for Day. His acting, however, is just passable. Fortunately, the script doesn’t offer him much to challenge his dramatic talents. He has a pleasant, likable personality and a boy-next-door quality that’s engaging.
Resuming their roles from On Moonlight Bay, Leon Ames and Rosemary DeCamp play Mr. and Mrs. Winfield, Billy Gray (Bud Anderson on Father Knows Best) is Marjorie’s younger brother Wesley, and Mary Wickes portrays wisecracking housekeeper Stella. As in the first film, Wesley is the source of innocent mischief. Ordered by his father to bring his pet turkey Gregory to the butcher to have it slaughtered for Thanksgiving, Wesley can’t bring himself to do it and resorts to an alternative plan that causes him to partake in a guilt-ridden dinner. An additional source of laughs is the turkey, who flaps through the house at the most inopportune moments.
Complications ensure from a letter that is perceived to be something it definitely is not. Marjorie and Wesley conspire to keep the letter from their mother, believing it contains shocking information about dear old Dad. Of course, the letter falls into the wrong hands and causes even more confusion. This variation on mistaken identity was a tired plot point even back when the film was made. It’s contrived to elicit laughs based on assumptions and false conclusions and was meant to offer some edgy humor, but the familiar device elicits yawns instead.
This thin plot ties together many songs from the period performed mostly by Day and MacRae, including Be My Little Baby Bumblebee, Ain’t We Got Fun, If You Were the Only Girl in the World and the title tune. Their duets are pleasant and high-spirited. Original songs written for the picture are bland and lack the panache of the older standards. In a number that Marjorie performs at a town event—King Chanticleer—she’s dressed in overalls and straw hat and accompanied by townsfolk costumed as farm animals. Intended to be a comic highlight, the number is hardly worth the energy Day puts into it. In Day’s solo, I’ll Forget You, Marjorie muses how life will be without Bill by her side. MacRae’s solo, Just One Girl, is a routine declaration that Marjorie is the only girl in the world for him. Neither of the solos sparkles.
A highlight of the film is a scene set at an ice-skating rink. Day and MacRae skate to the title song as the camera follows them around an outdoor rink. Clearly, the stars are doing their own skating, since the camera is right up close (unlike a scene in The Bishop’s Wife in which Loretta Young’s and Cary Grant’s doubles obviously do the skating). Don’t blink and you’ll see Merv Griffin as the ice rink announcer, speaking through a megaphone.
Shot by director of photography Wilfred M. Cline on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.37:1, By the Light of the Silvery Moon contains deeply saturated colors. Primary hues really pop, and pastels offer nice contrast. Doris Day’s close-ups were obviously carefully planned because she looks radiant with rosy cheeks, bright eyes and a flawless smile. Completely studio bound, the film is given visual variety by director David Butler’s incorporation of several sets. The Miller’s Pond ice skating rink is a highlight. Production design recreates small-town activity of the 1910s, a time of tree-shaded streets, homes with picket fences, and life centered around family. A Song Selection menu allows for quick and easy access to each musical number.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are an option. Dialogue is clear and distinct. Songs are pleasantly rendered, though Doris Day’s numbers sometimes overwhelm when they should be toned down in volume. Musical numbers are staged simply, without distracting cinematic embellishment, in keeping with the film’s homespun quality.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- So You Want a Television Set (10:04)
- So You Want to Learn to Dance (10:51)
- From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (7:09)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3:17)
So You Want a Television Set – In this 1953 short directed by Richard Bare Joe McDoakes (George O’Hanlon) is badgered by his wife to buy a TV set. Arguing that television is merely “radio with eye strain,” Joe nonetheless buys a set. Soon, the neighbors start inviting themselves in to watch, drinking Joe’s beer and eating his snacks. To escape the turmoil, Joe goes to the movies where the picture being shown is By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Joe finds himself sitting between Doris Day and Gordon MacRae.
So You Want to Learn to Dance – Joe McDoakes is invited by his boss to a fancy dance. He admits he doesn’t know how to dance and his boss gives him a lesson right in the office. At the dance, Joe is clumsy and makes many mistakes while dancing with his boss’ wife. Joe goes to a dancing school and, after a series of lessons, becomes a veritable Fred Astaire on the dance floor. Directed by Richard Bare, this 1953 short stars George O’Hanlon as Joe.
From A to Z-Z-Z-Z – In this 1954 Technicolor Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, schoolboy Ralph Phillips daydreams in class, the lessons inspiring his fantasy heroics, such as being a pony-express rider, a deep-sea diver, a boxing champ, and even Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Expressive line drawings in a scraggly style that reduces characters to mouths, eyes and little else are distinctive elements.
Period musicals were popular in the 1940s and 50s and include Meet Me in St. Louis, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Easter Parade, The Harvey Girls, and The Dolly Sisters. There was a second world war, men were away in the armed services, and there was a nostalgic longing for earlier, less-frenetic periods. These films portrayed a simpler time where problems revolved around personal relationships, family members supported one another, communities were close-knit, and a sense of optimism prevailed. By the Light of the Silvery Moon checks all of those boxes. It offers lighthearted entertainment and a spirited performance by Doris Day. Despite its flaws, It outgrossed its predecessor, On Moonlight Bay, by $520,000. By the Light of the Silvery Moon was the fifth and final picture Day and Gordon MacRae made together.
- Dennis Seuling