Although she would soon be leaving Disney Studios Hayley Mills at the age of 18 got a chance at a semi-adult role with a semi-adult romance with young Peter McEnery in The Moon-Spinners. The film is worth a look if for no other reason than the great location cinematography on the Island of Crete.
Mills and her aunt Joan Greenwood are on holiday in Crete and they arrive at the small inn that they were supposed to be staying and the owner, Irene Papas is decidedly cool and has to be forced to provide Mills and Greenwood with accommodations. Eli Wallach who is Papas's brother is most unfriendly wishing they would leave post haste.
Wallach has reason for wanting them out, he's planning to sell some stolen jewels to Pola Negri who's collected a lot of such loot with six husbands along the way. But Peter McEnery has different ideas. He's got his own plans for the jewels.
McEnery and Mills make a fine attractive young couple and Eli Wallach as the villain is at his best. When is he ever not. And the chance to see three legends of varying degree as Irene Papas, Joan Greenwood, and silent star Pola Negri in a comeback role is not to be missed.
The Moon-Spinners plays a like a Nancy Drew mystery and I wonder why Disney never cast Hayley Mills as the teen sleuth. She would have been perfect in the role. Kids and adults will enjoy this film from the Magic Kingdom.
