The Moon-Spinners (PG)
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This came out in 1964, but I didn't see it until 2021. It's based on a suspense novel I've never read. I could have put the movie into various categories that I wouldn't have been quite comfortable with, like "classics" or "mystery" or "neo-noir" or "adventure" or "thriller". I chose "crime films" because it's just the category I'm least uncomfortable with.

Hayley Mills plays a British teenager named Nikky Ferris, who travels to Crete with her aunt Frances. They meet a young British man named Mark Camford, with whom they immediately become friends, as they're staying at the same hotel. At first the woman who runs the hotel, Sophia, doesn't want to rent Frances and Nikky a room, but her son Alexis convinces her. But there are some suspicious people around, most notably Sophia's brother, Stratos, who had spent some time in England before returning to Crete. Anyway, the three Brits enjoy a wedding party that's going on the night the Ferrises arrive, and Mark makes plans to go swimming with Nikky the next day. But that night, he follows Stratos out to a cove, and ends up getting shot in the shoulder.

The next morning, Nikky is surprised when Sophia tells her that Mark had left for another town that morning. She goes out looking for him anyway, and eventually finds him in an old church. She wants to know what's going on, and wants to get him to a hospital, and to call the police, but he wants none of that. And, um... stuff happens, and eventually Stratos catches Nikky and locks her in a windmill or whatever. But she's eventually freed by Alexis and Mark. She and Mark go on the run together, to hide from Stratos, and Mark finally explains the whole situation to her. It involves stolen jewels, but I don't want to get into specifics. Nor do I want to explain any more of the plot, but there is a happy ending.

Well. I don't really know quite what to say. There are parts of the movie I found funny, and I wasn't always sure if it was meant to be or not. Some parts must have been, I think. It gets pretty absurd at times. But it does also have its seriously frightening aspects. On the whole, I'd say I just barely liked the movie, and it doesn't seem like something I'll find particularly memorable. But I'm glad to have seen it.