Under The Cherry Moon

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Under the Cherry Moon is a 1986 movie directed by and starring Prince and Time member Jerome Benton as gigolos who swindle beautiful French women. The situation gets complicated when Christopher Tracy (Prince) falls in love with Mary (Kristin Scott Thomas). Mary's father (Steven Berkoff) also disapproves of the romance and provides an excellent adversary for Tracy.

The movie was released in black-and-white and was filmed on location in Nice, France, partly to ensure that there was good weather for filming and also to ensure that Prince was free of American film unions. The movie attempts to combine different styles and themes, including a musical, romantic comedy and drama. The film's soundtrack features the hit single "Kiss".

At the time of its release in 1986, many critics were expecting, in one form or another, a direct sequel to Purple Rain. However, barring a performance of "Girls & Boys" by Prince in a French restaurant, most of the soundtrack remains as background music, thus shaving much commercial potential off the film. The majority of critics were unimpressed, citing Prince as a self-indulgent egomaniac, although there was praise for the film's cinematography. The film was originally slated to be directed by Mary Lambert, the director behind some of Madonna's most famous music videos, but after disagreements about the film's direction, she was made a creative consultant instead. Much of her input was disregarded and numerous drafts of the screenplay exist to show the revisions the story went through.

The cast was also changed during pre-production. Isaac Sharon (Mary's father) was originally slated to be played by Terrance Stamp, although he didn't like the direction the film was going and eventually quit, replaced by Steven Berkoff. Susannah Melvoin (twin sister of Revolution guitarist Wendy, and Prince's then-girlfriend) was to play the part of Mary Sharon, but quit before filming started as she and Prince were nearing the end of their relationship. Emmanuelle Sallet who played Katie in the final version was originally included in a much smaller role, but had her part expanded after she met with Prince over dinner. Allegedly, the part of Mary's mother was also much larger, but was cut down in the final draft of the screenplay.

Filmed with a budget of about $12 million, Under the Cherry Moon failed to gain any breakout audience, despite much pre-publicity (including a special MTV premiere in Sheridan, Wyoming). It only just managed to make back $10 million in worldwide ticket receipts, and current figures (if VHS/DVD rentals and sales are included) stand at about $12.5 million. It was this commercial failure that saw the beginnings of Warner Brothers’ long-running feud with Prince.

Under The Cherry Moon

See also