Under the Cherry Moon

Gigolos Christopher Tracy and his friend Tricky, originally from Miami, reside on the French Riviera. Christopher works as a piano player at the Venus de Milo nightclub in Nice and, along with Tricky, spends his days identifying rich women to target in order to gain large amounts of money via marriage. Christopher is in an informal relationship with wealthy divorcee Mrs. Wellington, while Tricky is romantically involved with their landlady, Katy, who is threatening to evict them unless they pay two months of back rent. One day, while reading the front page of the local newspaper, Tricky notices that heiress Mary Sharon is approaching her 21st birthday and will thus inherit a $50 million trust fund established by her father Isaac, a shipping magnate. Deciding that Mary will make a suitable target, they both gatecrash the party, held at the Sharon Estate. Christopher attracts Mary's attention, but quickly learns that her father has arranged for her to be engaged to Jonathan Donahue, an employee of his, to consolidate the fortunes of two powerful families. Despite his and Tricky's multiple attempts to win her affections, Mary rejects Christopher and summons bouncers to eject both of them. She visits Christopher the following day at the Venus de Milo and delivers a message from Mrs. Wellington to visit her house later that evening. Upon his arrival, he realizes that the arrangement is a setup, as Mrs. Wellington is having an affair with Isaac. At an exclusive restaurant, both Christopher and Tricky mock Mary's privileged upbringing and lack of street sensibility. Christopher performs "Girls & Boys", but Isaac, alerted to Mary's presence by a maître d', interrupts the song, takes her home and orders his associates, including his bodyguard Lou, to do background checks on the duo. Humiliated at her father's overbearing control over her life, Mary vows to become her own woman. Both Christopher and Tricky start to genuinely fall in love with Mary, but realize that if they continue to pursue her, her father, who has been tracing them, will punish them severely. They attempt to sneak into Mary's bedroom late one night, but accidentally disturb her mother Muriel instead before escaping. After Christopher courts Mary at a nearby racecourse, Tricky becomes intoxicated at a bar and drunkenly reveals to her the scam that he and Christopher had planned. Upset, she confronts Muriel about the hypocrisy of her upbringing, and they immediately decide to visit Jonathan in New York City. Mrs. Wellington hands Christopher a $100,000 check from Isaac, explaining that the money will be his if he agrees to permanently distance himself from Mary; incensed, Christopher declines, writes a classic obscenity on it, returns it and almost departs when she informs him that Mary and Muriel are departing at midnight on the family's private plane. He reconciles with Mary at the airport after they passionately argue with each other. At a harbor, Tricky volunteers to be Christopher's best man once Christopher and Mary have arranged their wedding. Sometime later, investigators inform Isaac that they have located Christopher's car which had been parked near the harbor. Meanwhile, Mary awakens at a nearby grotto and notices a heartfelt poem composed by Christopher that she proceeds to read aloud, which notes that nothing, not even death, would ever separate her from him and his undying devotion, while Tricky warns Christopher that Isaac is scouring the premises. Fully cognizant of their romantic affair, Isaac orders the Chief of Police and the harbor patrol to immediately locate the couple. Mary hurriedly implores Christopher to escape, but he declines, after which a marksman fatally wounds him. As a distraught Tricky falls to his knees, Christopher blissfully passes away in her arms, and when Isaac arrives, she defiantly insists on accompanying Christopher on the patrol boat. Sometime later, Tricky now manages his own luxury apartment complex with Katy in Miami, which Mary, now his investor, has purchased on his behalf. She announces in a letter delivered to him by Katy that she will visit in a few months' time to check on the status of their investment, but is progressing past her experiences with Christopher, vowing never to forget him for as long as she is alive. ==Cast==