jacobs-greenwood
Writer Sheridan Gibney (with Pierre Collings) won two Oscars for the The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), so it's surprising how glibly he - and producer-director Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth (1936))- handled this 'comedy' set against the backdrop of the Nazis' takeover of Europe. It isn't as if there weren't worthy war time comedies being made at that time: The Great Dictator (1940) and To Be or Not to Be (1942) are just two examples. However, Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) is poorly done, not funny, and downright tasteless even though its director and cast - which includes Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Walter Slezak - were comedy veterans.Grant plays Patrick 'Pat' O'Toole, an American radio correspondent who's in Europe to report on Hitler Germany's takeover of country after country. Rogers plays a former American stripper Kathie O'Hara who's now a gold-digger that's just landed Baron Von Luber (Slezak) when she meets Grant's character. Patrick warns Kathie what she's gotten into and then follows Kathie to protect her. The two fall for one another and she eventually comes to realize her husband's role in Hitler's carnage. Rogers's character is then given a redemptive scene in which she facilitates freedom for her Jewish maid and two children.Albert Dekker plays an American, undercover as a French photographer, that convinces Kathie to return to her husband in order to undermine the Fuhrer's plans. This extends the 'drama' just as she and Patrick are about to escape the continent together. Albert Bassermann and Hans Conried (uncredited) also appear.From Rogers's awful accents and Grant's silly drunkenness, the comedy elements fall short. The scene with Rogers and Dekker imitating stereotypical American themes is the worst. There is but a single scene in which the seriousness of what is happening is conveyed: when Kathie and Patrick are mistaken for Jews and imprisoned, a plaintive wailing song is heard for an extended period before they are rescued by their ambassador. Otherwise, there are assassinations, bombings, executions and even an off-camera murder by one of the principals that should have been handled more deftly.As bad as this one is, it's thankfully forgettable; I actually watched it 9 years ago, which I didn't realize until I was recording it in my movielog.
SimonJack
"Once Upon a Honeymoon" is a very late entry into a late Hollywood offering of anti-Nazi films. It came out in November 1942. That was nearly a year after the U.S. entered World War II, and more than three years after the war had started in Europe. England and France declared war on Germany after it invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. This film gets by with its late "exposé" of Nazi tyranny by its nature as a combination adventure, comedy, drama and war film. It's more the first three intertwined in the early war events of 1939 and 1940. Thus, the plot takes us through the chronological conquests of Germany. From Austria it moves to Czechoslovakia, then to Poland, then Norway, then Holland, then Belgium, and then to France. This happens in choppy segments interspersed with war documentary film in the background. The story is a far-fetched one, about an American gold-digger, Ginger Rogers who plays Katie O'Hara under an assumed name of Katherine Butt-Smith, in order to marry an Austrian baron. Walter Slezak is Baron Franz Von Luber, who pretends to be an anti-Nazi but is in reality a shill for Hitler. He just happens to be in each country trying to promote peace when the country falls to Germany. Katherine seems naïve at first and could care less. But, once the Allies declare war on Germany, she comes around. Cary Grant is a newsman, reporter and broadcaster, Pat O'Toole, who is sent to try to expose the Baron. He uses shenanigans to get to see Miss Butt-Smith to get a story on their marriage. She insists that her last name is pronounced "Butte-Smith," and that becomes a repeated source of humor. The obvious happens when Katie and Pat fall for each other, she finds out that Franz is a Nazi bigwig, and the war leads them in different directions. The comedy is the best part of this film. That and the acting are strong enough to overcome an otherwise slipshod production and plot. Grant's character does some very funny stuff at the expense of the Baron and the Nazis. And he and Rogers have some wonderful repartee. All three main actors and a fine supporting cast give good performances. Grant and Rogers click nicely here. Slezak is particularly good in a role in which he seems to be amused by Grant and Rogers throughout. One of the funniest scenes in any film has Pat faking the person of a dresser. He shows up to take Katie's measurements for her new wardrobe. As he measures her with a metal tape measure, he pries her about her forthcoming marriage, in his French-accented English. This is a hilarious scene that probably took a few takes without either actor breaking into laughter. Another riotously funny scene happens when Pat alters his broadcast to build up the Baron in the Nazi hierarchy. I laughed long and hard and chuckle over that even now, as I write this. The film might be a history refresher for some about the early years of WWII, but it's value lies mostly in the humor and fine performances of a very good cast. It isn't a satire, coming as late as it was during the war. And, one wonders today, how American audiences responded to the humor then, when sons, brothers, husbands and fathers were being killed in war. The Brits, French and other Europeans had a few years of the war and treachery under their belts by November 1942, so the humor might likely have been welcomed by them for some relief.Here are some samples of funny dialog. Pat O'Toole, "You mean eliminate her? Put quick lime in her bath salts? A bomb in her boudoir?" Baron, "Mr. O'Toole, I want you to broadcast to America. Not only will you be extremely well paid, but you will be known as the voice of Europe. You will be famous. You'll probably turn out to be an authority on international affairs, and you might even write a book called "Inside" something."Pat, "I'd like to know what man was ever hero enough to say, 'I have but one wife to give to my country.' I'd like to know that."Elsa, the maid (played by Ferike Boros), to Pat, "Oh, you schvindler."Pat, "I don't mind doing the broadcasting, but I'll never forgive you for making a spy out of O'Hara. Boy! I've heard everything. Mata O'Hara. Mata O'Hara. She couldn't spy her way through a knothole."Gaston Le Blanc (played by Albert Dekker), "So now I'm a spy for Uncle Sam, posing as a Frenchman, being paid by the Germans and the comedy of it is, no income tax."Pat, "Beautiful, isn't she, Elsa?" Elsa, "Yes, she is. And you are beautiful too."Pat, rehearsing his broadcast for the Germans, "Hitler has nothing but admiration for America. Toward the nations of the New World, his friendship knows no bounds." Baron, "Huh uh. Huh uh." Other Nazi officers, "Nein! Nein!" Baron, "No use of bounds, boundaries." O'Toole, "Oh, I see. His friendship will stop at nothing." The Nazi officers go berserk. Baron, "No, you can't say that."
PWNYCNY
This movie is interesting more as a historical piece than as a source of entertainment. This movie makes repeated references to the Nazis and Adolf Hitler. The story itself is trite and banal and Cary Grant's attempts at comedy fall flat. However, these drawbacks are negated by the presence of Ginger Rogers who is absolutely stunning, even in black and white. She is HOT. No way that that Cary Grant was going to upstage her; he definitely plays second-banana to Ms. Rogers. Trying to imagine how an audience may have received this movie when it was released in 1942, for twenty-five cents, which was how much it cost to go to a movie in those now practically ancient days, the audience certainly got their money's worth. After all, the world was at war, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo were running amok, victory was uncertain, but when seated inside a nice, comfortable movie theater watching Cary Grant coming on to Ginger Rogers, it must have offered at least a welcomed respite from the anxiety associated with the war, which is what entertainment is all about. Today there are many beautiful actresses, and some of them can even act, but Ginger Rogers set the standard and she's still number one.
