Tonight's Movie: Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Ginger Rogers film ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN (1935) and how much I'm enjoying catching up with more of her films thanks to the Warner Archive Collection.

As promised at the end of that review, I've now watched Ginger with Cary Grant in ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (1942), also available from the Warner Archive. It was originally made available by the Warner Archive in March 2009, and it continues to be easily available over a dozen years later thanks to being MOD (manufactured on demand).

According to the records I've kept since I was young, I saw ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON on TV once, circa 1978. Despite starring two favorites, I honestly have no memory of anything that was in this film; its 117-minute running time was doubtless cut up to fit into a two-hour time slot, so I probably saw a lot less of the film back then than I did this weekend! I believe it was probably shown on Los Angeles station KHJ Ch. 9, which had films from the RKO library. KHJ, incidentally, is today known as KCAL.

ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON is a somewhat strange yet also entertaining amalgamation of romantic comedy, drama, and suspense. It has echoes of of earlier World War II films ranging from FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940) to TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942) to THE WIFE TAKES A FLYER (1942), while foreshadowing later films such as ABOVE SUSPICION (1943) and Grant's own NOTORIOUS (1946). A punch line near movie's end is straight out of the superb anti-Nazi film THE MAN I MARRIED (1940).

Rogers plays former U.S. burlesque performer Katie O'Hara, who now lives in Europe, where she pretends to be a Philadelphia socialite, Katherine Butt-Smith (pronounced "Bute-Smith," mind you!).

Katie, who grew up poor, is engaged to a wealthy Austrian baron (Walter Slezak). She clearly has no personal feelings for the baron but is overjoyed at the prospect of the material comforts he can provide. Katie's background and motivation for the marriage are underscored when she makes a phone call to her mother (Dorothy Vaughan), who is doing washing in what appears to be a tenement apartment.

Political reporter and commentator Patrick O'Toole (Grant) and his editor (Harry Shannon) think there's something odd about the baron, whose visits to various major European cities always precede their fall to the Nazis. And when he meets Katie, Patrick recognizes her from her burlesque days, making him even more intrigued with the couple.

Patrick follows Katie and her new husband around Europe as she gradually realizes her husband is indeed a very bad man while also falling in love with Patrick. Patrick and his editor come up with a plan for Katie to escape from her husband, but it has its harrowing moments, including a brief time for both Patrick and Katie in a concentration camp.

It seems that happily ever after is in sight for the couple when a double agent (Albert Dekker) asks Katie to go back to her husband for the sake of her country...

To say that this film, directed by Leo McCarey, is uneven is an understatement. It lurches from high comedy -- Grant masquerading as a tailor taking Rogers' measurements -- to anguished drama, as Patrick and Katie listen to a mournfuul Jewish song in a concentration camp. McCarey doesn't have quite the deft hand Lubitsch displayed with difficult material in TO BE OR NOT TO BE, making these transitions more of a jolt.

Added to that, the film's pace is far too desultory, tacking on another hour after Grant and Rogers' heartfelt romantic declarations. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney, based on a story by Gibney and director McCarey, would have benefited by tightening things up and shedding ten minutes or so from the running time.

And yet...it's still a worthwhile film, sometimes because of its flaws rather than despite them. As someone interested in WWII films, I found it notable both in terms of what the film conveys -- it's pretty blunt about the dangers Nazis posed to Jews -- and in how it fits in in terms of other films released during that era. I think it's possible this film may play a little better today, in retrospect, than it did when first released during the war.

Grant and Rogers are both at their most appealing in this, which is a big plus, and they're beautifully filmed in black and white by George Barnes. Rogers' beautiful wardrobe, which can be seen in more detail in a post at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies, was designed by "Miss Leslie," a new name to me.

Dekker has never been a particularly liked actor for me, so he was a nice surprise as a man with hidden linguistic talents; he brings a good jolt of energy to the film midway through.

The cast also includes Albert Basserman, Ferike Boros, John Banner, Hans Conreid, Steven Geray, and Natasha Lytess.

The Warner Archive originally released this film with one of their early "blue" covers, which was later replaced with a more attractive poster design, seen at the top of this review.

Typical of the earliest WAC releases, there are some scratches and vertical lines in the print, which are especially noticeable early on and at one particular reel change midway through the film. However, there are no distracting skips or jumps, and the sound quality is good.

There are no extras on the disc.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive DVDs may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection Amazon Store or from any online retailers where DVDs are sold.

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