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| Once Upon A Honeymoon - 1942 |
Our next film is 1942's "Once Upon A Honeymoon", a tale about a young American woman who has married a high-powered Nazi agent and friend of Hitler. Along for the ride is an American reporter who is anxious to help this lady out of her predicament, about which she is entirely ignorant.
The film's cast includes Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Walter Slezak, Albert Dekker, Albert Bassermann, Ferike Boros, John Banner, and Hans Conried.
Former American burlesque dancer Katie O'Hara is about to get married and become what she's always dreamed: a rich baroness.
For reasons she can't understand, a reporter named Pat O'Toole gains entry to her apartment and masquerades as a tailor's fitter. Pat knows some information that Katie doesn't. Her intended husband is a Nazi. However, before he can warn her, he is ran off by her fiancé.
Baron Franz von Luber is a very persuasive fellow. He's moved up the wedding and is going to marry Katie that very night so that they can be off to Czechoslovakia.
Pat O'Toole follows her to Czechoslovakia and also to Poland. Katie doesn't seem to understand that every place they visit eventually falls into Nazi hands. Eventually, Pat is able to make her see the truth, and Katie decides to leave her husband and try to get to America.
She does everything she can to help the Resistance effort, though. She gives her maid her own passport so she can travel freely without having to confess that she is a Jew. Katie also works with an American spy who convinces her to return to her husband so that she can spy on him for America.
Before she returns to her husband, Katie meets up with Pat in Paris. The two have developed feelings, and they let themselves indulge in them.
When she does meet up with her husband, he knows that she's on to him. He also tells her that he's headed for America. Katie knows that this will mean a Nazi invasion. She isn't happy about it. "And now you’re headed for my country. Well, you may be at peace with them but you got trouble with
me. I’ll pin your ears back!" she exclaims.
When the Baron is otherwise engaged, Katie and Pat sneak away and board a ship bound for America. Later on board the ship, Katie runs into her husband. And now she's forced to make a choice that could have serious repercussions for the war effort.
And explaining her choice to the captain of the boat and Pat is something that produces a somewhat mixed reaction.
Cast rundown:
Cary Grant................................Pat O'Toole
Ginger Rogers...........................Baroness Katherine von Luber
Walter Slezak............................Baron Franz von Luber
Albert Dekker............................Gaston Le Blanc
Albert Bassermann.....................Gen. Borelski
Ferike Boros..............................Elsa
John Banner...............................Capt. Von Kleinoch
Hans Conried.............................Schneider
And that's it for Once Upon A Honeymoon. Cary Grant didn't want to do this film, as he felt the screenplay was inferior. He agreed to participate, however, because he had been accused of dodging the draft in both Britain and America, and this helped to rehabilitate his image. This movie marks the American film debut of Walter Slezak.
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