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BONUS REVIEW
ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON
1942
Okay! Now this is one you’ve just got to love. It's a story
about a girl who marries for money, but actually finds real
love while on her honeymoon. Not with her new husband but
is that really so important? The year after winning her Oscar
for Kitty Foyle, Ginger made Once Upon A Honeymoon,
playing opposite the gorgeous Cary Grant. (SWOOOON) This film
takes place during the time that Adolph Hitler was in power
in Germany, and the love affair between these two characters
is highlighted by a sub-plot involving spies, agents, and
a Nazi plot gone awry. The film is superbly funny with a lot
of well-written dialogue. A quick-witted treat! 
Ginger plays, Beautte Smith a former burlesque dancer with
a fake accent, who has managed to win the lusty heart of an
overweight Austrian Baron. He wants to marry her for booty,
and she wants to marry him for the booty. So it’s fair. Different
definitions, same end. (ahem) As she is preparing to leave
on her honeymoon, a radio correspondent disguised as a tailor
enters her life (this is Cary), and their love/hate relationship
sustains the film from that point on. He wants the scoop,
and she wants the bucks. In the end, they will both want out
of Germany and into each other’s arms. 
I won’t go into a lot of details on this review, but there
are a couple of really priceless scenes. Cary Grant’s character
is disguised as a tailor trying to measure Ginger for her
Honeymoon wardrobe. He is using a hardware tape measure, and
the innuendo is great. Cary and Ginger getting drunk
on Vodka while trying to keep secrets and get secrets. Ginger
telling the Baron how many husbands she has had before to
avoid the Honeymoon night as the train rushes along. Ginger
and Cary talking Scat Jive to prove they are Americans. 
Just to name a few.
I first saw this film as a kid and most of the subtle stuff
escaped me at the time; when I re-watched it as an adult, I enjoyed it
that much more. It is perhaps not the best depiction of the time, or
the most accurate war film, but works as a Romantic Comedy. It rocks! On VHS only
Copyright 2004 At The Balmar
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