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Once Upon a Honeymoon

(1942 b 115')

En: 6 Ed: 5

An American gold-digger marries an Austrian Nazi; but as several countries fall, an American reporter alerts her and falls in love with her.

At Vienna in 1938 Katie (Ginger Rogers) calls her American mother she is marrying Baron Von Luber (Walter Slezak). Pat O'Toole (Cary Grant) calls Katie, saying he is from the American embassy; but the Baron calls Pat and knows he is a reporter. Pat tells Katie he is her fitter and measures her. When the fitter arrives, Pat asks her for a story. The Baron tells Katie that Hitler is here, and they must leave. Pat tries to steal a photo but sits on it. Katie and the Baron are married in Czechoslovakia, and the Baron is shot going to Poland. Katie bandages his arm. Officers find cash on Katie, who sees Pat on the train.

In Warsaw Pat tells Katie that vodka means water. They get tight, and he warns her about the Baron. On a plane General Borelski (Albert Bassermann) thanks Pat for telling him that the guns the Baron is selling him are no good. The Baron is to be arrested. General Borelski is murdered in a taxi. Pat broadcasts as the Nazis invade Poland. Tired from carrying a stretcher, Pat visits Katie, bathes, and sleeps. Katie helps Jewish Anna (Natasha Lytess) and her two daughters to escape with her passport. Pat and Katie find that his room was bombed. Pat asks Ed Cumberland (Harry Shannon) to report that Katie is dead, using a bracelet to persuade the Baron. Pat tells the Gestapo they are married, but they find her photo on Anna's papers. On their way to a concentration camp, the American ambassador saves them.

They go to Holland, Belgium, and France. Photographer Gaston Le Blanc (Albert Dekker) knows who Katie is and persuades her he is an American spying on the Germans. He asks her to find out from the Baron if Hitler is going to attack France. Pat brings Katie clothes and tells her he loves her. She reads the poem he wrote. The next day Pat learns that Katie left. Hitler takes Paris. Pat sees the Baron, who says that his wife came back. The Baron suspects her and asks Pat to broadcast to America. Pat says that Katie is an American, but the Baron says she is officially dead. Pat blames Gaston, who asks Pat to double-cross the Baron. Pat and the Baron plan his speech. Katie goes to Gaston, and he says she got the Nazi code. Gestapo kill Gaston and take her to the Baron. Katie is guarded; but the maid Anna helps her, and Katie escapes as the maid. On radio Pat praises the Baron as powerful but says he is married to a Jew. Pat boards a ship with Katie. On deck the Baron tells her they are divorced and that she will not talk. Katie tells Pat that she pushed the Baron overboard in self-defense. Pat takes his time telling the captain, and Katie says the Baron cannot swim.

The context of this comedy is the growing Nazi tyranny; but it manages to entertain unevenly while emphasizing how American values contrast with the current German Fascism.

Copyright © 2004 by Sanderson Beck

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