Once upon a time there was a honeymoon
There were once honeymoon (original title: Once Upon a Honeymoon ) is an American movie from the year 1942. Directed by Leo McCarey and written by Sheridan Gibney . The main roles were played by Cary Grant , Ginger Rogers and Walter Slezak .
action
Vienna 1938. The former burlesque dancer Kathie O'Hara, who appears as Katherine Butt-Smith, is about to fulfill a dream: She will marry the Austrian Baron Franz von Luber. The journalist Patrick 'Pat' O'Toole tries to get hold of von Luber through her in order to expose him as a helper of Hitler. To do this, he initially pretends to be a member of the US embassy by telephone and later as a tailor. Although his efforts are of little help, he gets closer to Kathie and tries to open her eyes to the baron. He follows Kathie and von Luber via Czechoslovakia (where Kathie and von Luber are married) to Poland, leaving the respective countries shortly after the Nazis invaded. In Poland, Kathie meets the young German embassy attaché von Kleinoch, who is sacrificed shortly afterwards in order to murder the Polish general Borelski, who wants to bring von Luber to prison. Von Luber is arrested anyway, but nothing can be proven without Borelski. After Germany invaded shortly afterwards, she helped the maid Anna, a Jew who had fled Germany with her two children, to escape. To do this, she forges her own ID to enable Anna to leave the country as Katherine Butt-Smith. Shortly before von Luber comes back from prison, Kathie leaves the hotel with Pat and, with the help of a colleague from Pat, declares herself dead. A little later, Kathie and Pat are picked up by a German military patrol in a bombed-out house. You can't identify yourself (Pat lost his papers in bombing raids). Kathie still has Anna's ID with her. Therefore, the two are interned as Jews, but shortly afterwards handed over to the American consul.
Kathie and Pat follow from Luber via Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium to France, each country being conquered by the Nazis. In Paris they are sent to the photographer Gaston Le Blanc. Pat quickly finishes his pictures and goes shopping. Le Blanc identifies herself to Kathie as an American spy in France and obliges her to serve the fatherland. She should go back to von Luber and find out what Hitler is planning about the United States. In the evening, Pat proposes to Kathie, but receives no answer, but it becomes clear that Kathie wants to marry him. The next morning Kathie disappeared. Now Paris is also conquered by the German Empire. Pat von Luber in a German uniform meets in a street café. He tells him that his wife, who was believed to be dead, suddenly returned to him and is now very curious. With a hint of Kathie's safety, he asks Pat if he wouldn't like to be Germany's voice in America. Kathie brings her first results to Le Blanc. He can pass this on, but is then shot by the German counterintelligence. Kathie is arrested and brought back to von Luber. Since von Luber fails to find out what she has passed on, he puts her under guard so that she can be handed over to the Gestapo . In the meantime, he and other high-ranking Nazis want to hear Pats' first broadcast. With the help of Anna, who suddenly appears, Kathie is able to escape. Pat keeps his show as planned, but sabotages Luber's reputation by suggesting that von Luber is now very high in the Nazi hierarchy and will sweep away all who are above him in the near future. When Kathie arrives at his place, he also mentions that she is a Jew from Luber's wife.
Kathie and Pat travel back to the United States by ship. Kathie takes a walk on deck alone and meets von Luber. He tells her that he was able to talk his way out of the Fiihrer and that he is now divorced and on a goodwill mission to the United States. She replies that she will stop him. He then attacks her, but she defends herself and von Luber goes overboard. Kathie is in shock and therefore takes a little longer to meet Pat and explain the matter to him. After further complications, the message reaches the captain, who has the ship turned. He said that if von Luber was a good swimmer, he would still have a chance of survival. When Kathie says he's not a swimmer, the captain turns the ship around again.
background
production
Once Upon A Honeymoon was Leo McCarey's first production for RKO Pictures . The shooting ran from June 8 to August 21, 1942; there was a re-shoot from September 2 to 29, 1942, possibly for insurance reasons.
occupation
For Walter Slezak there was once a honeymoon was the first film that he made more than ten years after emigrating to the USA. The film was also the first time Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers worked together . Although the two were certified as having good chemistry, there was only one other film with the two, namely, Darling, I'm getting younger . However, the two could not agree on who was to play the main role in Once Upon a Honeymoon . As a result, one half of the copies named Rogers and the other half named Grant. All in all, 1942 was an eventful year for Cary Grant. His naturalization in the United States and his efforts to do military service fell this year . He also married Barbara Hutton on July 8th. The honeymoon was canceled because he had to go to the filming of Once Upon a Honeymoon the next day . Initially, George Sanders was also named as an actor. But that soon changed, and he doesn't appear in the film.
World premieres
Once Upon a Honeymoon , it had its world premiere on November 2, 1942 in Hollywood. The official US theatrical release was on November 27, 1942. The German-language version had its world premiere on August 31, 1974 on WDR ; the premiere was on July 7, 1994.
The film was released on DVD on March 22, 2009.
The film was distributed by RKO Pictures .
reception
criticism
Bosley Crowther begins his criticism by saying that Leo McCarey is a "brilliant director", but then mercilessly puts down his contribution as producer, director and co-writer of the script. He calls it a “fatal mistake” to mix “a romantic comedy with a subject that is fundamentally tragic and far from being frivolous”. He also calls the film (or scenes from it) tasteless, callous and extremely offensive. In contrast, he praises the acting. As usual, he attests to Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, whom he admires, as performing well. He calls Walter Slezak's portrayal "extremely impressive". He also thinks the performances in the supporting roles are good, with particular emphasis on Natasha Lytess.
In the also contemporary criticism in Variety it is criticized that the film is heavy on dialogue and uses too many scenes in "secondary sequences". Otherwise the film could keep the tension going until the end. The cast, especially Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, is excellent.
Craig Butler sees two sides to the film. Nobody would describe it as particularly successful, but it has some good aspects, especially the chemistry between Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers and Walter Slezak's performance, which inspire admiration. But there are also good reasons not to like the film, such as the erratic character of the director and the way the script tries to mix screwball comedy , romance and agent thriller and fails completely. The film also has really tasteless scenes. Still, it was worth looking at, if only to see what McCarey and his team wanted to achieve and how badly they had failed. Dennis Schwartz saw an interesting and curious tragic comedy. David Kehr writes of an "amazing attempt to bring screwball comedy and war propaganda together - even more amazing because by and large it works."
The lexicon of international films means that the film vacillates "indecisively between comedy, melodrama and drama" and finds "no unity". He was "still of interest as an example for film propaganda".
Grossing results
Once Upon A Honeymoon , it grossed approximately $ 2.6 million in US and Canadian cinemas in 1942, making it the most successful RKO Pictures film that year. In total, the film brought in $ 5.2 million there.
Awards
At the 1943 Academy Awards , Stephen Dunn was nominated for Best Sound , but lost to Nathan Levinson ( Yankee Doodle Dandy ) .
aftermath
On April 12, 1943, the Lux Radio Theater broadcast a radio play version with Claudette Colbert , Brian Aherne , Laird Cregar and Albert Dekker .
Web links
- There were once honeymoon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Once Upon a Honeymoon - Internet Archive
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Once Upon a Honeymoon. In: The American Film Institute. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ A b Jeremy Arnold: Once Upon a Honeymoon. In: TCM. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Release Info. In: IMDb. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Once Upon a Honeymoon . In: Variety . November 1942, November 4, 1942, pp. 8 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 12, 2017]).
- ↑ a b Once upon a time there was a honeymoon. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Once Upon a Honeymoon. In: Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Bosley Crowther: 'Once Upon Honeymoon,' With Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Opens at Music Hall - 'Seven Sweethearts' at the Capitol . In: The New York Times . November 13, 1942 (English, online [accessed February 12, 2017]).
- ↑ Craig Butler: Once Upon a Honeymoon (1947). In: AllMovie. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Dennis Schwartz: Once Upon a Honeymoon. In: Ozus' World. April 7, 2010, accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ Dave Kehr: Once Upon a Honeymoon. In: ChicagoReader.com. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ^ The Golden List That Passed $ 1,000,000 Marks . In: Variety . January 1943, January 6, 1943, pp. 58 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed February 12, 2017]).
- ↑ Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942). In: The Numbers. Accessed February 12, 2017 .
- ↑ lux radio theater (391) once upon a honeymoon. In: Old Time Radio Downloads. Accessed February 12, 2017 .