Dangerous honeymoon

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Movie
German title Dangerous honeymoon
Original title Above Suspicion
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 91 minutes
Rod
Director Richard Thorpe
script Melville Baker ,
Patricia Coleman ,
Keith Winter
production Victor Saville for MGM
music Bronislau caper
camera Robert H. Planck
cut George Hively
occupation

Dangerous Honeymoon (OT: Above Suspicion ) is an American spy film with Joan Crawford as an American agent in British service in the fight against the Germans, directed by Richard Thorpe . With the film, the actress ended her 18-year studio contract with MGM .

action

Richard Myles, a world-famous scholar, and his attractive wife Frances are recruited as spies by the English secret service. During their honeymoon through Germany and Austria, they are supposed to find out top-secret information about troop movements and new branches of arms. On their adventures, the two of them are repeatedly caught and tortured by the Germans, are able to escape, lose sight of each other and in the end, with the help of the collaborator Count Hassert Seidel, manage to outsmart the most dangerous counter-spy, Count von Aschenhausen. The Myles couple managed to flee across the border to freedom at the last minute to hand over the secrets that were decisive for the war to the Allies.

background

Joan Crawford's career had been in a permanent crisis since the mid-1930s. Her studio still used her in Cinderella stories and failed to develop Crawford's acting potential. Too often her wardrobe got better reviews than she did and it wasn't until 1939 that she made the leap to character roles with her appearance in a relatively small role in The Women under the direction of George Cukor . Despite some successes, such as in The Woman with the Scar , the end of her studio contract with MGM was in sight.

Louis B. Mayer's lack of confidence in the actress was reflected in the quality of the scripts offered. Instead of prestigious films like Madame Curie or Found Years , both of which went to Greer Garson , Crawford had Reunion in France , which presented the actress as a sophisticated lady of better society who gave up ownership and position in France out of love for an attractive American pilot to fight against the German occupiers. After the film's financial and artistic failure, it was clear to everyone involved that Crawford's time at MGM was over. Dangerous Honeymoon was the last film under her current contract and showed the actress again fighting for freedom and against the Axis powers. Despite Crawford's departure, the production values ​​were still expensive and with Fred MacMurray one of the top male stars of the war years stood by her side. The supporting roles were top-class. Conrad Veidt , who appeared in The Woman with the Scar as the devilish opponent of Joan Crawford, had a far more sympathetic role here. The actor died shortly after the shooting ended. The movie is based on the first time in 1941 published novel Above Suspicion of Helen MacInnes .

Immediately after finishing the work, Joan Crawford signed a contract with Warner Brothers for three films. She officially ended her service with Metro-Goldwyn Mayer on June 30, 1943 and made a comeback in 1945 with her portrayal of Mildred Pierce in Solange a Heart Beats , which earned her the Oscar for Best Actress .

Crawford was well aware of the poor quality of production. In an interview with Roy Newquist, she said about this adventure:

“There was no price for that ... but I have to say that Fred MacMurray and I tried to make this spying nonsense believable. I was just not the right type for the war melodramas they were doing back then and if the script was bad, then I was worse. "

criticism

The critics were mixed.

TS quirkily said in the New York Times :

"After a number of challenging roles, Joan Crawford is a very convincing heroine."

Howard Barnes in the New York Herald Tribune wasn't particularly impressed either:

“There are so many spies on Dangerous Honeymoon that it's hard to keep track of them. The plot presents so many botanical, musical and encrypted ciphertexts that the whole story becomes a kind of super treasure hunt. [..] Unfortunately, neither Joan Crawford nor Fred MacMurray seem intelligent enough to unravel the intricate storylines. "

literature

  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Shaun Considine: Bette and Joan. The Divine Feud . Dutton, New York 1989, ISBN 0-525-24770-X .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Bob Thomas: Joan Crawford. A biography . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1978, ISBN 0-297-77617-7 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ No prize this one ... but I must say that both Fred MacMurray and I tried to make the spy nonsense plausible. I really wasn't suited to the wartime melodramas they were turning out, and if a script was bad I was worse.
  2. ^ Joan Crawford, after a couple of pretentious roles, is a very convincing heroine.
  3. ↑ There are so many spies in Above Suspicion that it is hard to keep track of them. There are so many floral, musical, and cryptographical passwords in the film's plot that the whole show becomes a sort of super treasure hunt. [...] Unfortunately, neither Joan Crawford nor Fred MacMurray look quite bright enough to unravel the tangled skeins of this screen melodrama.