ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (1942)

Five years after making one of my favorite movies of all time (THE AWFUL TRUTH), Leo McCarey and Cary Grant team up once again to make this wildly uneven and depressing romantic comedy/spy caper set in pre-World War II Europe.  Radio broadcaster Grant is working on a hot story about a Austrian Baron (and his gold digging American wife Ginger Rogers) who's going around Europe and wherever they go, soon falls to the Nazis.  Sounds hilarious!  Anyway, Grant falls for Ginger Rogers (who is somehow too stupid to realize that her husband is a top ranked Nazi!) and naturally she falls in love with him.  Trouble is she's married to one of Hitler's most loyal henchmen.  All kinds of funny stuff happens like assassination attempts, a successful assassination, city's getting bombed, a man turning his wife over to the Nazis, Jews fleeing, children crying, a guy drowning and Grant and Rogers getting thrown into a prison camp for Jews.  It's a feel good laugh riot!

I'm sure there's fans of this movie, but I found ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON painful to get through.  The pace was slow, the story was all over the place, Ginger Rogers acting was terrible, hell even Grant's wasn't anything to brag about and the patriotism!  Oh my god!  At one point Rogers and another actor actually raised their right hand and recited the Pledge of Allegiance!!!  If that's not enough to turn you away then go for it.  Maybe you'll like it.  As for me, I hope I never see this propaganda misfire ever again.

LOVE AFFAIR (1939)

An international playboy, Michel, is traveling by liner across the Atlantic to be with his new fiancee who happens to be an heiress. By accident he meets an American woman, Terry, who herself is traveling alone to be with her wealthy fiancee. They talk and despite their resistance, it becomes very apparent that they are made for each other. A nice, simple romance ensues, but once they get to America they agree to part for six months and if they still want to be with each other then they meet at the observation deck of the Empire State Building at an appointed time.

Both Michel and Terry break off their engagements and work extra hard to build up some money. The fateful day comes and as Terry is walking up to the building she's struck by a car and her legs all fucked up. Now she's confined to a wheelchair and too embarrassed to talk to Michel, but Michel doesn't know any of this and he believes that she simply didn't want to see him. He's heartbroken.

I wasn't crazy about this movie. It's too sentimental for my tastes, plus it's very dated. I am a fan of both Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, so I did enjoy it, but I'll never watch it ever again. The most positive thing I say about it is Irene Dunne was absolutely beautiful, especially during the final scene. Worth watching, but just barely.

Remade in 1957 as AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)

The story (and director) is exactly the same as the one from 1939's LOVE AFFAIR. On a cruise ship, a penniless playboy engaged to an heiress falls in love with a penniless singer who herself has a wealthy fiancee. When the liner arrives in NYC they agree to meet in six months if they still love each other. She doesn't make it because she's in an accident and is too embarrassed to tell her beloved that she's now confined to a wheelchair.

Nice story, but I did not like Deborah Kerr. I thought she was an bore from beginning to end. In a perfect world it would have been the original's Irene Dunne reprising her role, but this time opposite Cary Grant. That would have been awesome! Especially if they would have deleted all those scenes of children singing. Oh, my fucking Satan that shit was torture!

Technically, AATR was a better film than the original, but it's still nothing special. Grant does a decent job, but honestly that script wasn't all that great the first time around and now on the second go through it's lost all of it's appeal. I can't recommend it. I know it's a popular romance movie, but I found it boring with zero spark between Grant and Kerr. Skip it.

It says "Terry" on the subtitle but it clearly sounds like he says "Hello, Debbie."