#once upon a honeymoon 1942

[fuddlyduddly]

obsessed with how many Cary Grant movies have him doing a proto-Dreamworks face on the posters

[lairreparablefugadeltiempo]

Once Upon a Honeymoon (Leo McCarey, 1942)

[darkness-holds-eternal-light]

Another Fred&Ginger thought that I don't fully care if it's realistic or not and it's really more of a question.

I've watched "Once upon a Honeymoon" (1942) with absolute delight and I could recommend that movie to everyone, it's really swell and entertaining even (remarkable for a movie that is set in the middle of the war)!

Anyways, there is so much meta I would enjoy to unpack but I've been thinking about one scene. Cary Grant in my opinion is a really good partner for Ginger in the movies that they've made. Not so much romantically but as a friend, as an opposite to play her comedic side wonderfully and as a good guy and friend she could relax with and be a couple with. At least that was my impression of their on-screen exchange. I would have to read up on what Ginger had to say about it and what Cary Grant thought about it.

So anyway, about this one scene, it takes place in the second half of the movie when they're in Paris again and have their pictures taken by a bit of a shady fella at first. Cary Grant moves to leave in order to buy them both new clothes after their long journey and he leaves her with the shady photographer for a while. His character does otherwise a pretty good job at keeping her safe all through the craziness of that movie. Which is quite a bit to mention, my grandparents were on actual tracks as actual wartime-refugees and this stuff is absolutely so much no joke.

Ginger pleads him not to go, which I personally found heart-wrenching. It's a bit unusual for her in my opinion but it seemed so honest. In a very small voice she pleads with him and if he really has to go. This is the scene I am referring to:

So now the big sparkling question is - would Fred have left her there? There is so much to say about the whole thing and why Cary Grant's character is somewhat more likely to not really hear her plea and leave her there. If this were a real story, I still think Ginger was miles better off with a guy like Cary Grant than with a guy like Fred Astaire in the midst of this war and survival time. But still, for this specific scene I have been trying to find an answer for myself and I haven't yet. Would Fred have left her there or would he have heard her plea and acted differently? I want to tell myself that he would've made sure to stay with her automatically. But honestly I really don't know. I've been trying to compare it with similar situations in their movies together but I haven't found a satisfying answer yet.

Still, a really good movie that you can rewatch many times just for the light footed way in which the story is told. I wish Ginger and Cary Grant had made more movies also. ☺️

[hollywoodandstagebeauties]

John Banner (28 January 1910 – 28 January 1973), born Johann Banner, was born on this date 114 years ago and died 51 years ago today at the age of 63. He is best known for his role as Master Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encountering evidence that the inmates of his stalag were planning mayhem, frequently feigned ignorance with the catchphrase, "I know nothing! I see nothing! I hear nothing!" (or, more commonly as the series went on, "I see nothing, nothing!").

In 1942, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, underwent basic training in Atlantic City and became a supply sergeant. He even posed for a recruiting poster. He served until 1945. According to fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Robert Clary, "John lost a lot of his family" to the Holocaust.

Banner appeared in over 40 feature films. His first credited role was a German captain in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. He played a Gestapo agent in 20th Century Fox's Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943). His typecasting did not please him – he would later learn that his family members who had remained in Vienna all perished in Nazi concentration camps – but it was the only work he was offered. Banner himself was held briefly in a prewar-concentration camp.

Banner made more than 70 television appearances between 1950 and 1970, including the Lone Ranger (episode "Damsels In Distress", 1950), Sky King (premiere episode "Operation Urgent", 1952), The Adventures of Superman (4/5/57, The Man Who Made Dreams Come True.)Mister Ed, Thriller (episode "Portrait Without a Face", 1961), The Untouchables (episode "Takeover", 1962), My Sister Eileen, The Lucy Show, Perry Mason, The Partridge Family, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (episode "Hot Line", 1964), Alias Smith and Jones, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (episode "The Neptune Affair", 1964), and Hazel (episode "The Investor", 1965).

In the late 1950s, a still slim Banner portrayed Peter Tchaikovsky's supervisor on a Disneyland anthology series about the composer's life. This followed a scene with fellow Hogan's Heroes actor Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) as Nikolai Rubinstein. In 1953, he had a bit part in the Kirk Douglas movie The Juggler as a witness of an attack on an Israeli policeman by a disturbed concentration camp survivor.

In 1954, he had a regular role as Bavarro in the children's series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. Two years later, he played a train conductor in the episode "Safe Conduct" of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, appearing with future co-star Werner Klemperer, who played a spy. He played Nazi villains in several later films: the German town mayor in The Young Lions {1958}; Rudolf Höss in Operation Eichmann (1961); and Gregor Strasser in Hitler (1962). The year before the premiere of Hogan's Heroes, Banner portrayed a soldier in the World War II German "home guard" in 36 Hours (1964). Although it was a non-comedic role in a war drama, Banner still displayed some of the affable nature that would become the defining trait of the character he would create for television the following year. By coincidence, during the final moments of 36 Hours, John Banner's character meets up with a border guard played by Sig Ruman, who had portrayed another prisoner-of-war camp chief guard named Sergeant Schulz, in the 1953 film Stalag 17, starring William Holden. In 1968, Banner co-starred with Werner Klemperer, Leon Askin and Bob Crane in The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.

According to Banner in a newspaper interview, before he met and married his French wife Christine, he weighed 178 pounds (81 kg); he claimed her good cooking was responsible for his weight gain to 260 pounds (120 kg), as of 1965. This helped gain him the part of the kindly, inept German prisoner-of-war camp guard in Hogan's Heroes. Banner was loved not only by the viewers, but also by the cast, as recalled by cast members on the Hogan's Heroes DVD commentary. The Jewish Banner defended his character, telling TV Guide in 1967, "Schultz is not a Nazi. I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in any generation."

After Hogan's Heroes was cancelled in 1971, Banner starred as the inept gangster Uncle Latzi in a short-lived television situation comedy, The Chicago Teddy Bears. His last acting appearance was in the March 17, 1972, episode of The Partridge Family. He then retired to France with his Paris-born second wife.

Less than one year after moving back to Europe, while visiting friends in Vienna, John Banner died from an abdominal hemorrhage on his 63rd birthday. He was survived by his wife Christine; they had 8 children

Source: Facebook

Classic Retrovision Milestones

[yatanis]

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

[disappointingyet]

The Talk Of The Town

Director George Stevens Stars Ronald Colman, Jean Arthur, Cary Grant USA 1942 Language English 1hr 58mins Black & white

Apparently ill-fitting elements come together perfectly in splendid comedy

Mostly via a montage of newspaper front pages, we learn that a mill has burned down, people have died, a local agitator has been charged with arson, there are calls for the death penalty. Then we switch to filmed action and the accused man is choking a guard and escaping from prison. At night, he breaks into a house where a young woman is alone…

This, you might be surprised to learn, is a Hollywood comedy from 1942. It should be said that screwball comedies went to some dark places: for instance, 1937’s Nothing Sacred, in which a woman who has just found she isn’t dying – after her doctor corrects his previous diagnosis – spends the film pretending that she is still facing a terminal illness. Then there’s His Girl Friday, with its death penalty angle. And there were some strange genre fusions: the same year as The Talk Of The Town, Cary Grant also starred in the baffling comedy/spy drama/propaganda film Once Upon A Honeymoon. 

In some ways, The Talk Of The Town is more of a genre mix than a dark-minded comedy. For those first few minutes, this really does feel like one of those campaigning thrillers they used to make. But then very quickly, we’re in full farce mode. Most of the rest of the film stays in the comedy lane, but the risk that Leopold (Grant) is going to get shot by the cops or lynched by a mob is constantly lurking.

The woman who is in the house when he breaks in is Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur), whose family owns it and who is making it ready for the summer tenant, big-time law professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman.)

There’s a movie-of-ideas element here, as stuffy Lightcap argues for law as strict application of rules and politician radical Leopold pushes for natural justice.

But more importantly, this is a film in which three people chucked somewhat randomly together fall in love. I’ll leave it up to you as to whether you feel there’s a romantic aspect to the feelings between Lightcap and Leopold, but strong feelings there undeniably are. 

Colman gets the prime role, the man the other two are working to thaw. Grant has to work with the tone shifts of the film: at the start he’s scary Cary Grant (Suspicion/Notorious), at times he’s earnest Cary Grant and at others he’s teasing, amused Cary Grant. He does a job, but he’s very much in service of the script. So it’s a film that lets you see Grant’s acting range rather than revelling in his charm.

Jean Arthur’s Nora is sparky, quick-thinking and idealistic. Her wardrobe, meanwhile, would appear to be somewhat beyond the means of a small-town school teacher. I was particularly disturbed by a sequence in which she is meant to be cooking at some point and she’s wearing a white mohair sweater and a white skirt.

The crucial question is: how do these three work together? Pretty much perfectly. In fact, despite that initially disorienting shift of tone early on, everything about this film slots into place immaculately. 

Director George Stevens is better known for his big, heavily dramatic postwar movies like Giant and Shane. But I think his best work came with the comedies he made earlier, and this may well be the best. Surprised I’d never seen it before but thrilled that when I finally did see it, it was on the big screen.

I saw The Talk Of The Town at the 2024 London Film Festival

[70s80sandbeyond]

Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

[mdsrk]

[well-behaved-light-bulb]

I am currently re-reading Ginger My Story by Ginger Rogers and I'm seriously stuggling with my emotions for Ginger and Cary's relationship. The potential for a deep romance was real and something they both had wanted for years. I literally threw my book across the table when I came to a particular chapter. In one paragraph she is describing how smitten she was with Cary and how she couldn't wait for her "leading man" to join her on holiday in France. Then in the next paragraph before I even got a few sentences in I saw the name Jacques Bergerac. Now I already know Jacques and Ginger were eventually married in 1953 and in turn realised that her short lived romance with Cary was once again over before it even began... So here I am cursing the love of my life who passed away 22 years ago, for a dessision she made over 60 years before... I find myself cursing her quite a lot for the dessisions she confessed to in this book yet here I am forever lovesick for her... SO MANY EMOTIONS!

[citizenscreen]

Cary Grant behind a big camera in a publicity photo for ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (1942)

[hellostarrynightblr]

highlights of January

I finally got around to writing the second half. The re-watches. I absolutely loved doing these!

1. Favourite movies: Ministry of Fear (1944), You Were Never Lovelier (1942).

2. Decent films I liked / appreciated but not loved: Blonde Crazy (1931), Double Wedding (1937), Meet John Doe (1941), Night at the Opera (1935), Reckless (1935), The Woman Accused (1933).

3. Best scenes: breaking a bottle over the abuser’s head (Baby Face, 1933); a half-wit conversation (Double Wedding, 1937); the ‘suicide’ scene / confronting the stuffed shirts (Meet John Doe, 1941); the bomb shelter heart-to-heart / the Blitz (Ministry of Fear, 1944); the bed gag (Night at the Opera, 1935); Mona confronting Bob’s father / Ned watching Mona’s final performance (Reckless, 1935); ‘– Head? – Heart.’ / ‘There was darkness for a long long time…’ (Tales of Manhattan, 1942); The Shorty George / I’m Old-Fashioned + dance afterwards (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942); ‘If your hand is going my way’ / the picnic (I Love You Again, 1940).

4. Best fashion moment: Jimmy Stewart in the ridiculous glasses (It’s a Wonderful World, 1939); William Powell’s hobo painter outfit (Double Wedding, 1937); Rita Hayworth’s outfits for The Shorty George and I’m Old-Fashioned routines (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

5. Best running gags: slapping Jimmy Cagney (Blonde Crazy, 1931).

6. Favourite genres: romance, comedy, noir, musical.

7. Favourite directors: Fritz Lang (Ministry of Fear, 1944); William A. Seiter (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

8. Favourite actors: Barbara Stanwyck (Baby Face, 1933; Meet John Doe, 1941); Jimmy Cagney / Joan Blondell (Blonde Crazy, 1931); Myrna Loy (Double Wedding, 1937; I Love You Again, 1940; Wings in the Dark, 1935); Gary Cooper (Meet John Doe, 1941); Ray Milland / Marjorie Reynolds (Ministry of Fear, 1944); William Powell (Double Wedding, 1937; I Love You Again, 1940; Reckless, 1935); Jean Harlow (Reckless, 1935); Charles Boyer / Henry Fonda / Ginger Rogers (Tales of Manhattan, 1942); Cary Grant / Nancy Carroll / Norma Mitchell (The Woman Accused, 1933); Roscoe Karns (Wings in the Dark, 1935); Rita Hayworth / Fred Astaire / Adolphe Menjou (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

 9. Least favourite performances: Claudette Colbert in It's a Wonderful World (1939). I hated her in this film the first time I watched it. I don’t hate her nearly as much this time, but she’s still really irritating. Jimmy Stewart is actually okay, though. Another pair I unfortunately disliked was Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers in Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942). I hate having to say this because they are two of my favourite actors ever and their off-screen relationship fascinates me. (They also made a much better Monkey Business in 1952, and that film proved there’s chemistry there. Not here, though. It’s so uneven, it doesn’t know what it wants to be and therefore I have no idea how to perceive it and the performances suffer greatly.

10. The most wasted cast: Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers (Once Upon a Honeymoon, 1942). A terrific pair let down by a maddening script.

11. The best premise: Ministry of Fear (1944). I love me some conspiracy theories.

12. The best wasted premise: Tales of Manhattan (1942). The idea of an anthology based around an object being passed on from character to character is genius, but the creators forgot that the stories themselves have to be interesting for the premise to work. The film rests entirely on the actors’ rapport and is saved solely by it.

13. Favourite cast: You Were Never Lovelier, 1942 (Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom, Leslie Brooks, Adele Mara, Gus Schilling, Barbara Brown, Douglas Leavitt.

 14. Favourite on-screen duos: Jimmy Cagney x Joan Blondell (Blonde Crazy, 1931), William Powell x Myrna Loy (Double Wedding, 1937; I Love You Again, 1940); Gary Cooper x Barbara Stanwyck (Meet John Doe, 1941); Ray Milland x Marjorie Reynolds (Ministry of Fear, 1944); William Powell x Jean Harlow (Reckless, 1935); Charles Boyer x Rita Hayworth / Henry Fonda x Ginger Rogers (Tales of Manhattan, 1942); Cary Grant x Nancy Carroll (The Woman Accused, 1933); Cary Grant x Myrna Loy / Murna Loy x Roscoe Karns (Wings in the Dark (1935); Fred Astaire x Rita Hayworth / Fred Astaire x Adolphe Menjou (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

 15. Favourite on-screen relationships: Bert Harris + Anne Roberts (Blonde Crazy, 1931); Stephen Neale + Carla Hilfe (Ministry of Fear, 1944); Ned Riley + Mona Leslie (Reckless, 1935); George + Diane (Tales of Manhattan, 1942); Glenda O'Brien + Jeffrey Baxter (The Woman Accused, 1933), Bob Davis + Maria Acuña (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

 16. Favourite characters: Bert Harris, Anne Roberts (Blonde Crazy, 1931); Stephen Neale, Carla Hilfe (Ministry of Fear, 1944); Ned Riley, Mona Leslie (Reckless, 1935); George, Diane, Paul Orman (Tales of Manhattan, 1942); Glenda O'Brien, Jeffrey Baxter, Martha (The Woman Accused, 1933), all the Acuña’s, Bob Davis (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942); Nick Williams (Wings in the Dark, 1935); Long John Willoughby (Meet John Doe, 1941); Charlie Lodge (Double Wedding, 1937); Lily Powers (Baby Face, 1933).

 17. Favourite quote: I’ve never had the advantages that other little boys and girls had. I never had a house like yours. I never had anybody tell me what to eat and when to eat it, what to think and how to think it, what to wear, whom to marry. I never had anybody tell me how to live my life for me, but I’ve had a wonderful time. If that’s being a halfwit, I think ll try to get rid of the other half. (Double Wedding, 1937).

18. The meta connection of the month: William Powell and Jean Harlow making a film together where he’s hopelessly in love with her two years before she passes away… Watching him watch her perform with tears in his eyes is the most heartbreaking thing. They were so in love… And after she passed away he always kept fresh flowers on her grave until the very moment he himself died decades later. Oh man…

19. The most overrated film: I understand the appeal of Night at the Opera (1935) but still, I don’t get such a huge imdb score.

20. The most disappointing film: It's a Wonderful World (1939), Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

21. The most underrated/overlooked film: Ministry of Fear (1944)! It deserves so much more recognition! I understand that Fritz Lang crafter some of the most influential movies of all time but this is a real jewel. I also consider You Were Never Lovelier (1942) among the world’s funniest comedies. It lifted my spirits at a time it was practically impossible.

22. The biggest surprise: how many movies are actually better on second viewing. Double Wedding (1937) is great and very insightful; Night at the Opera (1935) was way funnier the second time around; I remember thinking The Woman Accused was one of the worst films I’d watched in 2019 (bottom tier definitely). This time I quite enjoyed it. It’s overacted and simple and full of contrivances but I love the charm of it all.

23. Best cinematography: Henry Sharp (Ministry of Fear); Ted Tetzlaff (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

24. Best set design: I couldn’t find the one person responsible for it, so I’m going to credit the whole film, You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

25. Best costume design: Irene (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

26. Best music: You Were Never Lovelier (1942).

27. Best production choice: the choreography (You Were Never Lovelier, 1942).

28. Worst production choice: casting Claudette Colbert and Jimmy Stewart as the leads in It’s a Wonderful World (1939). I can see it working with Clark Gable and Claudette or with Jimmy and Ginger Rogers. Or hell, with Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell. So many pairs could have been fun to watch in this scenario, but not this pair. They seem to be doing a passable job in their respective roles but since they have negative chemistry, the whole film falls apart.

29. The film of the month: Ministry of Fear (1944).

30. Redemption of the month: Meet John Doe (1941), Night at the Opera (1935), The Woman Accused (1933).

[womenattheirpiano]

Ginger Rogers plays for director Leo McCarey between shots of Once Upon a Honeymoon, 1942

[lanaturnerhascollapsed]

Screenland, October 1942

[lovegingerogers]

Ginger Rogers photographed in promotional picture for Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

[yatanis]

Wedding ring (hidden and not) on Cary Grant's finger in films made during their marriage with Barbara Hutton:

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) (character is not married)

Mr. Lucky (1943) (character is not married)

Destination Tokyo (1943) (character is married)

Once Upon a Time (1943) (character is not married)

None but the Lonely Heart (1944) (character is not married)

Ring is not there in "The Talk of the Town" (1942), cos movie was filmed before the wedding, also absent in "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944), 'cos actual filming was done in 1941.