User Reviews

**SPOILERS** Combination 1930's screwball comedy and WWII Hollywood propaganda movie that has the Nazi's looking so ridicules even when their taking over all of Western Europe that you don't know if you should either laugh or cry as your watching it. Brooklyn showgirl and gold-digger Katie O'Hara, Ginger Rogers, has traveled to Vienna Austria to strike it big by lassoing in a rich Austrian baron. Katie hit's the bullseye with chubby but rich and well bred Baron Von Luber, Walter Slezak.

While Katie is planning to get married to the Baron American reporter Pat O'Toole, Cary Grant,is trying to get the big story, Brooklyn girl marries rich European Aristocrat, impersonates Katies tailor only to have the real one show up, after Pat took Katie's measurements, thus making a quick withdrawal from Katie's bedroom. It's at that moment that the Nazi's enter Vienna incorporating Austria into the German Reich.

Pat smitten by Katie and ignoring her soon to be husband starts to follow her and the Baron to Prague Czechoslovakia. Just then just like in Vienna the Nazi's suddenly march into town with their Fuhrer Adolph Hitler leading the parade. We see the big man himself, Adolph Hitler, all five foot eight inches of him in newsreels and being played actor Carl Ekberg throughout the film.

It's not until the Baron travels together with Katie and Pat tagging along to Warsaw Poland that we get an inkling of just what he's all about. It turns out that the Baron is the advance man for Hitler's vaunted Whermacht and Luftwaffe. In that he softens up every country that he stays in making them easy for the German Military to invade and take over. In Poland just before the German invasion the Baron sells the Polish military commander General Boneiski, Albert Bassermann, a load of new and state of the art automatic weapons only to later find out that they don't work. Making it a piece of cake for the Whermacht to overrun the Poles and capture Warsaw.

It's during the bombardment of Warsaw that both Pat and Katie come up with the idea of having her declared a fatality of war which in return has her marriage to the Baron no longer valid. This, lucky guy, has handsome and debonair Pat O'Toole, well really Cary Grant, get a crack at Katie as her new and fellow American husband.

The film starts to get serious when after both Pat and Katie run into the Baron in Paris France, another country that the Baron helped his Fuhrer Hitler to take over, this after spending some time in a German concentration camp on the suspicion of them both being Jewish. Katie switched her US passport with her Jewish maid so she and her two young children can get out of Nazi occupied Europe.

Pat cooks up a scheme to get a job as a broadcaster for the German propaganda ministry, this is in 1940 before the US was at war with Nazi Germany, to give him and Katie, whom the Baron had since lost interest in,time to get new passports and get the first boat out of Nazi occupied France and back to the USA. Pat now really getting under the Baron's skin in his first and only broadcast to America.Pat's on the air hysterics almost has the over-sized and arrogant jerk shot and killed by the Gestapo by him announcing that the loyal and obedient Baron is planning to overthrow the Fuhrer, Hitler, himself and take over the government! All in jest of course. The real kicker in Pat's hilarious broadcast is revealing, again all in jest of course, that the pure blooded Aryan Baron Von Luber is actually married to a Brooklyn Jewish woman! The identity that Katie has on her passport that she switched with her Jewish maid. That had the big and sputtering Nazi buffoon almost burst one of his pure blooded Aryan blood vessels!

The Baron now back in the good graces of the Fuhrer, whom he was accused by Pat of trying to do in, is given a chance to redeem himself by traveling on an ocean-liner to America and do his thing undermined the country and set up the land of the free and home of the brave for the next Nazi conquest. It's then when he runs into his ex-wife,the Fuhrer had annulled his marriage, Katie on deck and the rest of the movie, as well as the Baron himself, is soon to become history.

You don't know how to take this movie since it's about a very serious subject, WW II, but at the same time it doesn't seem to take itself seriously at all. It's as if the film is a precursor to movies and TV shows of post-World War Two goofy and bumbling Nazi's like in the movie "The Producers" and the 1960's TV comedy "Hogan's Heroes".

This comedy is good and at the same time shows the situation in Europe when the nazis were invading step by step each country of central and east Europe. The story is refreshing although it touches a very delicate issue, which affected millions of people in Europe in early 40s. Cary Grant was able to play a good role as a journalist, who is very well informed of the problems caused by nazis and the ways the latter used for invasion. Splendid Ginger Rogers also did very well, and no less important was Walter Slezak playing well the role of the nazi officer Baron Von Luber. In the film there is some thrill, romance and comic scenes, in conclusion Leo McCarey directed a good comedy once again.

When Leo McCarey made this film, America was only a number of months into WWII. The events leading up to the start of the war (at least in Europe) were known to some, with most of America still getting their news from the newsreels at the theater or radio. This film is a great way for people to learn about how the opening of WWII began, especially now where some schools are limited in their ability to cover the events. Two "average Americans" moving about Europe, sometimes steps ahead (or behind as in the Polish through Low Countries scenes) of the events which changed Europe. The time in the Polish Ghetto, as well as in Paris, allow for the audience to get to know the characters, without having to gather the facts as the story goes along. Just as National Treasure teaches about American History while entertaining, this movie belongs in the same group, as it tells a "You Are There" version of 1939-40 European History.

American burlesque dancer Ginger Rogers jumps at the opportunity to marry a wealthy Austrian baron (Walter Slezak). Little does she know her new husband is a Nazi. Enter radio news correspondent Cary Grant, who falls for Ginger while trying to do a story on her husband. He follows the pair all over Europe. When she's forced to face just who her husband is and what is really going on in the world, Ginger decides to flee with Cary.

A wartime romantic comedy directed by Leo McCarey with two of my favorite stars, Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Sounds amazing. Unfortunately it isn't without flaws. But first, some of the good. Cary is charming as ever and has great chemistry with Ginger. Love the measuring scene. For her part, she's pretty and fun. I'm not sure why she was using that terrible accent early on. Her husband knew she was an American so I don't understand who she was supposed to be fooling. I guess she was supposed to be putting on airs, like some kind of society lady or something. It's pretty weird and never addressed. Walter Slezak makes for a fine villain, as he usually did. Albert Bassermann is great in a brief role.

The scenes with Cary and Ginger are what works most in the film, particularly in the first hour. On the downside, when the film awkwardly switches to drama it undoes whatever momentum it has built up. I'm not offended, like other reviewers are, over the use of Nazis and anti-Semitism in a (mostly) light comedy. It was all within context and treated appropriately. However, I do think the movie becomes less interesting and certainly less fun in the second hour as it becomes darker. The fact that it goes on so long is what does it the most harm, though. As it is, it's a flawed film but still worth a peek for fans of Grant and Rogers.

"Once Upon a Honeymoon" is a 1942 film directed by Leo McCarey with a script by Sheridan Gibney and McCarey. Despite its stars, Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers and McCarey as director, the uneven script ultimately topples this film. Part of the problem is that as an audience member, you're not sure what to do - is it serious or funny? In a way, the audience is set up for comedy - they see it's a McCarey film with Rogers and Grant - and then they don't really get it when parts of it aren't funny. When it's Europe in World War II and you're mistaken for Jews, it's no joke.

Nevertheless, this is a film with some very good scenes, particularly at the beginning when Rogers feigns a fake British/upper class accent and then takes a call from her mother; she then sounds like a fishwife as she announces her marriage to one Baron von Luber (Walter Slezak). Grant plays an American war correspondent investigating the Baron, who is suspected of being a top - but secret - ally of Hitler's. It does seem that wherever he goes, that country falls soon after. When Grant takes Rogers to lunch, he tells her vodka is Polish water - she takes hers with some brandy. She eventually escapes from von Luber but is forced to re-connect with him to get information.

"Once Upon a Honeymoon" has its moments, including its serious ones, but it seems like two films, neither belonging with the other. A real McCarey comedy with Grant and Rogers tripping up the Nazis would have been great; and of course, both actors could have pulled over a serious war film as well. In trying to make them do both, the movie's statement is confused.

Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers are the best part of this movie. Even with a weak script, Grant is his usual insolent, witty, and charming self. Rogers is very good with a very flimsy character. This is one of those typical anti-Nazi war propaganda films that were prevalent during the war years. A little thin on plot but high on patriotism and anti-Hitler sentiment. The Germans are, at times, shown to be bumbling fools while also shown as the near conquerors Europe. The Baron, played masterfully by Walter Slezak, is both cunning and stupid.

There are some touching moments that revolve around the plight of the Jews, giving hints on their future, a bold statement in that day.

All in all, a below average script with above average contract actors creating a slightly below average film. Grade : C-, Rating : 6, at best.

I'm amazed at the bad reception that Once Upon a Honeymoon got from other reviewers here. It's not the greatest film from either the stars or the director, but far from the worst. See Satan Never Sleeps or My Son John for Leo McCarey's worst. And it's one of Walter Slezak's best roles.

Slezak plays the fictional Baron Von Luber who like the Fuehrer was Austrian born and played a big hand in the Anschluss. After that he became a Nazi ambassador of good will. But in his wake countries seem to fall to the Germans after every one of his missions. He's a rising star in the Nazi movement.

He's also married a show business American wife in the person of Ginger Rogers. That and his activities arouse the curiosity of editor Harry Shannon and commentator Cary Grant.

Once Upon a Honeymoon is very similar to that other Cary Grant film from Alfred Hitchcock, Notorious. Of course the Hitchcock film has Grant as an FBI agent who gets Ingrid Bergman to marry Claude Rains to spy on his postwar activities in a country with no extradition. Rains actually becomes an object of some audience sympathy even as a Nazi, but Slezak never does.

In fact his role is similar to that other exhibit of the master race found in that other Hitchcock film, Lifeboat. But he's gotten in a way that the gauleiter of the lifeboat never is. Cary Grant damns him with faint praise and a shrewd use of reverse psychology on the Nazi mind. Slezak's reactions to Grant's broadcast are worth seeing the film alone.

Leo McCarey makes some very serious points about the Nazis mixed in with the humor. When Grant and Rogers are caught when they think they're Jewish, it's a very harrowing predicament indeed until they are providentially rescued.

Once Upon A Honeymoon though firmly dated to World War II, holds up very well in the laugh and propaganda departments both.

Many, did not like this film but I found it to be charming. The rapport between Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers is outstanding. In this year 2017, I find this film relevant. I never thought this before. Although, I don't know If I had seen the whole film before. It isn't shown very often. But I enjoyed it. I hope we are not taking the current circumstances for granted. Our freedoms are important! A gentle reminder within a charming love story.

It's a war film, a bit of a horror film, a code busting romantic comedy, and a drama. In 1938 Austria, journalist Patrick O'Toole (Cary Grant) comes to American Kathy O'Hara (Ginger Rogers) to let her know that her future husband, the Baron Franz Von Luber (Walter Sleazak), is a Nazi. Except the conversation does not seem serious - ever.

O'Toole flirts shamelessly with O'Hara. She flirts back. But she does marry the Baron. And there are numerous other meetings later on where in one case O'Toole just decides to order a big lunch from room service in Poland, take his clothes off in the Baron's suite and borrow his pajamas, and take a nap. And each time Grant and Rogers meet they continue their flirtation and then Ginger goes back to her husband, while romantic comedy music plays. Then Rogers just suddenly decides to leave the Baron for Grant. They traipse across Europe looking for a way back to America - even getting stuck in a concentration camp for awhile that inaccurately looks more like Juvenile hall.

For a war movie there are really no serious dramatic confrontations. It all plays out like The Awful Truth combined with the Hope/Crosby Road movies except in War torn Europe and the whole thing is off putting.

How can a film with an acclaimed director - Leo McCarey - bomb this badly, especially with a talented cast. The production values are top notch - this is not some Ed Wood film, so in fact it is worse than one. In an Ed Wood film you see things done wrong - poor and silly art design, laughably bad dialogue, poor cinematography. So this even fails as a bad film, because it is expertly presented, but it manages to be weird and boring to the point it is just annoying.

Although there is a silly side to this movie, I really don't think that its only value is as a curiosity. In reality, it was a singular vehicle for Ginger Rogers to flex her acting muscles, instead of merely being a sidekick in a dance routine. She is something to behold in this movie. And, I maintain that if you are a Cary Grant fan, it's nothing to sit through this slightly confectionery film. It is practically astonishing that the Jewish issue was addressed in a movie made in 1942. Finally, it's worth pointing out that any average film from this period is Shakespearean compared to the dreck on offer most of the time these days.

This movie is not a Cary Grant film. It is a Ginger Rogers film with

support from Walter Slezak. As a propoganda comedy to show the

situation as it existed in Europe in 1942 must have been difficult at

best, but the studios were asked to produce movies with a

message. The newspapers did mention Quisling and Lord Haw

Haw, and younger viewers without a sense of the history of the

period have viewed this film on its merits as a film isolated from

the reality as it existed.

Yes, I agree. TO BE OR NOT TO BE with Carole Lombard and Jack

Benny is one of the greatest comedies ever made. Their

supporting cast from Lionel Atwill to Robert Stack is a triumph. It is

sad that all the period pieces can not be viewed for what they were

meant to portray.

Although an intriguing curiosity - a comedy/intrigue with hearty doses of wartime propoganda - the film never resolves its schizoid persona. The Nazi characters are too cartoonish to provide real menace, and what comedy there is is overshadowed by the sincere attempt to portray the threat to European Jewry. The ending is abrupt (mercifully so?) and doesn't really resolve anything. Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers do their best but their efforts don't save matters. The scene where the allied agent attempts to prove his American identity to Rogers is tediously, painfully humorless. Watchable only as a curiosity.

Comedy? I don't think so. Even Grant's charms can't save this one. A comedy set in Europe during WWII isn't impossible (see To Be Or Not To Be, also from 1942). But this one includes scenes with Hitler, and jokes about Nazis, not very funny I may add. The story is too ludicrous, the so-called jokes terrible. Whoever liked the movie should check is head. The ending is SO-Stupid! And what honeymoon? Forget it. Even worse than Penny Serenade. Beware. Read a book, eat, do something, anything else.

Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)

Well, a Cary Grant movie I haven't seen!

The movie is limited, for sure, but Cary Grant is at his funniest. Watch it for him.

Oh, yes, Ginger Rogers is the female lead, and she's her likable self (minus the dancing). The overall plot is skewed (for good reason) by World War II. A trifle. But we have Nazi nonsense upsetting a hearty American romance in Europe. Including a clock where the hands are a swastika.

This is the same period and historical truth as "Casablanca," which of course takes it all much further—better writing, better photography, more romantic. The backdrop of the war here is often quite tragic, but there is no tragedy for the leads, who are affected but keep going. There is even what looks like some real Hitler footage (not sure how they got it contemporaneously). The humor throughout is pointed but certainly floating above the real awfulness.

The overall plot (the large arc) is an entertaining take with serious overtones on the war and the enemies we were facing, as well as the fate of Jews (already clear by 1942). The movie ends up being largely a series of little scenes and funny gags—many of which are so funny they make it worth it. But overall the movie deserves some slapping down for not trying very hard. And it deserves watching because it's so good and warm and funny in so many parts. Besides, it's a Cary Grant romance out of nowhere. Good!

Once Upon a Honeymoon is a curious hybrid comedy drama released a year after the USA entered the second world war. In his heart it is a screwball romantic comedy starring Ginger Rogers as a gold digging burlesque artist who has bagged an Austrian Baron who is also a dubious Nazi. In fact they go on a goodwill honeymoon and every country the Baron visits falls into Nazi rule.

Cary Grant plays a hot shot reporter intrigued by the Baron and who wants to let Rogers know who her husband truly is. Over the course of the movie, Grant falls for Rogers and later Rogers decides to do her own bit for the Allied war effort and puts herself in danger.

Grant and Rogers make a good pairing, Walter Slezak is the crafty Nazi apparatchik. The film veers from comedy to exposing Jewish persecution by the Nazis. It is an odd mix but it somehow works and saves the movie from blandness.

In 1942 the United States had only just entered World War Two, with the people trying their best to come to terms with a conflict which three years previously had seemed like a remote European war, with little or no importance to them. This was the basis of the America First Movement, which flourished in the late Thirties.

ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON was designed to influence public opinion by showing how much the Nazi colonization of Europe mattered to everyone in the world. The basic plot is straightforward: former showgirl Kathie O'Hara (aka Katherine Butt-Smith) (Ginger Rogers) is about to marry the Baron Franz von Luber (Walter Slezak) without realizing that he is a Nazi agent masquerading as an Austrian patriot. Campaigning journalist Pat O'Toole (Cary Grant), on an assignment to investigate O'Hara's past and present for American readers, acts as the voice of reason as he tries to set her right. The task proves impossible at first, but in a series of picaresque adventures in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and France, she comes to understand what a mistake she has made.

Leo McCarey's film contains certain flabby moments - especially in a sequence ostensibly taking place in Paris, when O'Toole and O'Hara confess their love for one another. There are also some overt scenes of propaganda that interrupt the plot, especially when O'Hara encounters American spy Gaston le Blanc (Albert Dekker). On the credit side, however, there are some truly delightful comic sequences, no more so when Grant poses as O'Hara's dressmaker and tries to take her measurements. He makes every effort to avoid embarrassment, and by doing so ties himself into knots both physically and verbally. Grant and Rogers's playing of this sequence is masterly, with Rogers's deadpan countenance contrasting with Grant's facial contortions.

Walter Slezak makes a convincing villain, his smooth, gentle exterior concealing a ruthless personality. He encounters O'Toole at a Paris café and backs the journalist into a corner: if O'Toole does not broadcast on the Nazi Party's behalf, then O'Hara's future cannot be guaranteed as she will be handed over to the Gestapo. Slezak's voice hardly rises above a whisper, yet the threat remains - despite his outwardly noble nature, O'Toole will have to submit to the Baron's wishes.

ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON is certainly a period-piece, but it is still of interest, if only as an example of how versatile an actor Grant actually was, straddling the boundaries between comedy and straight drama with consummate ease.

Leo McCarey helms this 1942 lark, whose moods and genre conventions---saccharine romance, espionage adventure, screwball farce and war-time propaganda---swing to and fro so regularly that it's difficult to be bored even when the tipping scales of narrative contrivance become somewhat stressful at times. It's soapboxy-er than its early blitheness suggests, and at one point, the customary lead comic duo is mistaken for Jews and have a close shave with quite a grim fate. At times, because of the nonsensicality of the wildly contrived plot, the brashness of swastika hands on clocks and downer developments initially feel mislaid before they're consistently salvaged by a highly competent group of surprisingly naturalistic and genuinely funny performers, but meets its challenges admirably when it matters.

Vienna, 1938. Ginger Rogers plays Katie O'Hara, a Brooklyn dancer who's flown off to marry the rich and high-ranking Austrian Baron Von Luber, a Nazi VIP on the sly, for status and prosperity. Chin dimple extraordinaire Cary Grant plays hyper-transatlantic correspondent Pat O'Toole, who receives a job as a radio commentator to obtain a rare interview with the impending baroness to expose the Baron as a Nazi undercover. The Baron is played by Walter Slezak, that indelible character actor who managed to get pigeonholed as cunning Nazis. You may recognize him from Hitchcock's Lifeboat. Pat's not deterred by Katie's unwillingness to be questioned, and manages to meet her posing as a tailor.

Obviously, the reporter becomes smitten with Katie and frantically attempts to disabuse her regarding her fiancée. A turning point slams into this happy-go-lucky buffoonery when Hitler takes Austria, and Katie begins to learn the truth about her new husband's dealings. The two brash Yankees team up and go on the lam through Norway, Holland and Belgium before sudden sabotage missions are sprung on them and create grave dramatic tension. "This is the sort of thing that can make a man a Republican!" he huffs.

I had my doubts about Ginger Rogers. Not having seen many of her best known films such as those with Fred Astaire, I thought she may prove yet another example of how incomparable Irene Dunne was alongside Archie boy. About forty minutes into Once Upon a Honeymoon, I was firmly disabused of my presumptions. She has an inborn knack for being natural in a way that even transcends the stagy tenets of the Golden Age, saying a lot without saying much, and saying something different with her face than what she's saying with her mouth. I can't say this excuses the inanity of Archie earlier on managing to trick her so effortlessly into thinking straight vodka is a glass of water, but overall, she's not an uncomplicated Dumb Blonde Type present only to hang off Cary Grant's shoulder. McCarey takes the time to photograph her surprisingly emotive disillusionment about the state of affairs around her.

I'm frankly willing to forego any criticisms or dismissals of any moments that border on cornball or lugubrious purely for reward of the scene where O'Toole and Von Luber finally happen upon one another and have a man-to-man sit-down. It's one of those delicately cool scenes where two characters hold their cards firmly against their vests, but say just enough and share just enough sidelong glances to be satisfied of the other's hand. It's an exciting scene that raises the stakes and ratchets up the tension in a subdued, completely unexpected way. In fact, McCarey and his cast are so graceful that it only falls apart when it finally reaches the bungled ending, which I suppose is what happens when you try to balance propaganda and slick storytelling. Regardless, though quite the opposite of cynical or acerbic, it has a streak of the spunk and cunning of a Billy Wilder film, or the "shpontanuity," as one of the Baron's comrades suggests.

It's 1938 Vienna. Katherine Butt-Smith (Ginger Rogers) is an American burlesque model who is marrying Austrian Baron Von Luber. American reporter Pat O'Toole (Cary Grant) is trying to get an interview with the baron and uncover his Nazi connection. She doesn't seem to care about Hitler or that he had just marched into Austria. The baron is organizing behind the scene and where ever he goes, the German army is soon to follow.

In some ways, I would be more interested in the dumb bimbo than the secret spy. Ginger playing a superficial blonde actually intrigued me for a little while. I don't mind the twist but it doesn't go to an interesting place. The plot gets too convoluted and too unreasonable. There are more conveniences than a convenience store. The movie is just trying to highlight the ugliness of the Nazi invasions. At one point, they are assumed to be Jewish and suddenly they are rescued out of nowhere. It's highly unlikely and only serves to point out the plight of the Jewish people. There are too many unexplainable escapes. As a propaganda film, it served its purposes. It has big stars talking bad about the Nazis.

Although the indifferent critical reception, and very mixed reviews here, made me a little nervous, the cast were good reason to see 'Once Upon a Honeymoon'. Am especially fond of Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers' partnership with Fred Astaire is legendary. Comedy mixed in with a serious subject, in a sensitive time period at the time, has been done frequently on film and although it varies in success there are a lot of great examples. Have also liked a lot a good deal of Leo McCarey's work.

Not 'Once Upon a Honeymoon' though. Whether it's his very worst is debatable, haven't seen everything of his, but it is to me a lesser effort of his and nowhere near his usual standard. Both Grant and Rogers have also been better, though neither fare too badly here and actually among the better assets. For better balances of well executed comedy and tastefully executed seriousness, look elsewhere other than 'Once Upon a Honeymoon' as that is one of its biggest problems. If people got more out of this, good for them but it didn't quite do it for me while thinking still that it is not that bad.

'Once Upon a Honeymoon' has good things. It is a well made film, the photography especially being nicely done. Robert Emmett Dolan's music has quirkiness and atmosphere. There are moments of amusement, like a few nice lines from Grant, and tension thanks to the menace of Walter Slezak.

Grant embodies urbane sophistication, something that he was unaparallelled in in cinematic history. Rogers to me seemed to have fun, and didn't seem over the top or phoned in. They have a sweet chemistry together and it's the romantic element that comes off best of the different tones the film tries to take on. The supporting cast are all competent and more, although the variable amount of screen time worked against some of them. Slezak's menacing baron comes off best and the character that makes the most sense.

It is a shame however that the script is very muddled and tries to do too much, the comedy generally lacks wit and when there is any in the more serious scenes (i.e. anything regarding Grant and Rogers implausibly being mistaken for being Jewish) it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Or at least it did to me and some others. The story never properly grabbed me and suffers badly from being tonally unfocused and too many jarring shifts in tone, which suggested a not knowing what it wanted to be vibe.

To me too, 'Once Upon a Honeymoon' runs on for too long with the early portion having drawn out parts suggestive of padding not always needed. So it meant that too much of the film drags and quite badly. Successful comedy is only sporadic and the tension is hardly there. Only the baron makes sense of the characters, the others and their behaviour further to the film's strangeness. Have not seen an ending this dumb in a long time, quite insultingly so, and it also felt abrupt. McCarey's direction is pretty bland and like he was not finding it easy balancing everything.

Summarising, a watchable curiosity but an oddity. 5/10

This is truly an excellent film. It has everything-comedy, drama, tragedy and a vision of what the world was like in 1942.

Let's remember that when the movie was probably being made, the U.S. had not entered the war as yet.

It deals with a Brooklyn stripper from Parkside Ave. who lives in 1938 Austria and is about to be married to a high-ranking Nazi. Given her supposed limited intelligence, Ginger Rogers, as this gal, doesn't fully realize what she is getting into. She will be quickly educated by reporter Cary Grant, who is terrific in this role.

Walter Slezak plays the heavy in the film and at first is successful in having Ms. Rogers believe that he is an anti-Nazi. No matter where the couple show up, the country soon falls victim to the Nazi terror.

The plight of the Jewish people is shown by a maid and her 2 young children, all being Jewish, is helped by Rogers. The maid comes back later on to play a pivotal role when Rogers needs to escape. There is a scene where condemned Jews recite a Jewish prayer. How much more poignant can you get?

There is constant intrigue in this film as you begin to wonder the true beliefs of someone who is helping Rogers, while getting her to spy for the allies.

The ending may have been somewhat over-the-top, but it did provide for some comic relief to a subject that was very well handled here.

Grant and Rogers and Slezak should be a prescription for greatness but this is no Monkey Business or People Will Talk -- two much better films. This is one of the most bi-polar movies I've ever seen, attempting to balance tragedy and farce and flippancy == it tips over more than once.