Movie review - "Honeymoon" (1947) *1/2

Shirley Temple had a big hit in 1947 acting for RKO in a romantic comedy opposite an older male star... but that was Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer. This one, despite having all those elements, was a massive flop. Of course Bachelor also had Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and a decent script whereas this has Franchot Tone, Guy Madison and a silly script.

Tone actually gives a solid, professional performance as the American consulate in Mexico who gets roped in by Shirley Temple in her efforts to marry GI Guy Madison. Shirley does "indicate" occasionally and at times I felt that her lack of professional training (i.e. having to learn her trade on the job) hampered her performances at this stage of her career, but she's spirited and cute - it's not her fault the film is very good. That's due to the writers, who don't give her a character (is she madcap? a dreamer? a fantasist?) and never come up with a story that builds: it's just silly one thing after another stopping her and Madison from getting married (and no decent thing like a villainous gangster or an ex, but more things like a missing form, or indequate witnesses, or red tape).

And because Guy Madison is so awkward on screen, he and Shirley have no chemistry (they're also kept apart on screen for long periods of time... she easily shares more screen time with Franchot Tone), so you don't care if they get together or not. So much of the story is undeveloped - Tone has a financee who gets vaguely jealous but that's about it; his in laws hang around but don't do much; it's set in Mexico, but Mexico here just looks like an ugly backlot. In the last ten minutes Temple gets knocked on the head and momentarily thinks she's in love with Tone and you go "now that's a story" but it's in the last ten minutes and gets resolved very quickly.

It's the sort of story which might have been okay had they shot it in Technicolor and made it a musical, but they haven't so t drags. There's also an awful men-reasserting-themselves-over-spirited-women ending where Madison asserts himself over his "troublesome" fiancee by taking her up a diving board and throwing her into a pool fully clothed to teach her a lesson. No doubt this sort of thing was happening all over America at this time ("quit your job sweetheart, I'm back now") but it doesn't make it fun to watch.