Luna de miel en México

Very cute movie! Movies that are this simple are very comforting. Life and people should be this simple, where a clunk on the head is all it takes to realize true love. There's something very blissful about the simplicity in that. Most people try to complicate everything, but these old movies were known for being comforting, because I guess they largely didn't try to complicate anything. Bread and butter kind of film.

And while it does have a lot of wacky trouble throughout, it all culminates to a very beautiful speech given by the older man in the film, summarizing perfectly, how older people wish to get back to youth , and the youth wish to rush to maturity. It is a bittersweet monologue on how there really is no perfect point in time, except where we are at the moment. True perfection is to live blissfully in the moment.

Wow, who would've thought such a simple kind of slapstick romcom could hold such a valuable life lesson?! As I've said before, there really is no such thing as a bad golden age of Hollywood movie. This is proof - being one of them that has been labeled with the BAD title- how good it actually is! If this is what constitutes a bad movie by old Hollywood standards, then what does that say about today's new movie standards?! Seriously!

On another note, Shirley Temple is so beautiful in this film! Yes, there is beauty in every age, but looking at her perfect features, unmarred by the wrinkles of time, I admit it does make me wish that at least those of us of the fair sex could stay perpetually maiden like.

Anyway, good film! Very good film.

I admit it, I'm just a sucker for these kind of romantic comedy fluff movies! I'd much rather watch a delightful and charming romp like this than some of the greatest film dramas made! I prefer to giggle rather than weep when I watch a film. Am I alone in this preference? Somehow, I doubt it.

Honeymoon stars Shirley Temple, all grown up (and looking prettier on film here than she ever did, before or after), and her character is in love with a soldier (Guy Madison) and wants to marry him, unfortunately in a foreign country. There's all kinds of paperwork to be done, so she tries to get the process expedited by using an older man, Franchot Tone (playing an American consul) as intermediary. He feels a sort of obligation to her because she's young and on her own (the soldier is supposed to meet her, but he gets sidetracked). Some very funny maneuverings keep placing her in Franchot's way, when he is trying to romance a lady of his own age, and his betrothed becomes jealous. Soon Shirley's character is developing a crush on the older man and becoming impatient with her own fiancée's boyish qualities.

There's a great pool scene where Shirley walks out in a pretty and modest bathing suit, but boy! does she look simply stunning! The film has a rather conventional, predictable ending, but we still enjoy it, because it feels right anyway and is pretty funny. I wonder why the script ended with "I now pronounce you ... legally married." How odd. What happened to "man and wife"?

TCM airs this May-December romance several times a year. Don't miss it, especially if you are a Shirley or Franchot fan. They're so cute together!

9 out of 10

Honeymoon is a sweet comedy starring two very capable actors. Shirley Temple is all grown up here, almost, as a seventeen year old who wants to wed her soldier boyfriend. The two plan to meet in Mexico City, but problems arise with arriving on time. They only have a short amount of time to marry so they want to make use of all the time they have as man and wife. However, absolutely everything happens to prevent that from happening. Temple enlists the help of a man from the American Consolate (Franchot Tone) to assist her, but she causes more problems for him than he could ever imagine.

Temple is certainly different than the little girl everyone remembers her as. She does the same movements with her mouth, but she has matured into a very beautiful young woman. She has a knack for comedy so she excels in this film. Tone equals her. He is older than in his Joan Crawford days, but he has the same sweet face and strong acting talent. He seems to have gotten smarter over the years which enables him to be a dominant figure as well as a funny one.

Pretty teenager Shirley Temple (as Barbara Olmstead) arrives in Mexico City, where she is to marry handsome young Guy Madison (as Phil Vaughn). At the station, Ms. Temple reads a "Mexican Guide" which explains, "In Mexico almost everyone speaks Spanish," and advises her tipping is "not in vogue." After absorbing this helpful information, Temple learns Mr. Madison's flight has been delayed, from suave American consul Franchot Tone (as David Flanner). Madison arrives, and begins looking for Temple.

Meanwhile, Temple has forgotten to eat. She faints from hunger, and is rescued by Mr. Tone. After he feeds her, Temple finds herself oddly attracted to the "old-fashioned" older Tone, calling him the "Walter Pidgeon type." Then, they jitterbug.

The film continues to tease you about a sexual attraction between Temple and Tone. All along, you're fairly certain she will marry Madison. Confusion and misunderstanding between the threesome tries to make you laugh out loud. At best, the film filled theaters with a few tepid chuckles. The plot supposes Temple falls in love by landing on her man in a swimming pool. This is how she relates meeting Madison; the film's climax occurs when Temple, in a very modest two-piece, has a similar encounter with Tone.

*** Honeymoon (5/17/47) William Keighley ~ Shirley Temple, Franchot Tone, Guy Madison, Lina Romay

Frothy, bubbly romantic comedies are supposed to get off the ground and sail into the air with ease. No such luck with 'Honeymoon'. The whole story is a trivial bit of nonsense about a girl who elopes to Mexico City to find her serviceman husband and get married. When a vice consul attempts to help her, he gets caught in romantic complications of his own with a jealous fiance. And that's it.

The slim plot gets adequate performances from the three leads: Shirley Temple, Franchot Tone and Guy Madison. Madison is less wooden than usual and manages to add a likeable personality to his handsome good looks. Shirley pouts and speaks childishly of her love for him until she starts to fall for Tone. It's all very silly and quite predictable. All it does is pass the time in a modestly entertaining way but don't expect anything special. Shirley is even given a romantic ballad to sing but it doesn't sound like her own voice. Since this was made before Marni Nixon got busy, you have to wonder who it was.

Summing up: Passes the time pleasantly enough but worthwhile only for true Temple fans who want to see her as a pretty young woman.