Paris Honeymoon

Workhorse director Frank Tuttle is in charge of a Bing Crosby programmer in this decent but unexceptional movie. Bing's all set to marry Shirley Ross, but it turns out she's still married to a French Count, so they go to Paris to arrange the divorce. While waiting for the courts, Bing heads off to a small Balkan village run by Akim Tamiroff, where he falls in love with annoying Rose Queen Franciska Gaal. The usual hi-jinks ensue, and there's an amusing running gag involving Tamiroff, village idiot Ben Blue and a one-armed bandit. It's all predictable and rote, and even Edward Everett Horton doesn't do much to liven up matters, nor three decent but unexceptional songs.

There's some decent Leroy Prinz choreography for the peasant dances; Evelyn Keyes has a bit role as a peasant, but as usual, I couldn't spot her.

GREAT SONGS AND MOVIE - I WISHED IT WAS ON DVD I WOULD BUY IT - THE SCENES WERE BEAUTIFUL AND THE COSTUMES! Directed by Frank Tuttle, Paris Honeymoon stars Bing Crosby as Lucky Lawton, a wealthy Texan whose plans for a Parisian honeymoon with the noblewoman he has been romancing are interrupted when he visits the city itself. Though he had intended only to make the proper arrangements, he falls in love with a beautiful-but-poor woman named Manya (Franciska Gaal). As he discovers that wealth does not define the worth of a human being, his former wedding plans are put indefinitely on the shelf. Songs include: "I Have Eyes", "Sweet Little Headache","Funny Old Hills", "Joobalai", "The Maiden by the Brook", "Work While You May" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin), and "I Ain't Got Nobody" (Roger Graham, Dave Peyton, Spencer Williams). Paris Honeymoon also features Akim Tamiroff, Shirley Ross, Edward Everett Horton, and Ben Blue. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Bing Crosby plays Lucky Lawton a cowboy millionaire who struck gold on his land and would be considered nouveau riche. He's about to marry a Countess played by Shirley Ross, but a hitch has gone through with her divorce. They both come over to Paris to try and straighten it out.

While there Crosby buys a castle from Akim Tamiroff in some unknown Balkan town called Pushtalnik. It's also time for Pushtalnik's Rose Festival and the Rose Queen traditionally resides in the castle. That would be Franciska Gaal and she arrives and Crosby has to get rid of her before Ross joins him in wedlock.

Now if you're already thinking this plot is silly, it is. But that's the kind of thing that was done in the 1930s in Hollywood. And it's the kind of story that Bing Crosby was often asked to carry on the strength of his popularity and charisma. He does this admirably with assist from some nice songs by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger.

Robin and Rainger were one hot songwriting team in Hollywood at that time. They were fresh off an Oscar in 1938 for Thanks for the Memory which became the beloved theme song of Crosby's Road picture partner Bob Hope. Not often remembered is that Hope introduced this song with Shirley Ross and also recorded it with her.

Shirley Ross was at home equally on Broadway as well as Hollywood, she probably shuttled back and forth so she never got really established in either. A good singer with a pleasant voice, the woman was destined to be a footnote in Hollywood history. She also introduced Blue Moon in Manhattan Melodrama, albeit with a different lyric and entitled The Bad in Every Man. Larry Hart changed the lyric and the song became a smash, but not for Shirley Ross.

Akim Tamiroff was a great addition to any film he was in. Here he plays Peter Karloca, mayor of Pushtalnik. Karloca spent some time in the United States, proudly studying our political methods in Chicago and adapting them to Pushtalnik. He and Ben Blue who plays the village idiot who turns the table on Tamiroff in the end, have some great scenes together and separately.

Robin and Rainger's score consists of The Funny Old Hills, a cowboy ballad that is a personal favorite of mine, I Have Eyes which he sings as a duet via telephone with Ross, You're A Sweet Little Headache which Bing expresses his feeling for Gaal tongue in cheek and finally Joobalai which is one of the few huge production numbers in 30s Bing Crosby film. Nice, but boy what Busby Berkeley could have done here.

Gaal was a continental cabaret entertainer who Cecil B. DeMille discovered and tried to make a star, just like his rival producer Sam Goldwyn tried with Anna Sten. Paris Honeymoon was one of only two other films she made before returning to Europe just in time for World War II.

There's another number, sort of. One night Bing and butler Edward Everett Horton try to spook Gaal from the castle. Bing plays a disembodied head who is rolled down the dark hallway singing, I Ain't Got Nobody for a couple of lines. When Decca released the Bing's Hollywood record series, they included a great jazz recording that Crosby made with Woody Herman's band a couple of years after Paris Honeymoon was out.

I can't forget Edward Everett Horton who's prissy stuffiness provided a great foil for many stars. At that time primarily known for his work with Fred Astaire, Horton and Bing work well together and it's a pity they didn't do more.

A few months after Paris Honeymoon was released, Europe was at war and that mythical village of Pushtalnik would have been caught up in it. But we Americans like our escapist entertainment and Paris Honeymoon certainly fills that bill.

Bing Crosby starred in some great films (i.e. 'Holiday Inn' and 'Going My Way') but also a few not so good ones (i.e. the 1956 version of 'Anything Goes'). 'Paris Honeymoon' is a minor, and pretty much forgotten, film, but it is a pleasant diversion and nothing more or less.

The title is misleading at the very least. There is a little bit of Paris, but it is more Ruritania than Paris (probably done because it sounds catchier?) and there's no honeymoon. That however is a nit-pick and not really a flaw. There are things that stop it from being great, but there are a good many good things to make 'Paris Honeymoon' very much watchable.

Franciska Gaal agreed is irritating and displays very little warmth or charm. The plot, while still warm-hearted and light-footed, is pretty paper thin nonsense, and although there is some enormously fun comic relief from Akim Tamiroff and especially Edward Everett Horton, the script is every bit as flimsy in places. The songs have been criticised for being forgettable, well they are not the most memorable in a Bing Crosby film or any musical for that matter but they are pleasantly tuneful.

Crosby however carries 'Paris Honeymoon' with ease, it is a reasonably early film in his filmography and he is much more comfortable than in some of his earlier roles. As ever he also sings a dream. Shirley Ross is also charming, and Horton and Tamiroff are very funny, Rafaela Ottiano also. Ben Blue is amusing too, though one can't help think of Harpo Marx when seeing Blue, except not as good.

It is a good looking film too, hardly a cheapo while also not being elaborate. There are two particularly great scenes, when Horton gets water spilt over him by Ottiano and particularly the scene in the castle.

All in all, a pleasant if not exactly great film. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I like Crosby, but this is definitely not a memorable movie. It's a rather late case of American goes to Ruritania, the land of endless Viennese operettas. (In fact, the movie's title is misleading: only a short time is spent in Paris, and there is no honeymoon here. Most of the movie takes place in Ruritania.) There are the usual complications. Crosby's character meets a young peasant girl who is, as one of the other reviewers notes, very annoying. Why he would forsake Shirley Ross for her I don't understand.

The music is forgettable, and that sinks any chance of remembering this otherwise unmemorable if pleasant effort.