Lost Honeymoon (1947) User Reviews

A new Tone on the subject of amnesia.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 28 March 2014]

Imagine to return home after the war with little memory of your last days and all of a sudden find that you had a wife and child that you didn't know you had. That is the theme of this sweet, if preposterous comedy, where the wife dies and the child's nurse arrives with the kid and in order to make sure the child whom she has grown to love gets a home pretends to be the dead wife. Sound unbelievable beyond belief? My first thoughts exactly, and while the screenplay may slight on reality, it doesn't slight on entertainment. Franchot Tone is a bit long in the tooth to be believable as a World War II hero (after all, he was acting in glossy MGM soaps of the early '30's) but there you have it, and he runs with it in spite of that. He's engaged to the bitchy Frances Rafferty, and a friendly rival (Tom Conway) goes after the fake wife (Ann Richards) in attempts to create more of a romantic quadrangle which you know instantly what the outcome will be.

Some great comic supporting players (Clarence Kolb and Una O'Connor) round out the cast, and Winston Severn is adorable as the young son. There's all sorts of comical confusion as Richards arrives at the hotel just as Tone is celebrating his upcoming wedding to the shrill Rafferty, and all sorts of chaos ensues as the press moves in for the kill. This is the type of film where you must suspend all disbelief and just accept it for what it is, post-war comic entertainment of a softer screwball nature. Considering that the post-war years of Hollywood had little to offer in the way of comedy (both on screen and behind the scenes), this is a nice little distraction in the historical sense. Joseph Fields, a very talented writer of some of the best comedies of the 1940's and 50's, came up with this sweet concoction, and if it ain't no "My Sister Eileen", its certainly better than a lot of the comic misfires Hollywood threw at audiences of the time.

Ridiculous but amusing!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 8 February 2018]

A ridiculous but reasonably amusing comedy of manners that is held together by the efforts of an amiable cast led by Franchot Tone, Tom Conway, Ann Richards, Frances Rafferty and particularly Clarence Kolb.

Pacy direction by Leigh Jason from the start and almost to the climax -- where it tends to stall a bit -- helps overcome the constant twisting of the plot in its amiable efforts to get the scenario past the censor.

Just how well Jason succeeds is a matter for the viewer, not the critic. I would not be surprised if the movie had amassed ratings from zero to a hundred here at IMDb.

Personally, I thought that the movie held together rather well until the action reached a climax that in my view was both too far nonsensical on the one hand and too much of an obvious sell-out to the Legion of Decency on the other.

But you can't say the cast and the director were asleep on the job! Production values are reasonably enticing. The film is available on a very good quality Alpha DVD.

Worth watching due to actors' performances

[dickyadams · 5/10 · 3 August 2019]

From a social point of view, the setup of this is quite interesting as it lightheartedly shows the post war problem of kids left behind by their forces dads returning to the USA. Some criticise it for being a ridiculous setup but the lead character is actually just trying to get a better life by taking advantage of the situation. How many people were desperate to escape ruined Britain at that time? Passport to Pimlico dealt with exactly the same problem but in a much superior way. This film's setup is a bit silly but then lots are.

This is an average comedy in the end but it's played well by the actors and isn't a waste of time at all.

A Far-Fetched Story

[Snow Leopard · 27 June 2001]

With a far-fetched and often silly story, "Lost Honeymoon" is only mildly entertaining, and that mainly because of some decent performances by a mostly good cast. The romantic comedy story itself doesn't work very well.

Franchot Tone stars as a successful American architect who one day is confronted by an Englishwoman with two children, who claims to have married him when he served in England during World War II. The architect doesn't remember anything about it. Both the architect and the woman have secrets of their own, leading to an initially complicated, then rather silly, situation. While at times mildly entertaining, the story gets completely predictable very quickly, and is never very believable.

The only thing that keeps the movie from being a total loss is that the cast does a mostly acceptable job with some ridiculous characters. They do make you care a little bit about the characters, even though they are not very credible. Tone, in particular, does as well as anyone could with his situation. But this movie would only be of any real interest to those who enjoy all romantic comedies regardless of quality.

Memento Twins from a lost marriage

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 29 September 2011]

Lost Honeymoon which was produced by the short lived Eagle-Lion studio is a somewhat silly comedy about a man who married while he was having a bout of amnesia. He went back to America where he is now a successful architect and set to marry the boss's daughter.

But the wife he married in wartime Great Britain has died and her best friend has taken the two small mementos of the short lived marriage. And the friend has forged the passport in the name of the deceased wife. That can and does raise the eyebrows of immigration officials.

Franchot Tone is the lucky man about to find out he's a proud father of twins and Ann Richards plays the woman pretending to be his wife. This sad to say is just plain bizarre. Why not just get a passport and take them over yourself? The premise of this comedy is just plain silly.

Frances Rafferty is the boss's daughter and Clarence Kolb her choleric father. Tom Conway chips in with a rather droll performance as Tone's doctor and best friend who takes an interest in Richards himself.

It strikes me but this whole plot premise was done in a most serious vein and much better in Random Harvest.

Though Franchot Tone does not ever wear a tuxedo, he almost does but not quite, he does spend a great deal of the last 10 minutes of the film being chased by cops driving an automobile in his pajamas.

A really fine group of players in roles type cast for them can't really raise Lost Honeymoon above the mediocre.

Lost Honeymoon

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 1 January 2023]

Franchot Tone is "Johnny", an architect soon to marry "Lois" (Frances Rafferty). With the wedding day looming, all is ready until he receives a telegram telling him that his wife and two children are coming to visit from London. What wife and children, thinks he? A jest, surely. Thing is, he was in London so could it be true? Could he possibly have forgotten something quite that momentous? The arrival of "Amy" (Ann Richards) and her two kids throws multiple spanners into his life: his relationship and job are all on the line as we move, quite entertainingly, to establish just what is true! Tom Conway has some fun as his doctor ""Bob" and there is an always welcome cameo from Una O'Connor ("Mrs. Tubbs") at the start to set it off. The humour is all a wee bit predicable but Leigh Jason does manage to keep us guessing for some of the time; there is a bit of on-screen chemistry and some of the dialogue - especially at the start, is quite witty. It's a characterful film, not a memorable one - and I quite enjoyed it.

It Looks Like Franchot Tone Lost An Election Bet

[boblipton · 5/10 · 30 September 2019]

Ann Richards' friend and the mother of twins has just died. Apparently she was married to Franchot Tone during the War. Meanwhile, Tone is back in the US, about to marry Frances Rafferty. This will be explained by Tom Conway, Tone's best friend and doctor, as amnesia. Miss Richards, masquerading as the dead woman, comes to the US and says she is his wife, and these are your children. Complications ensue in a plot that becomes so fragmented that Tone has to wake Conway every night to explain what's going on.

There are some good lines in this movie written by Joseph Fields. Clarence Kolb seems to have more than his fair share of them, but perhaps Kolb, trouper that he is, is simply better at speaking them. Tone adopts an expression of satisfied stupidity that reminds me of Stan Laurel as time goes on, and Miss Richards speaks her lines as simply as possible, probably in an effort not to be held responsible. This is an Eagle-Lion production, produced by Arthur Krim and his crew as they worked at taking what had been PRC, and making it respectable. It seems to have been very early in the process.

Painfully bad.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 18 September 2014]

Despite the presence of Franchot Tone and Ton Conway, "Lost Honeymoon" is a truly dreadful film--with a stupid premise and amazingly bad writing. It made me cringe and I pray that you read this review and think twice about seeing this turkey.

When the film begins, you learn that a British lady has died and her twin children are being kept by her landlady. However, there IS a father--some American named John Gray. So, an amazingly stupid lady (Ann Richards) decides she's going to go to the States to find the man--a guy who married the now dead lady while was stationed in Britain during the war. However, instead of going about this is a sane manner, she decides to tell the Red Cross that she IS the dead woman and gets them to pay for her voyage with the two children. Once she's in America, she seems to automatically know that THE John Gray she wants is the one played by Tone--even though it's a relatively common name and he might not be the one. So, despite having no hard evidence, she strikes like a blitzkrieg--not caring what sort of repercussions there might be.

Now if this isn't bad enough (and amazingly contrived), it turns out that this Gray might just be the one. However (uggh, this is bad writing), he doesn't know if he is or isn't because he had a head injury and six weeks of his life are missing. During that time he MIGHT have gotten married and fathered the kids--but he doesn't know! Later (in yet another badly written twist), he learns that the woman pretending to be his wife is a liar...and he now is in love with her and must have her!!!

The bottom line is that none of this film makes sense. It's built on one dopey premise after another and the movie is one of the most contrived and silly films I've ever seen. The end result is impossible to believe, quite stupid and really a waste of decent actors. Not worth your bothering with this one.

A Lost Memory

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 1 May 2012]

In Great Britain, an American man fathers some children during World War II service. He seems to desert them, but may actually have amnesia. The mother goes to America where she finds the man does not remember having amnesia. He is going to marry another woman, which would give him two wives. However, the man begins to like the wife and children he doesn't remember. He must choose between the two women, but also please the new one's father who happens to be his boss. This movie originally seemed average, but a second viewing has made me forget some of the finer points.

*** Lost Honeymoon (3/47) Leigh Jason ~ Franchot Tone, Ann Richards, Tom Conway, Frances Rafferty

Wonderful film

[stevo-cask · 8/10 · 27 November 2019]

I couldn't disagree more with the other review of this film. I watched it alone on Talking Pictures a few days ago and I thought it was wonderful. The appearance of Una O'Connor at the the start, the very two very attractive ladies in the female lead parts and Franchot Tone with his wonderful comedic touch. The depiction of post war America etc etc. I loved it all and went to bed a happy man

Zany humor, love: complete screwball!

[adrianovasconcelos · 8/10 · 8 June 2023]

Leigh Jason is so unknown to me that I even entertained the possibility that he might be a she (no doubt because of that great actress and beauty, Vivian!)

Anyway, no biggie! It set me on the right ramp to launch LOST HONEYMOON, which opens with the news of the passing of a mother of twins in England, with the husband living in the USA. A close friend (Richards) of the deceased decides that the father must live up to his responsibilities in regard to the children and she impersonates the deceased by using her passport (back in 1947 that was far more possible than today, and even today it is still done to forge your identity, so no dent on reality there!)

At a frenzied pace the spectator learns that good old Franchot is about to marry beautiful Rafferty, completely amnesic about the fact that he had already tied the knot in England some years earlier. That sets in motion a series of funny developments with Franchot in good form, ably assisted by good friend Conway who himself is interested in Richards, who seems deeply moved by Franchot who is betrothed to Rafferty, with her rich dad in tow...

I watched a poor copy that did not permit rating cinematographic quality, but the script by Joseph Fields deserves plaudits for sharp zingers, twists and turns.

I loved it right to the clever ending. 8/10.