''Honeymoon in Bali'' is a 1939 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film. It is also known by the alternative titles ''Husbands or Lovers'' and ''My Love for Yours''. Virginia Van Upp's screenplay was based on the short stories "Our Miss Keane" by Grace Sartwell Mason in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' of May 24, 1923, and "Free Woman" by Katharine Brush in ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...

'' magazine of November–December 1936. In 1936 Paramount announced a film of ''Our Miss Keane'' to star

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress. She began her acting career in British cinema in the early 1930s, with a breakout role in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). She ...

to be produced.''The Argus'' November 28, 1936

Plot

On a rainy April afternoon in New York City, the head of a major department store, Gail Allen, meets her second cousin and best friend Lorna for afternoon tea. Her cousin, an author of love stories set in the South Seas, invites a resident fortune teller to predict Gail's future. At first the reading sounds like a hundred others, until she foresees her having a child and meeting a man whose arm was cut by a native's rice knife. The fortune teller predicts, as Neptune is in her sign at the moment, she could find herself walking down a street and taking an unexpected turn where things would change. Thinking that her career will come first, Gail does not like her predicted future but finds herself taking an unexpected turn that takes her into a shop that sells sailboats. There she meets Bill Burnett, who lives in Bali, and is holidaying in New York. Beginning with Bill's injury from a native's rice knife, all of the predictions eventually come to pass. Burnett has adopted a little girl, Rosie (Carolyn Lee) who Gail takes an immediate liking to, if not her father. She also receives unsolicited advice from a philosophical window washer (Akim Tamiroff).

Cast

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

as Bill "Willie" Burnett *

Madeleine Carroll Marie-Madeleine Bernadette O'Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and in America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Ca ...

as Gail Allen * Allan Jones as Eric Sinclair *

Akim Tamiroff Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff (born Hovakim Tamiryants; October 29, 1899 – September 17, 1972) was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff developed a pr ...

as Tony, the window washer * Helen Broderick as Lorna "Smitty" Smith * Osa Massen as Noel Van Ness * Carolyn Lee as Rosie *

Astrid Allwyn Astrid Allwyn (born Astrid Christofferson; November 27, 1905 – March 31, 1978) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Allwyn was born in South Manchester, Connecticut, part of a family that included four sisters and a brot ...

as Fortune Teller *

Georgia Caine Georgiana Caine (October 30, 1876 – April 4, 1964) was an American actress who performed both on Broadway and in more than 80 films in her 51-year career. Early career Born in San Francisco, California in 1876, the daughter of two Sha ...

as Miss Stone, Gail's secretary *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

as Meek Man *

Fritzi Brunette Fritzi Brunette (born Florence Brunet; May 27, 1890 – September 28, 1943) was an American actress. Early years Fritzi Brunette was born Florence Brunet in Savannah, Georgia, or in Boston although some sources list her birthname as Florence Si ...

as Secretary * William B. Davidson as Store Detective * Benny Bartlett as Jack, the singing telegram boy * Charles Lane as Photographer (uncredited) *

Monty Woolley Edgar Montillion "Monty" Woolley (August 17, 1888May 6, 1963) was an American film and theater actor.Obituary '' Variety'', May 8, 1963, page 223. At the age of 50, he achieved a measure of stardom for his role in the 1939 stage play '' The Man ...

as Parker, Lorna's publisher (uncredited)

Reception

A review from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', on October 5, 1939, says "'Honeymoon in Bali' Is Delightfully Easy To Take!" The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' review from October 13, 1939, says "'Honeymoon in Bali' Light, Romantic Comedy."

Alternate names

* ''Are Husbands Necessary?'' (working title; later used by Paramount for an unrelated 1942 comedy with

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

and

Betty Field Betty Field (February 8, 1916 – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress. Early years Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch) Field. She began acting before she reached age 15, and went ...

) * ''Husbands or Lovers'' (UK) * ''My Love for Yours'' (video title)

Quotes

"There's not a wall between freedom and loneliness, you can fall into it without warning" - Lorna

References

External links

* * *
Los Angeles Times Review

{{Edward H. Griffith 1939 films 1930s English-language films Paramount Pictures films 1939 romantic comedy films Films based on short fiction Films set in New York City Films set in Indonesia Films directed by Edward H. Griffith American black-and-white films Films based on multiple works American romantic comedy films 1930s American films English-language romantic comedy films