Some people function better when things get hot. – Steve McQueen at
Lt. Ferguson
The Honeymoon Machine (1961) stars
Steve McQueen as Lt. Ferguson (Fergie). On
board a Navy ship is Ferguson and Jason Eldridge (
Jim Hutton), a scientist who has developed a computer sophisticated enough to
predetermine where a missile is going to land. Their first test run, Operation Honeymoon Machine, proves to be a success. In our digital age, looking back at a big clunky
computer called MACS is amusing at best.
When the ship docks in Venice, Italy,
Ferguson (McQueen), a big gambler, comes up with a plan to use MACS to predict where the ball
of a roulette wheel will land. If Ferguson, Jason and their two buddies can
manage it, they’ll make a killing at the local casino's roulette table.
Everything seems to be going according to plan until
Ferguson meets Admiral Fitch’s (
Dean Jagger)
daughter Julie (
Brigid Bazlen) and Jason (Jim Hutton) reunites with his old flame Pam (
Paula Prentiss) . Both ladies have marriage on their mind and Ferguson and Jason are even more
eager to win a boatload of money in order to secure a future with both dames.
However, Julie’s father, the Admiral, witnesses morse code signals being sent
from the docked ship to their hotel. What he doesn’t realize is that a sailor
is sending MACS predictions for the roulette wheel. The Admiral misinterprets
this as inside information about a potential Russian invasion. Can Ferguson and Jason
pull off Operation Honeymoon Machine with a nosy and paranoid Admiral snooping
around?
The movie's plot is really interesting but poorly executed. The
Honeymoon Machine suffers from the common problem of 1960s comedies that try to
be too zany and whacky at the expense of real humor. Steve McQueen had great
range and I believe he could do humor well. He did the best he could with such
a limited role. Also, the female characters are so weak. They both only seem to
be concerned with marriage. While Pam is adorably goofy, Julie is just plain
boring.
While this film is just plain ridiculous, I think there are a few
reasons for the 1960s film fan to watch it.
Steve McQueen playing an atypical fun role is very refreshing to
watch.
Yeah so I'm posting a picture of Steve McQueen half-naked. So what? Take that Google Search!
Fans of Where the Boys Are (1960) will recognize Jim Hutton (actor Timothy
Hutton’s father) and Paula Prentiss. According to IMDB, Hutton and Prentiss
were paired up romantically in four films because their height suited each
other. Hutton was 6’ 5” and Prentiss is 5’ 10”.
If you’ve seen King of Kings (1961), you’ll recognize Brigid Bazlen (Julie)
who played Salome in that film:
1960s Hollywood seemed to have a love affair with Italy and The
Honeymoon Machine, being set in Venice, is a perfect example of that. Fans of ‘60s
films will love the wardrobe, the set design, the fancy casino and gorgeous
Venice as a backdrop.
While The Honeymoon Machine (1961) is more palatable than really crazy
and just plain boring films from the decade, such as
Sex and the Single Girl (1964)
or
Lord Love a Duck (1966) , it should be reserved for those 1960s fans who can appreciate the decade’s kooky
films. And because I love kooky films, I think this one may deserve a future viewing so I can appreciate it more.
Useless and Morbid trivia bit: All of the stars of this film, except for Paula
Prentiss, have passed away. In my online research I discovered that Brigid
Balzen, Jim Hutton and Steve McQueen all succumbed to cancer at relatively
young ages: 44, 45 and 50 respectively.
Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I
review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Movies selected are rented
from Classicflix or purchased from Warner Archive, Classicflix or TCM. This series
is not sponsored by Warner Archive.
Isn't Paula Prentiss delightful?
