The title Second Honeymoon (1937) is misleading.  The titular term refers to a married couple having a romantic interlude at a later point in their relationship, the idea being to rekindle the sparks they felt in those heady first days of their marriage.  That is not what happens in this movie.  Instead, it reinforces my one bugaboo about classic cinema: that being wedded to someone seems like an even more fluid concept than it is today.  This particularly strikes me every time I see a wedding taking place in one of these films as happens in this one.  Rarely do they take place in a church of any denomination, and it is even more rare that the two people devote any time to get to know one another.  I get that a motion picture only has so many reels in which to resolve a plot, but sometimes it is ridiculous.  Thus, if I ever find myself at the altar with a bride, be sure that it will only be after I have gone through the steps the Church has proscribed for these ceremonies.  By doing so, I hope to avoid the insanity I am about to describe to you.

Second Honeymoon begins with a different kind of insanity than already discussed, as in it hops right in to the two main characters running into each other while on vacation in Miami.  We do not know Vicky Benton (Loretta Young) or Raoul McLiesh (Tyrone Power), but they know each other, having been each other’s first spouse.  It is also evident that there are still feelings between them as she is flustered and he slyly pretends not to notice.  Instead, she invites him to meet her husband, Bob Benton (Lyle Talbot), and the rest of their party.  Bob and Raoul hit it off immediately, a situation Vicky is not thrilled with in the moment.  After the night is over, Vicky assures Bob of her love for him when the subject of Raoul is brought up before bed.  As for said subject, he is informing his valet, Leo MacTavish (Stuart Erwin), who Raoul had absent mindedly hired, that the two will be staying in the Sunshine State a little longer than expected.  There is a repeat of the dining and dancing the following evening, but this time Raoul brings Joy (Marjorie Weaver), a young lady he picked up while in town.  She obviously comes from a different socio-economic stratum than the others at the table, but she charms them all the same, especially Bob.  Mr. Benton spends the majority of the night cheek-to-cheek with Joy on the ballroom floor, later “getting fresh” with her on the beach.  This is something she reveals to Raoul later as he drives her home.  He does not mind, of course, because his absence gave him more of an opportunity to chat with Vicky.  On the morrow, Joy goes to visit Raoul to thank him for the evening, but finds him and his companion overserved.  Instead, she chats with Leo, and a romance develops between the effervescent young lady and the shy valet.  Strangely enough, Raoul’s companion comes up with the idea of spear fishing, and he invites the Bentons and their friends to go out on the water at night for the sport.  An excited Raoul thrills Vicky when he harpoons a massive sting ray.  This is when Raoul’s charm wears off for Bob as the fish almost sinks their boat, somehow.  Grumpy, Bob demands they right away turn around and head for shore.  Hours on, neither Raoul or Vicky can sleep, and they find each other on a dock, reminiscing about how they met and why she left.  I am still fuzzy on these details, but it appears that, like all these silver screen couples, they rushed into their vows.  Without proper discernment as us Catholics do, she found that while she loved his free-spirited nature, she felt she had other priorities like starting a family.  Before they can get any more familiar, he suggests that they go back to bed.  In the morning, he is once again determined to leave when he finds out that it is Bob who must go, needing to return north to deal with a strike going on at one of his factories.  Raoul offers Bob the former’s plane ticket, seeing it as an opportunity to spend more time with Vicky.  This they inevitably do, ending up at a secluded and romantic part of the beach.  Even though she is with someone else, she admits that she does not want again to lose Raoul.  They kiss, but they are still unsure as to how to proceed.  This, unsurprisingly, is when the trouble begins to occur.  The first bit of bad news is when Vicky’s friend with whom she has been staying, Marcia (Claire Trevor), informs Vicky that the gossip columns are beginning to talk about her involvement with Raoul.  Next comes a missed phone call with Bob, which, when they do connect, is full of demands from him that she immediately come to him.  Not enjoying being ordered around, Vicky tells her husband that he can wait a day.  In the meantime, she intends to go away with Raoul.  However, when she runs to catch him at the airport, she finds Joy, newly married to Leo (see?!), and mistakes her for Raoul’s bride.  At the same time, Bob has flown down and is on the hunt for his wife.  With Vicky going back to Marcia’s, Bob motors to the airport only to encounter Raoul.  The two get into a fistfight over Vicky and are taken to jail.  When Vicky arrives, she bails out Bob with a number of members of the press standing by to capture the drama.  Instead of being thankful, Bob scolds Vicky for the trouble she has supposedly caused him.  She will have none of it, and an angry but defeated Bob leaves alone.  In the next moment, Joy comes to police headquarters to clear up the confusion with Raoul.  Once Raoul is out of jail, he and Vicky are free to fly off to their next adventure.

I guess one could call Raoul and Vicky flying away together at the end of the film to be their Second Honeymoon?  If it is, they skipped some steps, or we were not shone a quicky divorce from Bob and marriage to Raoul.  One could call me a stick in the mud Catholic for noting the irregularity of these proceedings.  After all, is it not more romantic that it should all happen in this manner?  The problem is that, in Catholicism, marriage is serious, something we call a “sacrament.”  In its most basic form, this essentially means making a promise to God.  We take, or at least I hope we do, making pledges to our family and friends seriously.  It is hard to trust a person who does not return that sentiment.  If this is true, then why would it be any different with God?  God never lets us down despite us constantly doing so for Him, and yet He loves us all the same.  The covenant we make with one another in Holy matrimony should have the same level of commitment, or at least attempt to approach it.  In this light, what the movie wants you to see as romantic is not how God would view the same situation.  Indeed, I am not sure this story is in keeping with treating others with the dignity the Church calls us to do.  For example, while Bob turns out to not be the greatest guy, he deserves better than what he gets.  It is not a stretch to say that the only reason Raoul is in Miami is to steal his wife.  That is adultery, to be blunt, and Vicky is as guilty as the others.  I typically do not like to be so definitive with such pronunciations as it is not necessarily my place to do so.  At the same time, it is useful to identify such things, if only interiorly, and know what is of God and what is not.

Second Honeymoon is un-Godly, but it is not demonic.  In many respects, it is lighthearted.  It is just that the characters involved are making poor decisions.  Additionally, God’s mercy does not end when we screw up.  If we come to Him with a contrite heart, we can experience the most incredible of graces of forgiveness through another sacrament, that of Reconciliation.  You might say that is what happens in this movie between Raoul and Vicky, but it is better with God.