Poster for “Honeymoon in Bali.” (Paramount Pictures)
For those who feel something is missing in their lives—especially successful businesswomen—I recommend the entertaining movie “Honeymoon in Bali” from 1939. This Paramount Production stars Fred MacMurray, Madeleine Carroll, and Allan Jones.
An Independent Woman
Gail Allen (Carroll), a New York department store’s manager, believes her life is complete, with an efficient office, a lovely apartment, and a low-pressure beau, Eric Sinclair (Jones). In a restaurant one day, her fortune is told: She will meet a handsome stranger from Bali, have a child, and return to Bali with the man.
She scoffs at the fortune, but her cousin Lorna “Smitty” Smith (Helen Broderick) hopes the prediction will come true. That same day, Gail meets Bill Burnett (MacMurray), an American visiting New York from Bali. Immediately attracted to each other, they begin going out, but Gail is frustrated by Bill’s old-fashioned ideas about women. She sees another side of him when she meets Rosie (Carolyn Lee), his little ward….