The Honeymoon Machine is a 1961

1961 in film

The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...

 film starring Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...

, Brigid Bazlen

Brigid Bazlen

Brigid Mary Bazlen was an American actress. Although she made only three Hollywood films, The Honeymoon Machine, King of Kings, and How the West Was Won, because all three remain popular films from the early 1960s, she is still remembered...

, Jim Hutton

Jim Hutton

Dana James Hutton , usually credited as Jim Hutton, was an American actor in film and television probably best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name.-Early life and career:...

, Paula Prentiss

Paula Prentiss

Paula Ragusa , better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation...

, Jack Mullaney

Jack Mullaney

Jack Mullaney was an American actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mullaney acted in several television series and films throughout his career....

, and Dean Jagger

Dean Jagger

Dean Jagger was an Academy Award winning American film actor.-Career:Born Ira Dean Jagger in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Jagger made his film debut in The Woman from Hell with Mary Astor...

, based on the 1959 Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 play The Golden Fleecing by Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Lorenzo Semple Jr. is an American screenwriter and sometime playwright, best known for his work on the campy television series Batman and the political/paranoia movie thrillers The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor .-Early work:Semple's writing career started in 1951, as a short story...

. In the film, three men devise a plan to win at roulette with a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 computer. The scheme works until an admiral ruins their plans.

Cast

• Steve McQueen
  Steve McQueen
  Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
  
   - Lt. Ferguson 'Fergie' Howard
• Brigid Bazlen
  Brigid Bazlen
  Brigid Mary Bazlen was an American actress. Although she made only three Hollywood films, The Honeymoon Machine, King of Kings, and How the West Was Won, because all three remain popular films from the early 1960s, she is still remembered...
  
   - Julie Fitch
• Jim Hutton
  Jim Hutton
  Dana James Hutton , usually credited as Jim Hutton, was an American actor in film and television probably best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name.-Early life and career:...
  
  - Jason Eldridge
• Paula Prentiss
  Paula Prentiss
  Paula Ragusa , better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation...
  
   - Pam Dunstan
• Dean Jagger
  Dean Jagger
  Dean Jagger was an Academy Award winning American film actor.-Career:Born Ira Dean Jagger in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Jagger made his film debut in The Woman from Hell with Mary Astor...
  
   - Admiral Fitch
• Jack Weston - Signalman Burford Taylor
• Jack Mullaney
  Jack Mullaney
  Jack Mullaney was an American actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mullaney acted in several television series and films throughout his career....
  
   - Lt. Beauregard 'Beau' Gilliam
• Marcel Hillaire - Inspector of casino games
• Ben Astar - Russian consul
• William Lanteau - Tommy Dane
• Ken Lynch - Capt. James Angle
• Simon Scott - Capt. Harvey Adam

Plot

Civilian scientist Jason Eldridge (Hutton) runs Magnetic Analyzer Computing Synchrotron (MACS), a vacuum-tube computer aboard the USS

United States Ship

United States Ship is a ship prefix used to identify a commissioned ship of the United States Navy and only applies to a ship while she is in commission. Before commissioning, she is referred to as "Pre Commissioning Unit" .After decommissioning, she is referred to by name, with no prefix.From the...

 Elmira. He and his friend LT

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 Ferguson Howard (McQueen) realize that, by using MACS to record a roulette

Roulette

Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....

 table's spins over time, the computer can predict future results

Betting strategy

A betting strategy or betting system is a structured approach to gambling intended to counter the inherent bias held by the house in casino and card games, by bookmakers in horseracing and sports betting, and other gambling situations...

. Howard and LTJG Beauregard Gilliam (Mullaney) check into a Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 casino's hotel dressed as civilians with Eldridge, defying Admiral Fitch's (Jagger) order that naval officers on shore avoid the casino and wear uniforms

Uniforms of the United States Navy

This article examines dress uniforms, daily service uniforms, working uniforms, special situations, and the history of uniforms of the United States Navy...

. They plan to use signal lamp

Signal lamp

A signal lamp is a visual signaling device for optical communication . Modern signal lamps are a focused lamp which can produce a pulse of light...

s to communicate with a confederate manning MACS on the Elmira.

At the hotel dedicated bachelor Howard meets and romances Julie Fitch (Bazlen), the admiral's daughter. Eldridge reunites with former girlfriend and heiress Pam Dunstan (Prentiss), in Venice to marry another man. The betting system is very effective, and the three men accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars in casino chips; the money gives Eldridge the confidence to propose to Dunstan. However, Admiral Fitch sees and investigates their signals; soon the Navy, the American and Soviet consulates, and Venice city authorities are on alert for a "revolution

Turn (geometry)

A turn is an angle equal to a 360° or 2 radians or \tau radians. A turn is also referred to as a revolution or complete rotation or full circle or cycle or rev or rot....

".

The gamblers get Signalman Burford Taylor (Weston), who finds their signal lamp, drunk to detain him, but Taylor escapes and reports to the admiral. Julie Fitch tells her father that she and Howard have "got to marry" each other to save him from court-martial

Court-martial

A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

. The Soviets accuse the Navy of using MACS to steal from the casino. To avoid an international incident Howard agrees to intentionally lose

Match fixing

In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...

his last bet, but a riot breaks out between Soviets, Americans, and Italians in the casino over the chips. The movie ends with newlyweds Howard and Fitch celebrating their honeymoon in the hotel.