The 1916 Alice Duer Miller play
Come Out of the Kitchen, previously filmed in 1921 with
Marguerite Clark, was expertly transformed into early musical Honey. The story takes place in a poverty-stricken Virginia household, where blue-blooded brother and sister Olivia and Charles Dangerfield (
Nancy Carroll and Skeets Gallagher) are reduced to renting out their mansion. Pretentious Yankee dowager Mrs. Falkner (
Jobyna Howland) moves in with her spunky daughter Cora (
Lillian Roth) in tow, while Olivia and Charles remain as servants. It isn't long before Cora has fallen in love with Charles, and Olivia has done likewise with Cora's former fiancee Burton Crane (Stanley Smith). The songs range from the self-spoofing "In My Little Hope Chest" to the lively "Sing You Sinners" (later used as a jazzy leitmotif in several Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons!) The Alice Duer Miller original was filmed again in 1934 as the British comedy
Come Out of the Pantry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide