Operation Petticoat (1959)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Paul King (story) and
Joseph Stone (story) ...

Release Date:

18 December 1959 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Tagline:

20,000 Laughs Under The Sea!

Plot:

World War 2 comedy about a submarine commander who finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) sub, a con-man executive officer and a group of army nurses.

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | Nurse | Pink | Scavenger | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman
Tony Curtis	...	Lt. JG Nicholas Holden
Joan O'Brien	...	Lt. Dolores Crandall RN
Dina Merrill	...	Lt. Barbara Duran RN
Gene Evans	...	Chief Molumphry
Dick Sargent	...	Ens. Stovall (as Richard Sargent)
Virginia Gregg	...	Maj. Edna Heywood RN
Robert F. Simon	...	Capt. J.B. Henderson
Robert Gist	...	Lt. Watson
Gavin MacLeod	...	Ernest Hunkle
George Dunn	...	The Prophet
Dick Crockett	...	Harmon
Madlyn Rhue	...	Lt. Reid RN
Marion Ross	...	Lt. Colfax RN
Clarence Lung	...	Sgt. Ramon Gillardo (as Clarence E. Lung)

Runtime:

124 min | Germany:100 min | Canada:120 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (PCA #19345) | Finland:K-12 | UK:U | West Germany:6 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Granart Company

Trivia:

Bob Hope always said it was his biggest regret that he turned down this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Holden is stealing the pig, he falls down in the mud and clearly gets the seat of his uniform muddy. Yet when he is climbing into the truck, the trousers are clean.

Quotes:

[Hunkle has revealed the picture of Gertie tattoed on his chest]
Lt. Nicholas Holden: [pointing to Gertie] They ought to hang you in the Lourve!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

Good Laughs, Interesting Cast

As with most movies from a different era, the attitudes are quite different. Feminists would hate this movie, if they saw it today. Hollywood would never make it now in first place, unless roles were reversed and men were made to look like sex objects. That would meet PC double standards.

Nonetheless, agendas aside, there is a lot of good humor in here; the story is interesting, and you get a well-known cast with Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Dina Merrill, Arthur O'Connell, Gavin MacLeod and Marian Ross. The latter went on to be big names on television more than movies, MacLeod on "Mary Tyler Moore" and Ross on "Happy Days."

This was Happy Days on a ship, at least when some attractive women board the vessel. Grant has the best lines in the film - speaking lines, that is. Good entertainment. Lots of laughs before the PC made it impossible to laugh at anything, including ourselves.