Operation Petticoat (1959) starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill, Gavin MacLeod, Marion Ross, Arthur O'Connell, Dick Sargent.
Director Blake Edwards delivered an above average service comedy with this movie made during the waning, yet still virile, years of the big studio system in Hollywood. The cast and crew read like a who's who of TV and movie household names in America.
"In confusion, there is profit."
Petticoat starts off slow, but is soon up to speed. Three days after Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), the submarine 'Sea Tiger' is damaged during an enemy air raid in the Philippines. Movie critic Leonard Maltin gives it his TCM best: "Hilarious comedy about submarine captain Grant who's determined to make his injured ship seaworthy again, and con artist Curtis who wheels and deals to reach that goal. Some truly memorable gags; Grant and Curtis are a dynamite team in this happy film. Remade for TV in 1977."
"We're well-acquainted with the facts of life, Captain." "Yes. So are my men. I want to prevent an exchange of information."
The petticoat in this operation refers to the 5 Army nurses rescued off an island outpost soon-to-be overrun by the Japanese. Commander Sherman (Cary Grant) immediately knows the trouble ahead - and it ain't the Japanese. Five women living in close quarters with an all-male submarine crew is a ready made script for entendre, sexual tension, and awkward situations. It's tame, even quaint, by today's standards, but very much a good popcorn movie for date night.
Screenplay by Stanley Shapiro & Maurice Richlin; nominated for an Academy Award. Full cast & crew here. Runtime 120 minutes.
Public domain; available on Youtube.
