Operation Petticoat (1959)

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.

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Stanley Shapiro (screenplay), Maurice Richlin (screenplay),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

A submarine newly commissioned is damaged in the opening days of WW II. A captain, looking for a command insists he can get it to a dockyard and captain it. Going slowly to this site, they find a stranded group of Army nurses and must take them aboard. How bad can it get? Trying to get a primer coat on the sub, they have to mix white and red in order to have enough. When forced to flee the dock during an air attack, they find themselves with the world's only Pink submarine, still with 5 women in the tight quarters of a submarine.

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | nurse | sailor woman relationship | witch doctor | friendly fire | 

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Taglines:

Submerged with 5 Girls...No wonder the S.S. Sea Tiger turned a Shocking Pink!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1959 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Anáguas a Bordo

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI), Granart Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 120 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

The destroyer shown attempting to sink the Sea Tiger is the USS Wren, DD-568, which was not commissioned until 20 May 1944.

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Quotes

Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman: Have you ever been to sea?
Lt. Nicholas Holden: Yes, Sir. Destroyer duty.
Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman: How did you find time for it?
Lt. Nicholas Holden: It was a mistake, Sir. About a week after I left Honolulu, they got it straightened out.
Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman: Who? The Admiral or the Admiral's wife? She must be awfully upset with you stranded out here. That will probably cost her the rumba championship this year!

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Connections

Remade as Operation Petticoat: Operation Petticoat (1977)

User Reviews

Top talent makes this a winner.

There's really no reason to expect that this easy-going military comedy should hold up so well after almost 50 years. While extremely popular as a Christmas release in '59, it then boasted two top box office stars to bring in the crowds, which most critics agreed were the primary attraction supporting some rather thin and predictable material. But the merits are considerably more than reviewers originally gave credit for, and the film endures as a cleverly crafted entertainment on several levels. Its uncomplicated premise accommodates humor less derived from incident than from character and situation, making it seem far less pretentious than most films of its kind. Service comedies of this period tend to follow a pattern set by MR. ROBERTS, which was based on a hugely successful stage play and quite reverent to those origins. PETTICOAT is far more spontaneous, so even if plot threads tend to be a bit familiar, its the delivery rather than the content which holds our attention. Of course it doesn't hurt to have Cary Grant at the peak of his powers, hitting all the right notes, balancing the role of naval officer with innate dedication combined with his own charismatic charm and seemingly effortless humor, a performance which is both naturalistic and funny. Curtis, too, had found his groove at this point (he had just completed his tour de force for Billy Wilder, SOME LIKE IT HOT) contributing just the right balance of ingenuousness and star-of-the-month savvy to make his `second banana' role a success. But the lion's share of the credit must go to Blake Edwards, then in the early stages of his most successful period as a master comedy craftsman, boisterous yet sophisticated, among the last of a breed of Hollywood stylists on the rise at a time when the old studio system was nearing its end.