Watch It, Sailor! (1961) User Reviews

Unsatisfactory remake

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 20 October 2012]

It was not till i looked at the entries for this film and Sailor Beware that my suspicions were confirmed,that this film was a remake of Sailor Beware.Albeit that the plot has been changed ever so slightly.Even Cyril Smith plays the same role as in the original.The problem is that if you have seen the original then unfortunately there is not a great deal of point in watching this film as it is inferior in most ways.The cast is not as good and the funny lines are few and far between.Dennis Price has star billing but is only present for about 10 minutes.The cast tries its best but it has to be said that Marjorie Rhodes is no match for the original battle axe,Peggy Mount.It is difficult to understand why Hammer lurched out of horror to make this film.Maybe it shows the straits to which the film industry had fallen at this moment in time.

Hello sailor!

[JohnSeal · 4/10 · 4 May 2009]

How many other Hammer films have yet to receive a single IMDb comment--until now, of course? Not many I'll reckon, and we must, naturally, thank the ever wonderful TCM for this one. Hammer didn't produce many comedies, and after you watch Watch It, Sailor! you'll probably be grateful they didn't. Directed by Wolf Rilla, whose 1960 effort Village of the Damned remains a horror classic, the film headlines Dennis Price as a Royal Navy officer who intrudes into a pending wedding ceremony involving one of his sailors. Though the 'star' of the film, Price doesn't even make an appearance until almost half way through the proceedings! Watch It Sailor! is a mediocre but inoffensive comedy of errors with lots of familiar faces, including Frankie Howerd (enjoying himself as a rather twitchy church organist) and Irene Handl as a spinster aunt. Pleasant enough, but you will completely forget about it as soon as it's over.

Contender for Hammer's weakest comedy

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 18 May 2018]

WATCH IT, SAILOR! is one of the weakest Hammer comedies I've watched, a far cry from A WEEKEND WITH LULU which was made around the same time. It's apparently a remake of a film called SAILOR BEWARE and tells a small-scale drama about romance, weddings, and some sailors causing a fuss when they're back on shore. The film is studded with familiar faces but none of them get very much to do here and the comedy is very weak and dated, never raising a smile once. Dennis Price is prominently billed but only appears for fifteen minutes or so while the lovely Liz Fraser has her own comedy talents completely wasted. Frankie Howerd's role amounts to nothing more than a cameo although he still manages to be very funny in that time. Marjorie Rhodes and Irene Handl work hard with their incessant bickering but there's no disguising this film's dull script.

Hammer Potboiler

[richardchatten · 2/10 · 28 March 2020]

Although the title indicates something nautical (which would have meant the expense of filming on board a ship), this vaguely saucy farce based on a 1960 sequel to the stage hit 'Sailor Beware!' like the original is strictly a domestic affair. It kept Stage 1 at Bray busy throughout February 1961 and demonstrated Hammer Films' versatility in being indistinguishable from countless other cheap black & white comedies of the era.

Marjorie Rhodes has huge shoes to fill in the absence of Peggie Mount, but there's no shortage of other funny females in the form of Irene Handl, Liz Fraser and Miriam Karlin.

The viewer suffers as much as the poor family.

[mark.waltz · 2/10 · 30 April 2022]

I can tolerate cackling harpies in motion pictures, but the character played by Marjorie Rhodes is in practically every scene so after a while, her presence really begins to really grate on the nerves of the audience other than the few moments where people get to tell her off, which is few and far between. In the privacy of my own home, I was able to yell at my screen in frustration over her shrieking, and had I seen this in a motion picture theater, I would have had to walk out because I couldn't hold my tongue. I wish the same could be said for the people in any room with her at any time within the film, including complete strangers. She is one of the most insufferable excuses for a family matriarch, and absolutely unfunny in every way. Obviously either Rhodes or the director needed to rein it in, because after a while, she turns this film into a headache enducing bore.

Rhodes' daughter is engaged to marry a sailor, and all of a sudden, a telegram arrives demanding to stop the wedding. Rhodes jumps to conclusions, basically holds him hostage against his will, and when a naval officer arrives with the reason why, further judgments from this cackling monster escape from her battle-axe lips. Things get worse when they end up in a train station and she is extremely rude to everybody around, and by this time, I wanted to see her tied to the railroad tracks. The supporting cast is boulderized by her arrogant performance, so spending time with this family becomes a very unpleasant experience even at under 90 minutes. Discovering that this is a remake of a previous British film makes me wonder if the original was any more subtle than this. Cyril Smith as her nagged to death husband gets a round of applause when he tells her off. This is a type of film where aspirin rather than popcorn is a must.

Irene Handl

[adeans-63119 · 10/10 · 18 February 2020]

If anything, this film is well worth watching for Irene Handl alone - her part of the dotty, old aunt had me in stitches, she's simply superb in this !

The bonus is Liz Fraser and Vera Day - 2 of Britain's sexiest, beautiful ladies had me pining for 'The old days' !