Operation Petticoat (1959)

World War II Navy commander Cary Grant (as Matt Sherman) wants to get his "Sea Tiger" submarine back in action, despite suffering serious damage during a Japanese air raid. He gets his wish, but has to take aboard some questionable crew members. Chief addition is wet-behind-the-ears Lieutenant Tony Curtis (as Nicholas "Nick" Holden), who comically clashes with Mr. Grant. When their laughs lines ebb, the ship takes on five female nurses, including shapely Joan O'Brien (as Dolores Crandall) and blonde Dina Merrill (as Barbara Duran). Then, having men and women share close quarters provides the situation comedy.Some films age well, and others don't. For evidence, consider that this one immediately followed Grant's "North by Northwest" and Curtis' "Some Like it Hot". Though directed by the accomplished Blake Edwards, most of the comedy sinks like a stone. Still, "Operation Petticoat" was huge hit - and, with Grant and Curtis on board, it couldn't miss. The promise of sexy women implicit in the title didn't hurt, either. Today, the film's main appeal isn't sex, but the supporting cast - credit familiar TV faces like Dick Sargent, Gavin McLeod, Marion Ross, and Arthur O'Connell with keeping a Cary Grant-Tony Curtis film afloat.***** Operation Petticoat (12/5/59) Blake Edwards ~ Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Arthur O'Connell, Dick Sargent

There's not a lot wrong with this unashamedly entertaining comedy which is exactly half a century old. In terms of Sound comedy, sophisticated as opposed to slapstick there was Wilder and Lubitsch and the all the rest but Blake Edwards isn't exactly chopped liver even if he is light years away from the two Masters. In terms of 'dog-robbers' James Garner showed Curtis how it was done in The Americanization Of Emily albeit the latter was better described as comedy drama and was a much better movie anyway you look at it but here we're looking for pleasant laughs rather than cynical laffs and overall it works even if we can foresee the ending a mile away. Cary Grant is his usual brilliant self and Tony Curtis tries to be good enough to play second banana though he was never going to come close. Highly enjoyable.

This is a light comedy which was done the same year Tony Curtis did his impression of Cary Grant in the movie Some Like It Hot. While this movie and the other are light comedies, this one is not quite as effective because in spite of a strong cast, it does not comes off quite as well as the other film.Grant is the Captain & Curtis is his second on a Submarine which somehow happens to pick up a group of women while on a combat mission. Before all is said & done there is plenty of sexual innuendo and a freshly painted pink submarine to be sailed.This is a sexual tension comedy which offers a light look at what happens when women were brought into this type of situation in the days before equal rights. While the stereo types have changed since this was made, the comedy is OK and who could argue with a talented list of support actors including Marion Ross & Gavin Mccloud that keep this film moving.

A slightly overlong,sometimes stately,but amusing wartime comedy,OPERATION PETTICOAT is one of Blake Edwards' better comedies,lacking the occasional excesses and self-congratulation that marred his later work with Peter Sellers on the PINK PANTHER series,and further work post-1980.After some rather sluggish and verbose preliminaries,Edwards gets into his comedic stride assuredly (though the serious side of war is not always jettisoned)when the submarine begins it's operations,with a fine performance from Tony Curtis as a scheming,scrounging,but likable Navy officer,and a better one from the great Cary Grant as a taciturn submarine captain.Grant's expert verbal and facial dexterity are a delight to watch,both from a comic and serious point of view,and produce some deliciously telling moments.Curtis is almost as good performing alongside his long time acting idol,not being overawed and giving a convincing account of himself in the many scenes he shares with Grant. The two principals dominate to such an extent that the supporting cast are not given that much to do,though Arthur O'Connell,Dick Sargent and Frankie Darro have some funny moments between them.The addition of female navy ratings causing raised male libidos (with elegant blonde Dina Merrill most prominent)is treated in very mild fashion,but all the better for it,despite several slightly sexist jokes directed at the buxom Joan O'Brien.Edwards' habit of indulging in crude slapstick is fairly restrained here,though when he does it actually works better than usual in most of his films,the majority of these antics involving Miss O' Brien,though the funniest knockabout moments are reserved for Curtis and Gavin MacLeod with their successful if clumsy kidnapping of a pig while the sub is stationed on a pacific island.Despite taking a while to get going,OPERATION PETTICOAT is an entertaining and often very funny effort with memorable moments (who can forget the submarine being painted pink?),with another masterclass in screen acting from one of it's greatest stars,Cary Grant.RATING:7 out of 10.