Off at Sea with Operation Petticoat

This isn’t the only movie we’re covering that I’ve seen before, but it’s the movie I’ve seen most. It’s one of my mom’s favourite movies, and it’s one of my own comfort movies. I remember waking up very early Christmas morning once and discovering that my mother was watching it and wrapping Christmas presents. I went back to sleep with the conviction that everything was right with the world. I don’t remember what year it was, and frankly it may have been a dream, but it’s still a very clear memory that gives me peace and comfort.

In less comfortable times, Lieutenant Commander Matt T. Sherman (Cary Grant) was the captain of the USS Sea Tiger. She’s stationed at the Cavite Naval Yard in the Philippines. Which was, as is history, bombed on December 10, 1941. The Sea Tiger is sunk. Sherman manages to raise her and proposes to sail her some two thousand miles to Darwin, in Australia, where she can be properly repaired. First, they have to fix her enough to get her that far and, hopefully, get enough crew to even have a skeleton crew. This brings Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis) aboard the ship, leading to lots of hijinks.

Pretty much all of which are based on real events from World War II. Sherman’s toilet paper letter? Almost word-for-word that of James Wiggins “Red” Coe of the USS Skipjack, who is believed to have died in action in September 1943. The USS Spearfish under James C. Dempsey rescued multiple nurses from Corregidor. The USS Narwhal (commander not listed on Wikipedia) rescued 32 Filipino civilians, including women and children, from Mindanao to Darwin. The Sealion sank at pier at Cavite. The Bowfin, under Commander John H. Corbus, allegedly sank a bus. The Seadragon burned off her top layer of paint and showed her red lead undercoat, called out by Tokyo Rose, and when Samuel David Dealey (killed in action in 1944, nephew of the Dealey Plaza Dealey) took over the Harder, he incorporated pink into her grey.

One of the things I like about this movie is that there are women with real personalities in it. Oh, not the Filipino women; it’s strongly implied they speak Tagalog (and maybe Spanish) but not English. But Major Edna Heywood (Virginia Gregg) is an engineer’s daughter who was raised following her father around work and is capable of helping to fix issues with the boat’s engines. Lieutenant Barbara Duran (Dina Merrill) is smart and capable and intends to go after what she wants, even if what she wants is, you know, Nick, who doesn’t deserve her. Reid (Madlyn Rhue) and Colfax (Marion Ross) are basically ciphers, but to be fair, we have a lot of characters.

Including, it must be admitted, Lieutenant Dolores Crandall (Joan O’Brien). Who is an awkward character, honestly. The gag with her is that she has big breasts. That’s it; that’s the joke. To be fair, there’s also how clumsy she is. It’s implied at one point that it’s because of how intimidated she is by Sherman, but also she goofs up at the end of the movie in a way that can’t be blamed on him. I suppose it’s possible for her to be a competent nurse, but given a choice I’d rather be treated by any of the other women. Including the women giving birth toward the end of the picture.

Nick’s whole thing is that he’s blatantly using the Navy for a uniform because uniforms open doors that wouldn’t be open for poor kids from where he grew up. He’s spent most of his career as an admiral’s aide, and he wants to get back to the kind of life where you win rumba championships—and to his betrothed, who owns vast amounts of railroad stock. He’s been poor. He doesn’t like it. And he looks like Tony Curtis. He’s going to marry for money because he can. But he’s also a con artist because of how he grew up.

And a con artist turns out to be what Sherman needs to get to Darwin. Nick and his able assistant, Sergeant Ramon Gillardo (Clarence E. Lung), use their combined skills to keep the boat moving, trading when they can and stealing when they can’t. And if you’ve noticed that “sergeant” is not a Naval rank, well spotted; Ramon is in fact an Army prisoner who’s hoping the Navy will get him a better deal. (He was running a high-class restaurant using military supplies.) Nick respects him, which means Sherman is worried about him.

I could keep going. I adore this movie. I like surly old Chief Machinist’s Mate Sam Tostin (Arthur O’Connell), who loves engines and has all an old sailor’s suspicions of women. I like nerdy Ernest Hunkle (Gavin MacLeod), trapped in the Navy by a tattoo. I like The Prophet of Doom (George Dunn), who definitely has the whole situation pegged. Chief Molumphry (Gene Evans), who believes the Good Lord can get them through if He gives them His undivided attention. Even Captain J. B. Henderson (Robert F. Simon), who agrees to let them try for Darwin but wants his window back, please. I’m honestly so-so on most of the oeuvre of Blake Edwards, but this is outstanding.