"Operation Petticoat" brings Tony Curtis and his idol, Cary Grant, together for a very funny film directed by Blake Edwards. Curtis, of course, does a great Cary Grant impression in "Some Like it Hot," and working with Grant was a dream come true for the 34-year-old actor. And nothing about the experience disappointed him or the audience. The film also features Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Dick Sargent, Arthur O'Connell, Madelyn Rhue, Virginia Gregg and Marion Ross.
The film is shown in flashback as the submarine Sea Tiger is about to be junked. Grant, as Lt. Cmdr. Matt Sherman, looks at his log book and reminisces to a time when he was trying to get the Sea Tiger back into the war after his sub is nearly destroyed in an air raid. However, it is next to impossible to get supplies. Assigned as a replacement officer to the Sea Tiger is one Mr. Holden (Curtis), a wheeler-dealer who got into uniform so he could meet the right people. Though he maneuvered a country club job as an aide to an admiral planning to go to Manila, the war intervened, and the admiral cancels his plans. Holden gets the Sea Tiger assignment. He promises that he can get supplies and presents one of his band of merry men, Ramon Gallardo, a prisoner whom he promises can travel on the sub. "But he's a Marine," Sherman objects. "There isn't a thief, pickpocket, or fence in the islands that doesn't know, love, and respect him," Holden answers. Holden gets supplies by any means necessary, including taking pipes from the bathrooms, part of the major's office wall, etc. He also manages to rescue five nurses who were stranded on an island, disrupting the entire sub. Though he finally confines Holden to quarters, Sherman realizes soon enough that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and calls on Holden for help again.
"Operation Petticoat" has some hilarious moments, including Holden's stealing of a pig for New Year's dinner and the subsequent confrontation with the owner and military police on the sub, where Sherman and Holden refer to the pig as "Hornsby." Unable to get the right color paint, the sub is painted pink and nearly bombed by a U.S. ship.
Cary Grant is wonderful as the commander, authoritative, and then authoritative but frazzled as he is haunted by one of the nurses, a Jonah (Joan O'Brien) who causes disaster for him whenever she shows up. Tony Curtis is equally good, and he does not play the role for comedy; rather, he has the comedy come out of the character - a former street kid, ambitious to marry money, with his own agenda in the Navy.
The rest of the cast is very good, with pretty Dina Merrill being the love interest for Curtis, only to learn that he's already engaged to a wealthy woman. Arthur O'Connell is funny as the frustrated mechanic as nurse Heywood insists on helping him run the ship, at one point using a girdle to connect some of the parts.
"Operation Petticoat" is a real treat - a very funny film with good direction, script and acting all around.
The film is shown in flashback as the submarine Sea Tiger is about to be junked. Grant, as Lt. Cmdr. Matt Sherman, looks at his log book and reminisces to a time when he was trying to get the Sea Tiger back into the war after his sub is nearly destroyed in an air raid. However, it is next to impossible to get supplies. Assigned as a replacement officer to the Sea Tiger is one Mr. Holden (Curtis), a wheeler-dealer who got into uniform so he could meet the right people. Though he maneuvered a country club job as an aide to an admiral planning to go to Manila, the war intervened, and the admiral cancels his plans. Holden gets the Sea Tiger assignment. He promises that he can get supplies and presents one of his band of merry men, Ramon Gallardo, a prisoner whom he promises can travel on the sub. "But he's a Marine," Sherman objects. "There isn't a thief, pickpocket, or fence in the islands that doesn't know, love, and respect him," Holden answers. Holden gets supplies by any means necessary, including taking pipes from the bathrooms, part of the major's office wall, etc. He also manages to rescue five nurses who were stranded on an island, disrupting the entire sub. Though he finally confines Holden to quarters, Sherman realizes soon enough that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and calls on Holden for help again.
"Operation Petticoat" has some hilarious moments, including Holden's stealing of a pig for New Year's dinner and the subsequent confrontation with the owner and military police on the sub, where Sherman and Holden refer to the pig as "Hornsby." Unable to get the right color paint, the sub is painted pink and nearly bombed by a U.S. ship.
Cary Grant is wonderful as the commander, authoritative, and then authoritative but frazzled as he is haunted by one of the nurses, a Jonah (Joan O'Brien) who causes disaster for him whenever she shows up. Tony Curtis is equally good, and he does not play the role for comedy; rather, he has the comedy come out of the character - a former street kid, ambitious to marry money, with his own agenda in the Navy.
The rest of the cast is very good, with pretty Dina Merrill being the love interest for Curtis, only to learn that he's already engaged to a wealthy woman. Arthur O'Connell is funny as the frustrated mechanic as nurse Heywood insists on helping him run the ship, at one point using a girdle to connect some of the parts.
"Operation Petticoat" is a real treat - a very funny film with good direction, script and acting all around.