Operation Petticoat is yet another military farce directed by Blake Edwards. It is in pretty much the same military "farce" style that he used in other movies such as Operation Mad Ball, and What Did You Do In The War Daddy? He makes a thing as horrific and serious as the concept of war, and transforms it into something quite witty and jocose. Blake does this without causing any offense however, and therefore he did it well. Basically, the movie has an astonishing likeness to Down Periscope, or I should say that Down Periscope has a peculiar likeness to this movie. In essence, a naval submarine commander is given command over a broken down sub, and a motley, ragtag crew. The most rowdy crew member however, is the supply officer Lt. Holden. He displays a blatant disregard for rules, and yet still portrays as likable. Even more surprising is the fact that somehow, despite his various behaviors, Holden manages to get the job done and have some fun along the way.The commander encounters various "obstacles" because of his supply officer, but nothing that isn't purely entertaining. The commander is portrayed by Cary Grant, and Holden is played by Tony Curtis. Both Grant and Curtis do a fantastic job in this film, and play off of one another quite well. Grant, as you know, is an amazing actor, and has been in many classics like Arsenic and Old Lace, An Affair to Remember, North by Northwest, Only Angels Have Wings, To Catch A Thief, and The Bishop's Wife, just to name a few. This is a classic Grant performance, his style predictable, yet this litany is somehow appealing. Tony Curtis is also one of my favorite actors, at least in his older films. As of late, Curtis' movies have been losing a lot of their former luster. It's only one more reason that this light-hearted movie is enjoyable, seeing Curtis in one of his finer performances. I would put it right up there with his performances in movies such as Houdini, Spartacus, Some Like it Hot, not to mention the Boston Strangler, and Six Bridges to Cross. In some of their finer performances, Curtis and Grant dominate the film with their clever acting. However, the acting aside from Curtis and Grant was actually good, not specifically notable, but never was there a moment in which I was aware of bad acting. The only small exception was in some of the dialogue referring to women, in which the lines were rather cliché for war movies. Also, aside from the actors and directors of course, the camera work is as fine quality as it could have been. The musical score fit perfectly in with the style of the movie, and writing was well done on the parts of the writers; especially Maurice Richlin, who has worked with Blake on quite a few of his productions, including some of the Pink Panther movies, as well as the aforementioned, "Daddy What Did You Do In The War?" The situations that the writers came up with for a war scenario are ridiculous, but very entertaining. Overall, this is a higher quality film, and noteworthy in the long run. Despite this, it certainly was not amazing by any means. This movie in the end was a very appealing, satirical, and splendid production. A movie which is definitely worth a view, but not important to have seen.
Review of Operation Petticoat
