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Operation Petticoat
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Olive Films Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (22nd July 2014). |
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The Film
 “Sea Tiger was built to fight. She deserves a better epitaph than 'Commissioned 1940, sunk 1941, engagements none, shots fired none.” Pop quiz, hotshot: What was the highest grossing film of Cary Grant’s career? Was it a screwball comedy, like “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) or “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)? Considering his co-star in both of those, Katherine Hepburn, was intermittently thought to be box office poison at various times of her career, it probably isn’t particularly surprising neither made the cut. How about Leo McCarey’s “An Affair to Remember” (1957), which the American Film Institute once called the most romantic film of all time? Nope. Or any one of the four films the actor made with Alfred Hitchcock—“Suspicion” (1941), “Notorious” (1946), “To Catch a Thief” (1955), and “North By Northwest” (1959). Surprisingly, no. The latter, arguably Hitchcock’s most polished picture, in which the debonair trouper traversed the faces of the famous presidents carved into the side of Mt. Rushmore, wasn’t even Grant’s highest grossing film of 1959. The honor belongs to the improbably more-profitable “Operation Petticoat”, which saw Grant in the role of Matt Sherman, the captain of a pink-painted submarine called the U.S.S. Sea Tiger. Although a slight, seafaring, service comedy, “Petticoat” opens with a seemingly downbeat if not somber framing device with an older Sherman, a soon to be retired Admiral, set to scuttle the sub he once commanded during the Second World War. On the morning the Sea Tiger is set to be decommissioned, Sherman returns to his old officer’s quarters and begins to reminisce, reading through his old logbook. The story then shifts, in flashback, to a day years earlier, in December, 1941—no, not that infamous one—when a surprise attack by a squadron of Japanese Zeros leaves the Sea Tiger sunk without even leaving the dock. Thinking it unfair to let the submarine settle to the bottom of the bay without ever seeing battle, Sherman convinces his superiors to let him try and get the boat afloat, on its way to a bigger base in Australia where further repairs can be made, and she can be salvaged. They agree, but not before splitting Sherman’s seamen up amongst several other subs and ships setting out for battle. Left with a skeleton crew and, as a concession, a new junior officer, who’s a hotshot favorite of the top brass or at least their wives, the young Lt. Nick Holden (Tony Curtis), Sherman sets sail, slipping from port to port with his barely seaworthy vessel. Along the way, the serious, Navy-educated, Sherman and Holden, a playboy without an hours training in a submarine, continually knock heads, not just because of the cramped confines of running silent and deep. Admittedly, Sherman is impressed by Holden’s scavenging abilities, without which the Sea Tiger—pieced together with spare parts sometimes literally stolen off other ships—would surely be sunk, and he soon makes Holden the ship’s Supply Officer. Of course, Holden, the perennial schemer, sees a profit to be made from his position, much to the chagrin of the other members of Sherman’s ragtag crew. Eventually, through yet another hairy dealing onshore in a battle-battered outpost, Holden advises his captain to help a few nurses in need of evacuating. In an act of rescuing them, the Sea Tiger becomes a rarity, a twist on an old punchline, full of women rather than simply those of the sea. Many of the men don’t take kindly to this sudden feminine invasion of their boat, although Holden quickly cozies up to comely 2nd Lt. Duran (Dina Merrill) and Sherman bumbles through a series of pre-courting encounters with the equally clumsy Crandall (Joan O’Brien). Despite its box office take, and it’s other notable distinction as an Academy Award nominee, “Operation Petticoat”, is hardly the most distinguished effort in not just Grant’s filmography, but most who worked on the film, several of whom had much better remembered films released alongside the pink sub picture in 1959. Screenwriters Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin didn’t win the Best Screenplay Oscar for their nominated “Operation Petticoat” script, but their playful party-line rom-com “Pillow Talk” (1959) The sea-set story is also the not-as-well-remembered effort of 1959 for co-starring Curtis, who was in Billy Wilder’s “Some Like it Hot” the same year. And the film’s young director—who’d yet to secure his place in Hollywood history with another pink-colored creation, “The Pink Panther” series (1963-1978)—was a few years away from “A Blake Edwards Film” appearing above the title, although, unlike his other cohorts, he didn’t have another, superior, effort sharing the big screen. Still, “Operation Petticoat” is a funny film, less concerned with the war-time setting and rather more worried by the war of the wills and biting, bitter battle of the sexes. The humor is a little dated—oddly both sexist in modern times and actually progressive for its day, in that although plenty of jokes are had at their expense, the women are rarely the cause of the crews more fumbling guffaws. The pink paint—which makes the Sea Tiger both an easy target for the Japanese and often set within the sights of the American forces, who think the sub a ruse—is wholly on the men. And the women continually prove themselves capable, as mechanic and many other capacities, aboard ship, oft-times more so then their male counterparts. But it’s Grant, turning in performance that’s a little at odds with his usually dapper self (all the more impressive, considering he was supposedly experimenting with LSD in between takes), and Curtis’s quick repartee, a testament to both the quality of the sturdy script and Edward’s deft direction, that leaves will probably leave most audience members rapt. Assuming, of course, one can excuse the sexism, and the willingness to sit through a Blake Edwards comedy that’s light on visual gags and overt slapstick.
Video
“Operation Petticoat” is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, slightly opened up from the 1.85:1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition. I suppose the 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded high definition presentation is technically adequate and certainly watchable. There’s a modest amount of detail throughout, and the transfer seems untouched by any and all sort of odd digital enhancements or authoring anomalies, but the disc more often resembles a well-worn print than a pristine Blu-ray. The source appears plenty problematic, with splotchy-purple color pulsing, an uneven and often faded black level, dirt and scratches in nearly every frame, uneven grain, and a general softness that can be attributed to both the copious rear-projection/process photography and dated film elements. Some, especially those familiar with second-run theaters and less-than-perfectly preserved vintage films, will no doubt have little issue with “Petticoat’s” imperfect rendering, but I imagine most will come away from a viewing of Olive’s disc disappointed. In a fair and just world, where studios cared enough to strike new masters for even their deeper back catalog, “Operation Petticoat” would receive the thorough remastering it desperately needs—and, as an Oscar-nominee, debatably deserves. Unfortunately, we live in a time and place where Paramount couldn’t be bothered and has pawned off its old Republic films to a boutique label rather than release any themselves. One can’t really blame Olive Films; they’re simply utilizing what Paramount has supplied them with. And I suppose its better to have the film looking like it does on Blu-ray, rather than not on Blu-ray at all.
Audio
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track (48kHz/24-bit) is likewise listenable, if frankly disappointing, limited by the fragile, dated, unrestored source. Dialogue is intelligible, but the occasional pop or crackle occurs, there’s a nearly constant low hiss, and the brittle, boxiness at the high-end of the mix suggests the transparent nature of lossless really doesn’t do the soundtrack any favors. Gunfire and explosions in the smattering of action scenes—like the opening surprise attack by Japanese Zeros—lack power and low-end support, and effects are often overwhelmed, muddled, in the most aggressive moments, and the score, by David Rose and an uncredited Henry Mancini, supplies a jaunty comedic jolt to “Operation Petticoat”, but is often underwhelming. The disc doesn't include any subtitles.
Extras
None.
Packaging
“Operation Petticoat” surfaces in high definition courtesy of Olive Films, distributing the title on Blu-ray for Paramount. The single layered BD-25 is locked to Region A and housed in an Infiniti keep case.
Overall
“Operation Petticoat” is funny and entertaining, if somewhat dated. It’s decidedly not a fantastic film. But there’s definite appeal in the combo of Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in a seafaring adventure set in the Pacific Theatre that, despite its WWII setting, is really only concerned with the war of the sexes. Considering director Blake Edwards’s other comedies, this, one of his earliest efforts, is surprisingly light on slapstick. The Academy-Award nominated script, which Edwards didn’t write, pushes along this so-called service comedy with witty dialogue and an at-time riotous repartee of its charismatic cast. Still, the barebones Blu-ray release from Olive Films, which offers watchable but pretty problematic video and anemic audio, isn’t something I’d recommend to anyone other than Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and/or Blake Edwards completists.
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