As another reviewer noted, the American TV sitcom, "McHale's Navy" of 1962-66 comes to mind from the very start of this film. No doubt the makers of McHale got their ideas from this British farce. There are some major plot differences, of course. McHale took place during World War II, and the combat reputation of his crew was tops. It's between their combat forays that McHale and company got into all kinds of shenanigans. "The Navy Lark" takes place five years after the war, and the efficiency of this lot in mine-sweeping is very questionable.
Lark itself is a film adaptation of a popular BBC radio sitcom of the same title that began earlier that year - on March 29, 1959. Only it deviated considerably from the radio show where the crew operated a frigate named HMS Troutbridge. Here, Commander Stanton, played by Cecil Parker, commands the mine-sweeper, HMS Compton. It operates off the fictional island of Boonzey which is located "55 ½ miles" out of Portsmouth, according to the film introduction.
That would put the island just about in the middle of the English Channel from Portsmouth to Le Havre. In the five years since the war, the Compton has found and disarmed a single mine. They refer to it as "Bessy," and it now sits on the local town's beach where it is painted to support the "Boonzey Lifeboat Fund - Give Generously."
"The Navy Lark" is an outlandish farce and slight satire of the higher echelons of the Royal Navy. Clever, witty or funny lines are not the staple here. Rather, it's situations, conditions and some antics that provide the smiles and occasional laughs. The very funniest thing in the film is the island's warning siren. It never gets to a high pitch but sounds like an old car trying to start when the engine won't turn over. Only the chugs sound more like dying coughs.
All of the cast are okay. The best and funniest are Parker as Commander Stanton and Ronald Shiner as Chief Petty Officer Banyard. Elvi Hale is good as the leading WREN, Heather; and Leslie Phillips is all humorous nonsense as Lt. Pouter. The only other familiar cast member to most movie buffs will be Gordon Jackson as Seaman Johnson.
From online sources I've read, it seems that this film was a box office flop. Perhaps the screenplay changes to visuals from sound lost much of the humor in the minds of viewers and listeners of the BBC radio program. The "McHale's Navy" imitation was a resounding TV success in the U.S. in the early 1960s.
It's hard to say how many people in the 21st century might enjoy this film. As an old Army veteran, I enjoy most comedies set in or around the military. But this one doesn't rate anywhere near the very good ones in that genre. It's a coin toss as to who might find this movie worthwhile.
Here are the best two of the few comical lines in the film.
CPO Banyard, "Well, whatever it is that's upset you, sir, I've got three witnesses to prove that I wasn't anywhere near what it was when whatever it was happened, sir."
WREN Heather, "I'll teach you to go sneaking up on people with your snorkel."
