Le Rafiot héroïque

As military service comedies go, The Wackiest Ship in the Army isn't the best one going, but it is pretty amusing.

Jack Lemmon plays a naval lieutenant who in civilian life had sailboat racing experience. Therefore he's just the man to command a sailing craft made up to look like a native trading vessel. The object being to land Australian coast watcher Chips Rafferty in the middle of Japanese held territory.

Lemmon has a callow young ensign as his executive officer in Ricky Nelson and a crew of men, none of whom have any kind of experience in a sailing craft. The laughs come as he tries to whip this crew into some kind of shape before the mission.

Jack Lemmon had just come off Some Like It Hot and The Apartment so he was hot box office back then. The Wackiest Ship in the Army isn't in the aforementioned league of films, but it's still good and unlike the other classics was turned into a television series, albeit a short lived one, just like that other Lemmon film, Mister Roberts.

Ricky Nelson was never the greatest actor going, but he was their for the teenage girl market at the box office. What he was though was a very good singer and he does get to sing Do You Know What It Means to Leave New Orleans which sold a few platters back in the day.

Outstanding other performances in the film are from Chips Rafferty, Australia's greatest cinema star, Mike Kellin playing the CPO of the sailing crew and Tom Tully who seems to continue where he took off from in The Caine Mutiny.

Even today I think cinema fans will enjoy the comedy of Jack Lemmon in The Wackiest Ship in the Army.