Movie · 1959 · Comedy, War, Romance · 2h 4m · PG · English
Curator score: 7.1/10 (17.7K ratings)
20,000 laughs under the sea!
Overview
A World War II submarine commander finds himself stuck with a damaged sub, a con-man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.1/10
IMDb: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 81%
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
Blake Edwards
Production
Granart Company, Universal International Pictures
Cast
Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien, Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Dick Sargent, Virginia Gregg, Robert F. Simon, Robert Gist, Gavin MacLeod, George Dunn, Dick Crockett, Madlyn Rhue, Marion Ross, Clarence Lung, Frankie Darro, Tony Pastor Jr., Robert F. Hoy, Nicky Blair, John W. Morley
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, star-powered wartime farce with enough charm, physical comedy, and screwball chemistry to carry its thin plot. It’s more about antics and attitude than realism, but if you want an easygoing 1950s studio comedy with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis sparring on a submarine, it delivers.
Best for
fans of classic Hollywood comedy
viewers who like light war movies with low stakes
people who enjoy star-driven banter and physical gags
audiences in the mood for a long, silly, harmless romp
Skip if
you want a serious World War II film
you dislike dated gender politics and 1950s-era jokes
you need a tightly plotted comedy
you prefer modern pacing or sharper satire
Overview
Operation Petticoat is the kind of studio comedy that survives almost entirely on charm, timing, and the pleasure of watching two movie stars compete for the same frame. Blake Edwards keeps the tone buoyant, letting mishap pile on mishap as a damaged submarine becomes a floating pressure cooker for vanity, improvisation, and romantic confusion.
Worth noting
The film is at its best when it leans into absurd logistics: a war machine held together by luck, bluffing, and increasingly ridiculous repairs. Cary Grant’s dry command presence plays beautifully against Tony Curtis’s fast-talking opportunism, and the movie understands that their mismatch is the engine.
Bottom line
It is also very much a product of its era, with jokes and gender dynamics that can feel quaint or irritating depending on your tolerance. Still, as a piece of glossy 1950s entertainment, it’s amiable, polished, and often genuinely funny, even when it stretches well past the point of necessity.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sydney lou who · 114 likes
everyone on the ship was gay why must we force them into Heterosexuality™️
Sam (3★) · 101 likes
I was promised hijinks and hijinks were certainly provided
theriverjordan (1.5★) · 92 likes
“Operation Petticoat” is one of the lesser rah-rah Second World War propaganda films from Hollywood - but it’s also one of the least abrasive.
“Petticoat” turns the U.S Navy initial invasion of the Philippines from a shaky entry to the Pacific Theatre … and into a guffawing comedy of the sexes.
The script is so benignly wrapped in silly jokes between the soldiers and women nurses that it seems even sillier to wonder if there was a war going on… more
Shay Kelliher (3.5★) · 88 likes
This film isn't really about anything and barely has a story until the last 15 minutes or so, it's literally just an excuse for Cary Grant and Tony Curtis to fuck around on a submarine, and I'm 100% okay with that.
Richard Chandler (3★) · 67 likes
"All you've got out there is a periscope sitting on a couple hundred tons of scrap metal."
Blake Edwards' rah-rah 1959 submarine farce Operation Petticoat finds costars Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in form decent enough to enliven some rather thin soup (to this end they are also assisted by the welcome intrusion of some stranded nurses whose presence wreaks havoc on the all-male ship protocol). Grant plays a hardy yet decorous Pacific naval commander who wages a Sisyphean campaign… more
1959 · Comedy, Romance, Crime · 2h 3m · NR · Curator 9.7/10 (658.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A near-contemporary studio comedy that thrives on disguise, romantic confusion, and escalating absurdity with impeccable timing.