The Admiral Was a Lady

The Hollywood treatment of the problems of returning servicemen after World War 2 took many forms - sob stories, psychological dramas, films noirs, even musicals - but this film is unusual, perhaps even unique, in giving them an irreverent screwball slant. The script sparkles with wise-cracking dialogue, and the action proceeds headlong in unpredictable directions. It is the sort of movie that the phrase "never a dull moment" was coined for. The two leads did full justice to their parts, but they lacked the star status to impress the critics. If Claudette Colbert and Cary Grant had been cast, or Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart, they could have performed no better, but this film would now be assured of its place in the annals of screwball comedy instead of being neglected and almost forgotten. Luckily it is not lost. It is available on DVD in eminently watchable condition, albeit without the full restoration that it deserves.

The Admiral Was A Lady casts Wanda Hendrix as a recently discharged WAVE who by a curious chain of circumstances gets herself mixed up with four veterans all from a discharged bomber crew. If it were not for the fact that these four who are played by Edmond O'Brien, Richard Erdman, Steve Brodie, and Johnny Sands were combat veterans from the recent war, they'd be seen as deadbeats. In fact they're flirting with the status right now.

O'Brien and his pals have made a positive genius of not working and stretching their unemployment benefits to the maximum. They get caught at it, but by private detectives who are working for millionaire Rudy Vallee. Wanda's fiancé is involved with Vallee's ex-wife Hillary Brooke and Vallee wants Hillary back. Best way to do it is get Wanda and the never seen 'Henry' together.

The way Wanda talks about Henry he's quite the paragon of virtue. One thing is for sure though, he's not as much fun as the deadbeat quartet as exasperating as they can be. The only question is which one she will marry.

The title refers to the fact that the men start referring to Hendrix as 'the Admiral'. The Admiral Was A Lady is a film that deserves to be better known and might have been if it wasn't an independent released from United Artists, but came from a major studio instead.

I decided to watch this film for one reason...Edmund O'Brien. I love this guy's movies and assumed it would be pretty much like all his films of the era...tough, hard-bitten and entertaining. Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be a comedy! Edmund O'Brien in a comedy!

Jimmy (O'Brien) and his three pals who served together during WWII have an odd way of living. They work their hardest NOT to go to work in order to collect Veteran's unemployment benefits. This is a bit off putting when the film begins...four guys who are essentially scamming the system. Later, it becomes more obvious that at least some of them are suffering from what we'd term today PTSD. Well, the quartet meet up with a lady, Jean (Wanda Hendrix), who also is a vet and they take it upon themselves to show her the ropes of how to scam the system. But she doesn't want to be a professional unemployed vet and is waiting for her fiancé to meet her. The problem is, he never shows up...and so the quartet take her on a series of adventures.

As I already said, the adventures of men who have been avoiding work for five years makes this a tough sell. Many in the audience will feel annoyed at this...particularly how hard they work to avoid working. They are clearly NOT the most honorable of men. But despite this, the film is mildly interesting and makes a decent time-passer. Clearly not among O'Brien's better films and I was hoping to enjoy it much more than I did.

found this gem on a free streaming video site - not likely to see it anywhere else. Really enjoyable movie set just after WWII about a woman ensign (nicknamed the admiral) who falls in with a gang of lovable losers - four ex-GIs who work diligently from dusk to dawn at finding ways to avoid work. There's a silly subplot about them trying to get her back together with her long lost fiancee, and an even sillier sub-sub plot about a rich millionaire and meddling detectives. The main point of interest is the repartee between the "admiral" and the men. Sometimes she's tough as nails, but at other points it's like Dorothy's relationship with the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow. Would really like to see a computer-enhanced remake with Humphrey Bogart as Jimmy, Marilyn Monroe as Jean and Edward Herrmann as the millionaire. Favorite line - "how can such a nice man be so useless?"

Following service in World War II, four pals - former employment agent Edmond O'Brien (as James "Jimmy" Stevens), boxer Steve Brodie (as Mike O'Halloran), interior decorator Johnny Sands (as Eddie Hoff), and cab driver Richard Erdman (as Oliver "Ollie" Bonelli) - return to civilian life. But, the four men don't want work to interfere with collecting veterans benefits. On the unemployment line, they meet pretty WAVE Wanda Hendrix (as Jean "The Admiral" Madison), and romance ensues. The curiously mismatched cast start out at a disadvantage, and only make up for the incongruence in a couple of supporting roles.

**** The Admiral Was a Lady (8/4/50) Albert S. Rogell ~ Edmond O'Brien, Wanda Hendrix, Johnny Sands, Steve Brodie