The Horizontal Lieutenant

I saw this movie in the early sixties, while serving in the U.S Air Force. It's a little dated now, but back then it was fantastic. We lost Mr. Hutton, in his forties, we will never know what fine work he would have given us. He died too young. Paula Prentiss showed her talent in this fine flick.

I believe that several persons here (including me) have given «The Horizontal Lieutenant» a rating above the average, because we liked the lead players, Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss, who had good chemistry in all movies that they made together; and because the story has good potential that cannot be spoiled in its entirety, despite a not very good script.

I don't know what is the tone of the novel by Gordon Cotler that inspires this film, but the central plot can be treated as comedy or drama: during II World War a young G-2 officer (Hutton) is sent to a Japanese island to catch a thief, while he courts an old university girlfriend (Prentiss), whom he meets again working as a nurse. However, George Wells' script is old-fashioned, attached to moral standards that not even the military on the war front in the 1940s should have respected, especially with men and women in the same camp. We can understand the screenwriter was limited by the Production Code, but it was truly agonizing by 1962.

One more film like this and the careers of Prentiss and Hutton would have finished and, indeed, poor Jim Hutton had to endure one more silly comedy (with Connie Francis), in which Prentiss only made a brief appearance and received star status, after the doors were opened to her with Howard Hawks' "Man's Favorite Sport?"

The entire cast (especially Yoshio Yoda as Tada) struggles to get the best out of the story and a script with jokes that, in most cases, have no effect; or loses focus with endless interior sequences, like an interrogation conducted by an alcoholic officer (Jim Backus).

The basic premise could have had a sad or happy ending and the producers opted for comedy, so when «The Horizontal Lieutenant» ends, it leaves us with a smile on our faces, but little else. Richard Thorpe, a veteran with a career in the business since 1921, should have been bored by then, directing the young Metro actors, whose conduct and morals were surely foreign to him.

The Horrizontal Lieutenant has Jim Hutton assigned to the Army Intelligence division who has had one desultory war when toward the end of WW2 he gets an assignment in the Ryukyu Islands near Japan.

Hutton's mission is to find a Japanese soldier who hasn't surrendered and is stealing all kinds of supplies and he's become a folk hero to the natives. Not exactly looking for Mata Hari.

He might accomplish his task, but he's also spending time trying to score with nurse Paula Prentice whom he knew a bit before the war.

Hutton and Prentice are supported by such stalwarts as Charles McGraw, Jim Backus, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Carter, and a good group of Asian players. The final capture scene with Hutton, Prentice and their quarry is hysterical.

If you like service comedies this is for you.

This is the final of four consecutive films Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss made together in the early 60's. It is at times a trifle insensitive towards the Japanese, but that's about the worst thing you can say about this otherwise pleasant film. Trivia: Hutton's diminutive Nisei sidekick Sgt Tada, played by Yoshio Yoda, became "Fuji" in McHale's Navy.

Hutton, as usual plays the conniving but good-hearted Hutton character, and Prentiss--though described as "lanky" and "Miss High-Pockets"--is drop-dead gorgeous, even in G.I. Beige. She's just happy that the war transformed her "from a tall girl into a short commodity." This may be the last film which the producers felt compelled to write in some reference to Prentiss' Amazonian proportions.

Hutton, an intelligence officer, is sent to an occupied Pacific Islands to capture an inconsequential Japanese pilferer, and in due time, Prentiss shows up.

A talented collection of familiar character and comedic actors rounds out the cast.

Jim Hutton is a fond favorite actor of mine, and at his best he could be quite funny -- his best comic effort in my opinion is in "Who's Minding the Mint?" He teamed up 4 times with Paula Prentiss, mostly due to the fact he was tall enough at 6'5" to tower over the 5'10" young lady. These four films with Hutton were Prentiss' first 4 films of her career. She was also a talented actress adept at comedy - her best comedy role, again in my opinion, was in "Man's Favorite Sport?", alongside Rock Hudson.

Hutton and Prentiss were an attractive couple - she very sexy and long legged, he somewhat gangly and bean-pole thin, but with a great deal of boyish charm and a winsome self-effacing manner. Hutton was groomed to be a new version of Jimmy Stewart, in fact. he stayed youthful enough to successfully play Ellery Queen in a TV series when he was over 40.

With this nice pairing of leading man and lady, and the always funny Jim Backus added to the mix, this should have been an engaging comedy. The fact that it is no better than so-so is not the fault of the actors.

The film, which is based on a novel, is meant to be similar to a number of World War II military service screwball comedies that were released in the late 50's and early 60's. It tries to capture the spirit of "Teahouse of the August Moon" and "Don't Go Near the Water", both starring Glenn Ford, and "Wake Me When It's Over" starring Dick Shawn. However, it never quite makes the grade. The situations that are supposed to funny just don't quite hit home. There is a bit too much reliance on slapstick pratfalls that you can see coming a mile away, and a couple of scenes with good humor potential are wasted by sub-par dialog.

But, the cast is gamely trying their best and the great chemistry between Prentiss and Hutton comes through in some (but not all) of their scenes together. This movie is a nice time-killer, but it was not nearly as good as I had hoped.