Don't Give Up the Ship

It seems that the USS Cornblatt is missing. How can a USS Cornblatt be missing? Oh wait, Jerry Lewis was left in charge of it. In what I think is one of his best films, Jerry Lewis is at his funniest as he is trying to find this huge piece of metal, or else pay an exorbitant amount for it. But wait! He was just married and on his honeymoon, when he was shanghaied. Diana Spencer plays his new wife, and she is very good at being teasingly impatient. He tries to see his wife every chance he gets, but then he is quarantined to private quarters. Mabel Albertson is his mother who frowns on this inconvenience and especially the mention of Jerry's father, who was absolutely no good, absolutely. And, when Ensign Benson, played deliciously by Dina Merrill, is assigned to help Jerry look for the destroyer, he keeps trying to keep her away from his wife. Part of the story is told by way of flashback, when Ensign Benson puts him into hypnosis! Also costarring Mickey Shaughnessy, Gale Gordon, and Claude Akins, this is a feel-good film all over. Up there with "The Delicate Delinquent," this is simply Jerry Lewis at his best.

The destroyer USS Kornblatt has been missing since World War II and Congressman Gale Gordon wants to know where it is. It's several million dollars worth of taxpayer's money from Uncle Sam. The last guy in charge was a career Navy man who since World War II has risen from Ensign to Lieutenant John Paul Steckler VII played in every generation by Jerry Lewis.

Don't Give Up The Ship deals precisely with a guy who apparently did just that and can't find it now. In a brief prologue to the film we see how Jerry playing several members of his family served their country in a kind of homage to Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets. Despite a Steckler serving in the Navy for seven generations, the USA still became a superpower.

As VJ Day was celebrated the USS Kornblatt was given orders to sail to San Diego and be decommissioned. Every other officer had enough points for discharge so command devolved on Jerry Lewis. The Kornblatt stopped at an island where Lewis was captured by some Japanese soldiers left there who weren't told the war was over. His men left him there, thinking he was killed. That was the last he saw of his ship.

With this renewed interest in the Kornblatt and Navy appropriations on the line, Admiral Robert Middleton has given Lewis a special assignment to find his lost destroyer. Aiding him is Ensign Dina Merrill from Naval Intelligence.

On top of everything else Jerry's planning to get married to Diana Spencer and the wedding has to be postponed. Diana's not understanding her beloved working in close quarters with Merrill. Romantic complications are the last thing Jerry needs.

I think Don't Give Up The Ship was one of Jerry Lewis's funniest solo films since breaking up with Dino. It's got a lot of good physical comedy that Lewis excelled at and many opportunities to overact outrageously and with gusto.

It's a must for Jerry Lewis fans.

As with most of the old Jerry Lewis films, "Don't Give Up the Ship" was a very funny movie, rich in the old Jerry Lewis slapstick comedy. It was especially fun for me as I served aboard the ship used in the movie as the "USS Kornblatt". But, no, gentlemen, the trivia section here is incorrect as to the identity of that ship. It was NOT the USS STEMBEL (DD-644), a fleet Destroyer, but USS VAMMEN (DE-644), a Destroyer-Escort. That the "Kornblatt" was a DE was mentioned MANY times in the film. I'm certainly not trying to detract from the film, but merely trying to get my "old Home" some of the recognition she deserves. Sadly there is only one ship of her class that has been preserved as a museum ship anywhere in the country, USS SLATER.

I must admit that I am not a huge fan of Jerry Lewis' films. While I've seen all the ones he did with Dean Martin, I have avoided his solo films because (in my opinion) he tended to overact and subtlety was NOT a concern. I think my view is colored by my having seen some of his very worst solo films first. It's hard to watch another Lewis outing after having seen (uggghh!) "Cracking Up" (1983)--a film so bad that it went straight to video and the only movie I've ever watched that made me physically ill (seriously). So, in fairness, I decided to watch a few of his earlier films to see if they are worth seeing.

While I would never say that "Don't Give Up The Ship" was no work of genius, it is a mostly pleasant little film. While Lewis DID occasionally mug and overplay things very badly, for the most part it's a decent little time-passer.

Lewis is a lieutenant in the Navy during the present day. He's just gotten married and is about to embark on his honeymoon when he is arrested and brought to account for a ship he apparently 'lost' back in 1945 when the war ended. Where exactly the boat got to is what the big-wigs want to find out--and it's inexplicable that a ship could be misplaced for a decade and a half until anyone noticed this! Much of the film consists of flashbacks of Lewis during the war (when he was an ensign) as well as his meetings with a psychiatrist (Dina Merrill) who tries to dig into the facts.

For the most part, there are no big laughs at all during this film--none. But, it also is pretty inoffensive as well--but could have been better had Lewis behaved like a relatively believable naval officer. As I said, his mugging and overplaying occasionally made the film tough viewing. But the film isn't bad in a mindless sort of way. Just turn off your brain and enjoy.

By the way, in the underwater diving scene near the end, note that Jerry is sweating--and you can see sweat dribbling off his arms. Yet, he is supposed to be under water! This is a particularly dumb portion of the film (with very a very fake looking shark and octopus). Try to look past this.

The raw talent of comic Jerry Lewis, has rarely been equaled, but not often surpassed. He has entertained American audiences for decades. Today, his star power has become a present staple in France. Here, is one of his finer offerings. It's called " Don't Give up The Ship. " In this movie, Jerry plays John Paul Steckler the VII, who as fate would have it, is the Jr. Officer of the U.S.S. KornBlatt. Shortly before the end of WWII, he is ordered to sail the ship to the U.S. where the ship is to be decommissioned. Unfortunately, he is accidentally stranded on a Japanese held island and fails to report the loss of his ship. Now, years later, he is summoned to Washington, by Congressman Mandeville, (Gale Gordon) and Adm. Bludde (Robert Middleton) to explain where he last left his ship. This on the eve of his wedding. Only with the help of Ens. Benson (Dina Merrill) and Stan Wychinsky (Mickey Shaughnessy) can he hope to remember where the missing ship is. This film is one of Lewis's finest examples of true laughter in it's purest form. A Classic by any other name which has stood the test of time. ****