Don't Give Up the Ship

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 do not know where these people got their info.,but for all intents and purposes,it's wrong.The movie,(or most of it)was filmed aboard the USS Gregory DD802.I was aboard the Gregory when it was filmed and participated in the filming as an extra.At least I guess thats what you'd call me,as I was a member of the crew.I was a BTFN at the time.Jerry Lewis tossed a ball with members of the crew and crewmen on a tender tied up opposite us at the pier during breaks and lunch.This was in 1955or56 I think,and I was transferred to the USS Vammen DE644 in June of 1958.I may be off a little on my dates but my memory of the filming is not.I cannot understand why anyone would say they were at the filming when they were not,unless they filmed at more than one location.

Fred Williams

Jerry Lewis plays John Paul Steckler VII who has just got married to beautiful Prudence Trabert (Diana Spencer).The bliss doesn't last for too long.John happens to be a Navy officer and he was responsible for getting USS Kornblatt home after the WWII ended.USS Kornblatt is a battleship.John Paul Steckler (the seventh) has hard time remembering where he left the vessel.Now he has ten days to find it or he's in big trouble.He won't be having too much time for the honeymoon.He does get close to a woman but that woman isn't his wife.That woman is Ensign Rita Benson (Dina Merrill) who's there to help John Paul Steckler (the seventh) with his trouble.When Prudence finds out that the Ensign is a she and that they shared a cabin together in a train that means another trouble for John.This time marital.Norman Taurog's Don't Give Up the Ship (1959) gives the Jerry Lewis fans what they need; Laughs, lots of, lots of laughs.Jerry is surrounded in this movie with beautiful and talented ladies.Dina Merrill and Diana Spencer are both superb.Mickey Shaughnessy does the part of Stan Wychinski and he does it brilliantly.Robert Middleton is great as Bludde.There are lots of funny scenes in this movie.In one awfully funny one John is at the bottom of the sea diving with Stan.Oh man did I laugh! In another funny scene Jerry ends up in a wrestling ring.Jerry Lewis is the mastermind behind many classic movies.He may not have directed or written this one but he is there with his comedy.That's enough.His comic touch makes this movie something really special.Jerry's comedy is something very original, something you can't copy.Many have tried, many have failed.Some have gotten close maybe, but nobody can beat the original.

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 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. ****