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This B&W film reached the spartan movie house of my Frisian village about 18 months after its release. In those days much of our full-length comedy fare hailed from Denmark (Nils Poppe anyone?) so this movie struck like a thunderbolt -- it had me weeping with helpless mirth, ROTFL as we'd now put it. OK, so some of the sight gags were in fact recycled vaudeville 'schtick', but how was this 'barefoot boy with cheeks of brass' to know that at the time? In any case, my favorite scenes had Jerry's unique brand of frantic clowning, like that Hawaii boxing match.

Seeing "Sailor Beware" again fifty years later I still guffawed loudly at the goings-on. Granted, without the nostalgia component it would probably be just another fair-to-middling comedy. But then, another movie that once had me in stitches even more helplessly, the Spike Jones outing "Fireman Save My Child", now seems dated and stilted apart from some too-short orchestra bits and Doodles Weaver scenes. Must be some special ingredient that makes Martin & Lewis product stay fresher longer. To me this one at least rates eight out of ten.

Thoroughly enjoyed this film, not least because the look, feel and general atmosphere of up-river Sarawak was captured so successfully. OK, there are nits to pick. First and most important of these: Sarawak never was a British colony until after WWII, when it was ceded to Britain by the last of the White Rajahs. Bob Hoskin's character would have been accountable not to White Hall, but to Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke in Kuching. Secondly, the film's take on Iban and Malay pronunciation left a lot to be desired, surprising since there must have been dozens of native speakers on location to forestall some of the more toe-curling clangers. But these are minor wrinkles. To me the experience was just as pleasant the second time around, always a sure sign a story is being competently told. And let's face it, most of the young Anglo target audience give less than two hoots about history or 'furrin' languages anyway.