Le Rafiot héroïque

I've just watched this movie again (and taped it), and found it just as amusing as when I first watched it 40 odd years ago (just after it's release in fact). Jack Lemmon never fails to impress, but after all this time I now realise that Ricky Nelson (although a great loss to the music world) wasn't the greatest of actors. However his naivety in this department somehow added charm to this movie.

The WWII storyline based on true events couldn't be simpler. An American naval officer/ex-yachtsman Lt Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon), and a young Ensign Tommy Hansen (Ricky Nelson), are ordered to sail an old sloop, the "USS Echo", with an unexperienced crew across the Great Barrier Reef to Port Moresby, where (although Crandall doesn't know until later) the boat is to be used to convey an Aussie coast-watcher to his destination, with a different crew. Crandall doesn't like the change-over so steals the mission. End of plot...almost.

The only real down side of this movie was the awful "Austroylian" accent of Irish actress Patricia Driscoll. Almost as bad as Dick van Dyke's Cockney accent in "Mary Poppins". Almost, but not quite. Although lovely to look at, it's a blessing Patricia only had a minor role. However I find it strange that the part couldn't have been given to a genuine Aussie.

All in all, I always found this movie very entertaining, and strangely enough, for a war film, and rather like "Mr Roberts", no violence worth worrying about. Which rather pleases me now, for my grandkids love it.

Saw it this afternoon at home with the kids. Great fun- with a bit of an edge... brilliant for a wet afternoon. Lemmon acts as though he isn't trying and still steals the show. The love interest is interesting and the beleaguered officer who we all feel for is successful in the end. it's one of those second world war movies, like Stalag 17 or whatever that is light and patriotic at the same time.....

this is a fun, wholesome movie suitable for all ages. Lemmon is captivating, as always and Ricky Nelson does just fine. actually, this is really a tailor made role for nelson. the young handsome, slightly misguided, yet sincere officer who admits past failures and looks forward to proving himself in the eyes of his superior, Lemmon. the move has a touch of romance, a bit of action and plenty of laughs and wholesome fun. check it out. i'll bet you'll be rooting for this bunch of misfits just like i was. and Clayton Trap, i have no opinion on you as a person, though i do have a great sympathy for that stick that's stuck up your....

Lieutenant Rip Crandall is hoodwinked into taking command of the "Wackiest Ship in the Navy" -- a real garbage scow with a crew of misfits who do not know a jib from a jigger.

Columbia Pictures acquired the rights to a story in the July 1956 issue of Argosy titled Big Fella Wash Wash, inspired by reminisces from former Echo skipper Meredith "Rip" Riddle. The story was advertised on the cover of the magazine as "The Wackiest Ship in the Army", because the naval vessel had been under Army command while in port, and Columbia used that title when purchasing the story in 1957. The movie never explained any connection between the ship and the Army, puzzling some viewers.

Oddly enough, it never occurred to me that "Army" was strange, since I think of "army" as a general term for the military as well as the specific branch. But yeah, I can see how that might be confusing... now I feel foolish I had not noticed sooner.

As military service comedies go, The Wackiest Ship in the Army isn't the best one going, but it is pretty amusing.

Jack Lemmon plays a naval lieutenant who in civilian life had sailboat racing experience. Therefore he's just the man to command a sailing craft made up to look like a native trading vessel. The object being to land Australian coast watcher Chips Rafferty in the middle of Japanese held territory.

Lemmon has a callow young ensign as his executive officer in Ricky Nelson and a crew of men, none of whom have any kind of experience in a sailing craft. The laughs come as he tries to whip this crew into some kind of shape before the mission.

Jack Lemmon had just come off Some Like It Hot and The Apartment so he was hot box office back then. The Wackiest Ship in the Army isn't in the aforementioned league of films, but it's still good and unlike the other classics was turned into a television series, albeit a short lived one, just like that other Lemmon film, Mister Roberts.

Ricky Nelson was never the greatest actor going, but he was their for the teenage girl market at the box office. What he was though was a very good singer and he does get to sing Do You Know What It Means to Leave New Orleans which sold a few platters back in the day.

Outstanding other performances in the film are from Chips Rafferty, Australia's greatest cinema star, Mike Kellin playing the CPO of the sailing crew and Tom Tully who seems to continue where he took off from in The Caine Mutiny.

Even today I think cinema fans will enjoy the comedy of Jack Lemmon in The Wackiest Ship in the Army.