La guerre en dentelles

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.

I thought the movie at the time of its release was a great comedy. I watched it and was completely entertained.

I was always a fan of Jim Hutton and to this day I think Paula Prentiss was one of the sexiest females in Hollywood. This statement comes at a time when Marilyn Monroe ruled that venue. So I was a fan of Hutton and had a crush on Prentiss. You could probably deduce that my consideration of this movie is influenced by those facts and you would probably be right.

But, that is what made the movies like The Horizontal Lieutenant popular. Nice guys who were capable of drawing the audience into his predicaments and a beautiful co-star who usually got him out of his jam. Hutton and Prentiss could have done this forever as far as I am concerned and I would have gone babbling back to the movie. No matter how bad the movie was a 90 minute look at Prentiss was worth the pain.

This movie was not directed by some artist from a European country and it was not considered to be an artistic accomplishment. It was meant to be entertaining for a couple of hours and nothing more. It accomplished its goal hands down and need not hide its head in shame because it did not reach some haughty artitistic level.

I will admit that the fact that I thought that Paula Prentiss was a sexy woman may have something to do with my appreciation of this movie but I truly believe that I would have enjoyed it as much if Mary Wickes had been placed into Paula's role. If Mary Wickes had starred I would have to simply sit back and wait for the next Prentiss film.

Come to think of it Mary Wickes ain't that bad if she would only get a better make-up person. I have seen pictures of Mary Wickes when she was in her early twenties and she was a very attractive woman. If Mary Wickes had just come on the scene during the past 15 years she would have gotten Sarah Jessica Parker's part on Sex in the City.

But I digress...

Dave

MGM had several fine players under exclusive contract in the l960's: George Peppard, Richard Chamberlain, Yvette Mimieux and Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss. This film is one of the 4 Pairings that MGM made with Hutton and Prentiss and is my favorite film of that team and one of my favorite comedies of the l960's. Great movie teams have magic: Loy and Powell, Tracy and Hepburn, Lemmon and Matthau, and for sure Hutton and Prentiss. Hutton conveyed a manly comedic skill set and Prentiss from San Antonio a gorgeous tall Texan with a sexy voice. Richard Thorpe moves the action skillfully and so what most of the movie seems to have been filmed on the MGM back lot, it is a Fun film with all the top notch MGM production values and special effects. This film is so enjoyable one wonders why MGM let them stop filming as a Team after this film. They were announced for a comedy And Now To Bed about a playboy played by Hutton and an interior decorator played by Prentiss but both stars passed on that film. Too bad. One never tires of these two professionals. Fine support from a cast of well known character actors.

I recommend this movie

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.

Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss are cute and have good timing in their comedic delivery and all, but mostly this is a film searching for laughs and only rarely finding them. The pair get stationed on an American-occupied island during WWII with the task of looking for a Japanese holdout who has been pilfering supplies. It's light fare to say the least, but helped considerably by their presence. I have to say, it was also nice to see the representations of Japanese and Japanese-Americans with few stereotypes. One serviceman (Yoshio Yoda) is a ladies man, counter to the usual emasculation, and the holdout (Yuki Shimoda) kicks Hutton's ass for awhile upon being discovered. Plus, we get Miyoshi Umeki singing "How About You?" late in the film, which was just lovely. I only wish the story and the humor could have been better, or that the double entendre in the film's title could have led to a little more sizzle. As it is, it's cute, but not terribly exciting.