Recently I watched one of my favorite comedy movies, “Operation Petticoat,” starring Cary Grant, and Tony Curtis. For those who have never heard of it, it takes place during WWII, involving a submarine that is painted pink, trying to evade the Japanese Navy as well as the United States Navy.
To complicate matters further, they have rescued five Army nurses. When Grant is explaining to the nurses that submarines were not meant to be co-educational, the reply is, that they are aware of the facts of life. He replies, “Yes, I just don’t want any exchange of information.”
The two stars, Cary Grant, my favorite actor, as Commander Sherman, the Captain of the submarine, and Tony Curtis, as Lt. Nick Holden, who is, a scavenger, a con artist, who is not interested in the war, but in his own career path in the navy.
The film has an all-star supporting cast. The script is wonderful, and I still laugh at Cary Grant’s delivery, even though I know what is coming.
What I really want to talk about is the very interesting back story that I heard, concerning how the movie, and the stars were all brought together. In 1958, Tony Curtis was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, for his role in the movie, “The Defiant Ones,” which also starred Sidney Poitier. In his next film, in 1959, he co-starred with Jack Lemon in the hilarious movie, “Some Like It Hot,” in which he did an over-the-top impersonation of Cary Grant, as part of his character.
Now I have to back up a bit, to fill in some interesting information. During WWII, Tony Curtis joined the Pacific Submarine Force, and served on a submarine tender, because he was inspired by Cary Grant’s role in the movie, “Destination Tokyo.” So, when he was offered the role of Commander Sherman in “Operation Petticoat,” he accepted the movie, but did not want to play that part. Of course, now that he was an A list actor, he had a lot to say about the films he accepted. He wanted to play the second lead, that of Lt. Nick Holden, but wanted the role of Commander Sherman to be offered to Cary Grant.
To entice him to take the role, Curtis gave Grant the starring credit, and allowed him to produce the movie under his own production company.
I have to say that it was the best move, to make this movie the classic that it is.
