The Horizontal Lieutenant

Director: Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe

Overview

Although the talented cast in this uninspired comedy do the best they can with their lines, nothing quite brings The Horizontal Lieutenant to an upright, stand-up-and-take-notice presence. Paula Prentiss as Lt. Molly Blue and Jim Hutton as Lt. Merle Wye are once again paired, this time as officers in action in the Pacific at the end of World War II. Lt. Wye is given the challenge of bringing in a lone Japanese hold-out on an island that was taken by the American forces many months earlier. Though the situation has great potential, pratfalls and the most obvious gags take the place of a more sophisticated humor.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/24/2011
UPC:	0883316338155
Original Release:	1961
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	40,407

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jim Hutton	Lt. Merle Wye
Paula Prentiss	Molly Blue
Jack Carter	Billy Monk
Jim Backus	Cmdr. Jeremiah Hammerslag
Charles McGraw	Col. Charles Korotny
Miyoshi Umeki	Akiko
Yoshio Yoda	Sgt. Roy Tada
Marty Ingels	Yeoman Buckles
Lloyd Kino	Sgt. Jess Yomuru
Yuki Shimoda	Kobayashi
Linda Wong	Michido
Argentina Brunetti	Mother Superior

Technical Credits

George Wells

Richard Thorpe	Director
George Wells	Screenwriter
Joe Pasternak	Producer

Editorial Reviews

The title The Horizontal Lieutenant clues one in immediately that this was a flick that could only have been made in the 1960s, and indeed it was. Clearly, with a title like that, it's going to be a comedy, have an armed service setting and lean either toward romance or sex, all of which is the case. When the title alone tells one so much about a film, there's a good chance that said film is going to be a predictable, and that's the case with Horizontal. Things are set up early on: Jim Hutton's character will get in trouble and fall down a lot, and Paula Prentiss's will be much more sensible, rescue Hutton and fall down only when necessary. There's really nothing more to it than that, which would be fine if the filmmakers had then come up with original, drop-dead funny variations on this theme. They didn't. As a result, the film, which starts out moderately funny, tends to drag about halfway through. There are some decent laughs throughout, but precious few guffaws and everything gets a bit weary too long before the film ends. Don't blame the stars. Hutton and Prentiss give it their all, but even their all needs at least a little help from the screenwriter.