Operation Petticoat

"We may be pink and coming in by the grace of a woman's brassiere, but we're coming in." The dialogue sings in Blake Edwards' 1959 Oscar-nominated (Best Screenplay) comedy starring Cary Grant as WWII submarine commander Matt Sherman, whose beloved but crippled sub Sea Tiger ("a periscope atop scrap metal") is nursed back to semi-health thanks to newly arrived master scavenger supply officer Nick Holden's (Tony Curtis) wheeling, dealing and stealing to acquire the necessary parts. Eager to re-enter the fray, Sherman gets more than he bargained for when Holden "rescues" a quintet of stranded nurses. Madcap antics ensue as womanizing Curtis squares off with by-the-book Grant, with wonderful set pieces involving a pig in uniform, a botched attack (captain's log: "sighted tanker, sank truck"), and the aforementioned bra and pastel paint job. Although extra-less, the digital transfer sports sharp, nicely saturated images, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is clear. Recommended. [Note: Three other winning titles are also newly available in Artisan's "Cary Grant Collection": The Grass Is Greener, Indiscreet and That Touch of Mink.] (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—July 15, 2014—Olive, 122 min., not rated, $29.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1959's Operation Petticoat features a nice transfer and a DTS-HD mono soundtrack, but no extras. Bottom line: a crowd-pleasing charmer makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.][Blu-ray Review—Dec. 12, 2017—Olive, 120 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1959's Operation Petticoat features a decent transfer and mono audio. Extras include audio commentary by critic Adrian Martin, the production featurettes “The Captain and His Double: Cary Grant's Struggle of the Self” (29 min.) and “The Brave Crew of the Petticoat” with costars Gavin MacLeod and Marion Ross (20 min.), archival footage of the submarine USS Balao (17 min.), “That's What Everybody Says About Me” with director Blake's daughter Jennifer Edwards and actress Lesley Ann Warren (12 min.), newsreel footage with Grant at the film's opening at Radio City Music Hall (4 min.), an essay by critic Chris Fujiwara, and a booklet. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this Olive “Signature” edition of this classic Cary Grant comedy.]