Operation Petticoat (Olive Signature)

Needless to say, the world is a very different place today than it was in 1959, when Blake Edwards' naval comedy Operation Petticoat premiered to rave reviews and huge box office. In fact, the political and social climates at the time of this writing have turned dramatically toxic in just the three short years since this particular film was last released on Blu-ray. Although my general feelings about the movie haven't changed, certain parts of it seem even more uncomfortably dated at this particular moment in time. Fair or not, the context of how and when we watch a movie can have a major impact in our engagement with it.

I provided a typical plot overview and so forth when I reviewed the film in 2014. Rather than repeat myself, I'll just direct readers to that article. I stand by everything I said there. By and large, the Cary Grant/Tony Curtis vehicle remains a delightful comic adventure filled with witty dialogue, clever situations and terrific cast chemistry. Surprisingly devoid of slapstick, it's a very sophisticated early work for Edwards, later the director of almost the entire Pink Panther franchise. Reportedly, the filmmaker himself didn't think much of the movie, probably because it was a for-hire assignment early in his career rather than a project he'd developed for himself. Nevertheless, its success launched him onto the Hollywood A-List, and the majority of the film holds up remarkably well nearly six decades later – aside from one pretty glaring aspect.

I noted in my previous review that the film's attitudes toward gender may be seen as sexist by a modern audience, but I largely brushed that off as being a product of its time. While that excuse is still true, I have to admit that some scenes really made me squirm in my seat this time around. When handsome playboy Lt. Holden (Tony Curtis) aggressively pursues pretty young Nurse Duran (Dina Merrill) despite her telling him that she has no interest in romance, he forces himself into her space and won't take no for an answer. The scene culminates with him kissing her until her resistance melts. Caught in the act by a superior officer, Duran apologizes for leading him on (by merely being an attractive female in his general vicinity, I suppose), and genuinely seems to feel guilty about it. Back in 1959, this scene probably seemed perfectly innocent, even charming. Why shouldn't two beautiful people flirt and fall in love, even if one has to work a little harder than the other to make that happen? Watched today, in an environment where nearly the entire entertainment industry is melting down over numerous sexual misconduct scandals, Holden looks like a real creep, especially when we learn that the character is engaged to another woman the whole time.

This comes on top of other scenes where Lt. Cmdr. Sherman (Cary Grant) expresses his exasperation at the indignity of having a bunch of women on his ship, and some of those women (including Sherman's eventual love interest) are portrayed in very stereotypical ways as klutzy ditzes. Again, this surely played as harmless when the film was made and released. And maybe it is. I doubt that anyone who worked on the movie had ill intent when writing, directing or performing these scenes. In fact, in some ways, the film was fairly progressive for its day, in that the women ultimately prove themselves valuable additions to the crew and even teach the men a thing or two about running a ship. On the other hand, why should they have to prove themselves to the men at all?

I have terribly mixed feelings about all of this, both the content of the film and my reaction to it. I don't want to be a person who judges old movies by modern social standards that were simply different at the time. Audiences of 1959, both male and female, enthusiastically embraced Operation Petticoat. Men enjoyed the wartime adventure and naval hijinks. Women responded to the romantic fantasy of falling in love with a handsome and charming man in even the unlikeliest of circumstances. Who am I, a viewer in 2017 (and a man at that) to tell them that they were wrong?

What's more, who's to say that our view of the film won't change again over time, when the current climate eventually calms down and some form of normalcy (for better or worse) replaces it? Will some reader stumble across this review in twenty years and think I sounded ridiculous for fretting about all of this? Will I? Perhaps. I'm sure some of you out there feel that way right now.

As a reviewer, all I can do is offer my honest reaction to the experience of watching a movie. I still appreciate much of Operation Petticoat and value it highly overall. Its strengths greatly outweigh its weaknesses, and even those weaknesses are tame compared to other popular movies of its day. (Although oft ignored, James Bond basically rapes a woman at the beginning of 1965's Thunderball.) All the same, I have to acknowledge that some parts of the movie made me cringe this time around. Let's see how I feel about it in another few years.

Olive Films previously released Operation Petticoat on Blu-ray back in 2014 with a disc that I rated poorly on all technical levels and had zero bonus features. Three years on, the label has seen fit to reissue the movie as part of its premium Olive Signature line. To justify the double dip and $39.95 MSRP, the disc promises an improved video transfer and newly commissioned extras. One of these two things is true.

The Olive Signature edition comes packaged in a clear keepcase inside a slipcover. An included booklet reprints an essay also found on the disc itself.