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The Wackiest Ship in the Army

Play trailer Poster for The Wackiest Ship in the Army 1961 1h 39m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Lt. Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon) is entrusted with one of the most important missions of his World War II career: to shuttle an Australian spy (Chips Rafferty) into enemy territory. Unfortunately, he'll be doing it with one of the Navy's least seaworthy vessels, the USS Echo. But even in a clunker of a ship, Crandall and his madcap crew -- including his enthusiastic young ensign (Ricky Nelson) -- do their best to make their ill-equipped mission a success.
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The Wackiest Ship in the Army

Critics Reviews

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Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine 07/22/2019
I should have realized that any one who could invent, or endure, such a title might be presumed to have no sense of humor. Such is the case. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 07/14/2017
C=
A muddled WW2 slapstick comedy. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/14/2005
2/5
Steve Crum Kansas City Kansan 01/03/2005
3/5
Passable service comedy featuring Rick Nelson. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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alan g @agenser May 25 Good movie with Jack Lemmon reprising, sort of, his Ensign Pulver routine. Several problems: the ship is supposed to be part of the army, not the airforce. A naval lieutenant calls a navy captain "colonel". He should know better. Also he gets stabbed through the chest with a samurai sword. It should have killed him. See more Steve D 07/16/2023 Wacky? Yes, but never good. See more 08/28/2021 Jack Lemmon is a lieutenant given command of a small and decrepit sailing schooner. He initially tries to refuse this command, but after quite a bit of cajoling and intrigue, he finally accepts. And why does the Navy want him so badly to do it? As a civilian, he was a racer of sailing ships-and people in the Navy knew nothing about how to operate one, not even the crew assigned to this ship. And why is the Navy even using a sailing schooner to begin with? To reach a port in Japanese waters that neither a regular ship nor a submarine could access. A good potential idea, perhaps, but this comedy has few laughs in it. There were a couple of good scenes, such as a sailor crossing a big ship by being taken up in a crane standing on a hook, then moving to the hook of a second crane to be taken to the ship's opposite side, and there was a scene of the schooner fighting not to get crushed between two bigger boats coming alongside them. But most of the movie is insipid and unfunny, and we were too bored to make it to the end. See more 09/02/2012 Fun WWII comedy about Lemmon as the captain of a sailboat commissioned to indiscreetly spy on Japanese military movements. Ricky Nelson is his first mate and he, of course, gets to sing. Nothing brilliant, but it's a fun little film. See more 08/25/2012 Yikes....boring movie. I thought it would be funny for a while there, but I became quite the "yawner". See more 06/24/2012 Better than I expected and Ricky Nelson sings in it too! See more Read all reviews
The Wackiest Ship in the Army

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Movie Info

Synopsis Lt. Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon) is entrusted with one of the most important missions of his World War II career: to shuttle an Australian spy (Chips Rafferty) into enemy territory. Unfortunately, he'll be doing it with one of the Navy's least seaworthy vessels, the USS Echo. But even in a clunker of a ship, Crandall and his madcap crew -- including his enthusiastic young ensign (Ricky Nelson) -- do their best to make their ill-equipped mission a success.
Director
Richard Murphy
Producer
Fred Kohlmar
Production Co
Columbia
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
1h 39m
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