Expected more

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Most of Bob Hopes best films were made in the 1930s and 40s. Many of his later movies, to put it charitably, looked like he was just going through the motions...at best. Because of this, I had pretty low expectations of this film when I sat down to watch it...especially since he is 65 and is playing a sergeant! Were my instincts right? Read on...Sgt. O'Farrell is stationed on a small, out of the way island in the Pacific during WWII. While they don't see any action, they don't see much of anything else, as their supplies have been cut off and they are desperate for some female companionship. Suddenly, a transport plane makes it through and their wish is granted...of sorts. The 'woman' is Nurse Krause...and she's played by Phyllis Diller! As for the rest of the nurses...they're all guys! Inexplicably, Gina Lollobrigida just happens to be there. And, soon beer cans from a sunken supply ship start washing ashore...and suddenly morale improves tremendously. But the Sergeant needs to keep a secret....his partner who is helping him retrieve all the beer is a Japanese soldier (Mako) who has little interest in the war.So does all this sound very funny? No. And that's the problem. You would expect a Bob Hope film to be a comedy but barely anything even comes close to making you laugh and the biggest jokes(???) are about how ugly Diller is...and that really isn't particularly funny. As a comedy, it stinks...and as a war picture, it's not much either due to the strange plot, overuse of bad stock footage and an almost complete lack of anything exciting. A dud...but amazingly NOT among Hope's very worst films of the era, as he managed to be even more unfunny in films such as "How to Commit Marriage" (1969)....a film about as funny as Ebola.

Frank Tashlin's last movie (he died in 1972) is certainly not one of his best. In fact, it could justly be described as a somewhat disappointing effort. None the less, it is not as bad, in my opinion, as some people rate it. Of course, ratings all depend on the viewer's expectations. If you've paid out good money and your expectations are high, you would be inclined to give the film the lowest marks possible. But if you're a professional reviewer, you don't pay out any money and you have only a few expectations. You avoid reading what's published in the New York and Los Angeles press, and you prejudge the movie from what you have seen of the artists' previous work. On this basis, this "Private Navy..." is a good Bob Hope comedy. Not superlative, not wonderful. not a scream... but not the pits either! Admittedly, it has a lot going wrong for it. Although writer Tashlin's gags are fair enough, director Tashlin's sloppy approach with his pointless use of close- ups is to be deplored. And his direction of the players is also none too hot. Admittedly, Lolo comes across well. She's had to deal with more than a few bum directors in her time and she knows how to handle them. Mylene, on the other hand, should have threatened court action if her woefully directed footage was not removed. On yet another hand, there are some good cracks at the expense of Bing Crosby, who appears in an extract of his rendition of the title song of "Pennies from Heaven".

I have never expected a great deal from Bob Hope's comedies and know perfectly well that his films were meant to amuse their audiences in a lighthearted, unpretentious way. Hope was always the same as an actor but even his sameness was somewhat brilliant and I tend to like him. I remember having had lots of fun seeing THE PALEFACE, Paris HOLIDAY, BACHELOR IN PARADISE and other of his films. THE PRIVATE NAVY OF SGT. O'FARRELL is just an average effort. Frank Tashlin was an excellent director but this is not one of his major comedies. The plot could have resulted in a more substantial screenplay, in better devised and more entertaining comic scenes. The film has an obvious 60's look and no effort was made to give it a more authentic 40's atmosphere. Hope and Diller are their usual selves, and occasionally make one laugh. Gina Lollobrigida is as beautiful as ever but has very little to do. As usual, she is merely seen as a decorative presence. She could be so much more, as we know from films such as COME September, HOTEL PARADISO and BUONA SERA, MRS. CAMPBELL. Mylène Demongeot does a sort of cameo. It would have been to the film's advantage to give her more screen time.

I'm a big fan of Bob Hope's movies. Some of his earliest works are superior to even his Road films with old what's his name. By the time this movie came around, you could tell he was running out of material. With a nod from the series, McHale's Navy, he plays a sergeant who just about runs his own military base, but when a state of prohibition hits the island, he takes it upon himself to get beer to his buddies with the help of a Japanese deserter hiding out on the island. Now that the men have beer, they start looking for another male vice: women. With another nod to Paint Your Wagon, they lure several female nurses to an island along with Phyllis Diller who pursues Hope like a love-sick school girl. It's an underestimated comedy as he tries to stay ahead of his superior and love-starved Diller. The movie drags a bit in some places, but I'm sure only die-hard fans of Bob Hope will enjoy it.