A very good British cast of the day made this peacetime Navy picture. The comedy here is all situational, with wonderful humor. John Mills plays Puncher Roberts, who smuggles the Vespucci baby aboard their battleship waiting the return of his friend, Knocker White, played by Richard Attenborough. He would then give the baby to Knocker to take off the ship and return to his sister who had been dancing with Knocker when mayhem broke out and everyone scattered. Only Puncher wound up with an unattended baby. But Knocker doesn't make it to the ship in time, and it gets orders to pull out at night as part of a naval war games.
From then on, Puncher, joined by his friends in the rest of his squad, scurry around the ship to keep the baby hidden. They are one step ahead of being discovered, and some very good, warm-hearted humor unfolds as all these gobs get attached to junior.
Some extra things happen when a visiting marshal from another country comes aboard to observe. It has a good ending, and Attenborough has to sweat it out quite a bit on land when the uncles of the Italian family start pressing him to sure the baby is returned. One can't help thinking that Knocker gets what he deserved, and what could have been the hoosegow and worse for some guys turned out good for all.
A very funny scene is in the officers mess when a couple officers notice that a number of things seem to have suddenly gone missing. They sit down to eat and their napkin holders are empty. Below deck, the baby squad is fixing things for junior, for whom the dinner napkins prove to be just the right size and shape for diapers.
Roberts has one very funny scene when he sings a lullaby to the baby where they are holed up in the lock-up room. "I paid six pence to see, a tattooed Scotch lady." Read the rest of this under the Trivia section of the film on this IMDb page. The best line in the film is when Mills' Puncher Roberts says, "You know, I never feel safe when officers turn on the charm."
Mills and others give very good performances here. This isn't a great comedy or drama, but it is a light-hearted, fun film that the whole family might enjoy. It has some very good scenes of Royal Navy ships sailing and on maneuver at sea.
