The Lieutenant Wore Skirts

Yes, it's a mid-20th century 20th Century Fox eyeful, in Cinemascope with eye-popping colors, sumptuous locations, and the equally sumptuous Sheree North (whose warmth and naturalness, in spite of huge odds, suggest 20th really mishandled her). But the whole comic premise -- Ewell will stoop to any means to get his wife out of the military -- just isn't that funny, and it also makes our hero a selfish, unlikable lout. Add to that Frank Tashlin's usual breast-fetishizing (including the same busty-woman-with-two-milk-bottles gag he uses in "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"), and gender roles so prescribed that the sight of a man in an apron is supposed to be automatically hilarious, and it's clear that this is a vehicle running on fumes. Ewell's regular-guy act hasn't aged well, and a nearly no-name supporting cast edges timidly around the Cinemascope frame, afraid to rock the leaky boat.