Cute and amusing. Cary Grant is the skipper of a submarine stuck in a remote Phillipine base at the beginning of World War II. Damaged in an air attack, the submarine barely gets under way, with Tony Curtis as a dapper last-minute replacement who shows up for duty in natty and immaculate dress whites. Curtis is a born social climber. He is also, however, a born thief and Grant appoints him Supply Officer for the boat.

In some funny scenes, accompanied by some clever dialog, Curtis manages to steal enough supplies from various depots to keep the boat going. He also steals such luxuries as toilet paper and a pig for a New Year's luau. At one such wayside stop he manages to pick up five stranded Army nurses, one of them being the hypermastic Joan O'Brian.

You can pretty much predict the gags that will follow -- five beautiful women aboard a submarine with a crew of horny young men. The men make a point of squeezing past O'Brian in the narrow passageways at every opportunity. The Chief Motor Mac improvises a piece of machinery out of somebody's girdle. Curtis gives up his dream of marrying his rich girl friend back in the states when he falls for the elegant, blond Dina Merril (who, in real life, probably had a fatter portfolio than Curtis's fictional girl friend). Cary Grant falls for O'Brian and after the war we see both couples, now friends, with Grant an admiral and Curtis the skipper of the submarine, a dedicated navy man.

Some of the jokes now seem dated, the current Zeitgeist being what it is. An officer showing the nurses around the boat is embarrassed and stutters fiercely while trying to tell them that the loo is called "the head." On the whole, though, the film is disarming enough to be pretty funny. Grant is fine in this light comedy. He grumbles a good deal at the disorder brought to his command, as if practicing for his later "Father Goose," but he's done this so often that he could have done it all in his sleep. Tony Curtis is often criticized for his "mannerisms" but I don't know why. He's very good indeed at this sort of thing. He knows how to deliver a gag line without dwelling on it, almost running over it, so that if it's a clunker the viewer hardly notices. He's convincing in expository dialog as well and usually brings something fresh to his lines. He could do drama too, and better than Grant.

The submarine winds up being painted pink. It is attacked by an American destroyer (DD 568, which should be USS Wren) and Grant desperately sends up the nurses' underwear. The destroyer picks up some of the "debris" and the captain holds Joan O'Brian's brassiere up, staring at the capacious thing, and mutters, "The Japanese have nothing like this." You may or may not think you'll get a kick out of it, but you probably will.

World War 2 comedy about a submarine commander (Gary Grant , though Jeff Chandler was originally offered the role that went to Gary) teams with a cocky wheeler-dealer (Tony Curtis, though Bob Hope always said it was his biggest regret that he turned down this character), both of whom to make the sub seaworthy . Captain finds himself stuck with a decrepit (and pink) sub . The sub's commander experiences a certain amount of surprises at the unconventional methods used by his first lieutenant . They are joined by a group of army nurses (such as Nurse Barbara performed by Dina Merrill and Nurse Crandall played by Joan O'Brien , though Tina Louise was offered but turned down the role) whose lingerie is put to some unusual uses and the gags begin .

Agreeable comedy set in Pacific Ocean during WWII with plenty of humor, laughters , tongue-in-cheek and results to be pretty funny , though some jokes may be considered sexist these days . Top-notch performance by two masters of comedy , as Gary Grant was his hero in the genre and likable acting by Tony Curtis as a con-man executive officer . Great teamwork from Grant and Curtis keep things rolling . The whole film is a happy and at times comic vehicle for its wonderful stars . However , Grant himself was at first reluctant to take his role , knowing he was much too old to play a wartime captain . Some of the plot points of the movie were based on real-life incidents . Most notable were scenes set at the opening of WW II, based on the actual sinking of the submarine USS Sealion , sunk at the pier at Cavite Navy Yard, the Philippines ; Cmdr. Sherman's letter to the supply department on the inexplicable lack of toilet paper, based on an actual letter to the supply department by Lt. Cmdr. James Coe of the submarine Skipjack ; and the need to paint a submarine pink, due to the lack of enough red lead or white lead undercoat paint . Later remade , as nurse Barbara interpreted by Dina Merrill, the love interest for Tony Curtis' character, was played in the 1977 remake by Curtis' daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis ; furthermore TV series .

The motion picture was well directed by Blake Edwards , as he directs with good pace and enjoyable sense of humor . Blake is a classic comedy filmmaker and director of his own dialogue , there's no doubt he knows what he's about . His stories are amusing and well-realized though uneven , but thanks to Sellers many movies stand out . He had successes with ¨Pink Panther¨ series who became him a world-wide celebrity as ¨A shot in dark¨ , ¨Return of pink panther , ¨Revenge of pink panther¨ , ¨Curse of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Pink Panther strikes again¨ , ¨Trail of Pink Panther¨ , ¨Son of Pink Panther¨ , among others . Since then , there have been many more hit-and-miss comedies , some wildly unsuitable vehicles for his second wife Julie Andrews as ¨The Tamarind seed¨ , ¨Darling Lili¨, ¨SOB¨ , ¨10¨ , ¨That's life¨ . His greatest hits were ¨The party¨ , the travestite comedy ¨Victor/Victoria¨ and of course the joyously ¨Breakfast at Tiffany's ¨. The flick will appeal to Gary Grant and Tony Curtis fans . This is arguably one of the Blake Edwards' best . This consistently fun comedy deserves 'Two thumbs up' .