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The Wackiest Ship in the Army

Catalog Number
60596
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The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1960)

Additional Information

Additional Information
RiCKY NELSON Your No. 1 Singing Star hits the high C's in...The WACKiEST SHiP in the ARMY
WACKY IS THE WORD FOR IT!

You'll crack your timbers when you see how the Navy sticks the Army sad sacks with the crumbiest ship afloat!

The ocean roars and so will you!


Hijinks and spyjinks lighten this effective comedy by Richard Murphy, based -- very loosely -- on an actual incident in World War II. The place is somewhere in the Pacific and the not-so-good ship USS Echo, captained by the comic Lt. Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon), has a very specific assignment. The floating anachronism has to safely carry an Australian spy deep into enemy territory where he will be stationed to report on the Japanese fleet's activities. Since the Echo should have been dismantled and sold for its parts long ago, this assignment is not easy. As the military and its stereotypical traits are parodied with sophistication and sharp humor, the Captain and his motley crew do their best to successfully complete their mission.


It is wartime. Lt. Rip Crandall, an expert yachtsman in civilian life, now based at Townsville, Queensland, Australia, is surprised to be assigned command of a sailing ship, the USS Echo. The only crew member who knows how to work a ship with sails is eager young Ensign Tommy Hanson, who cost Crandall a yacht race with a mistake before the war.
Crandall tries to refuse this dubious command, but Hanson and Lt. Commander Vandewater wear down his resistance. Vandewater points out Crandall's poor fitness report and advises that if he doesn't take this command, he'll probably never get another. Hanson takes Crandell out drinking with some of the men so he'll feel guilty about abandoning them.
The Echo barely makes it out of the harbor, sailing straight into a storm. When it arrives in Port Moresby, Crandall is supposed to train a replacement to deliver a coast watcher named Patterson to a location only a shallow-draft vessel can reach. However, the replacement commander strikes Crandall as stiff-necked and unqualified to handle this kind of mission, so he takes the ship out under his own command to deliver Patterson.
Making the crossing in a not very convincing disguise as a native trading vessel, Crandall and his crew are spotted and photographed by an enemy plane. While they are delivering their passenger, a Japanese force from a passing war fleet boards the scow and captures the landing party when they return.
Crandall manages to rally his men to take the ship back. He is then faced with the decision of whether to radio a warning about the fleet, even though that will give away their position to guns on shore. He sends the warning and abandons ship as the guns open fire on the Echo and destroy her.
The crew survives to be rescued, and Crandall is given command of a modern destroyer whilst Hanson gains command of a sub chaser for their role in helping to win the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.

Release Date: December 29, 1960


Distrib: Columbia Pictures

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