Name: Petticoat Pirates
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1962-02-23
Duration: 1 h 27 min
Rating: 5.2
Cast: Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood, Cecil Parker

Technicolor  farce with a superfluous star

Service comedies, especially those with a naval background, were all the rage in the Britain of the late 1950s and early 1960s. After two world wars and the institution of National Service, there were more Brits familiar with life in the armed forces than in any period before or since. 

This colourful farce about Wrens taking over a warship to show their chauvinistic male counterparts a thing or two, is typical of the ABPC which had already produced the similar GIRLS AT SEA and OPERATION BULLSHINE among others. All featured excellent production values and superb Technicolor photography, in this case from Gilbert Taylor. Nominal star Charlie Drake is mostly superfluous and the film would function just as well without him, rather like the Fox 1940's Laurel and Hardy movies, not that Drake should really be mentioned in the same sentence as the two comedy giants. He seems to have been shoe-horned in here, in an opportunistic attempt to cash in on his great popularity on ITV at the time. A typical set-piece has him having a nightmare about a court martial, with all his accusers played by himself; it's clever but not very funny, though some years later he won a Golden Rose award playing an entire orchestra. Rather more laughs are provided by the stupefying banality of the script on occasions. The lovely Anne Heywood and the inevitable, but always welcome, Cecil Parker are supported by a valiant cast of British character actors including Victor Maddern and Eleanor Summerfield, while Murray Melvin plays a clone of the supercilious type essayed by Mister Williams in the early Carry Ons, cheekily called Kenneth.

The comedy genre refers to a category of entertainment that aims to amuse and entertain audiences by using humor, wit, and comedic situations. Comedies are created with the primary intention of eliciting laughter and providing lighthearted enjoyment. They encompass a wide range of styles, tones, and themes, appealing to various tastes and audiences.

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A group of Wrens rebel because they have been turned down for service on a warship.

Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)

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Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

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Charlie Drake and Eleanor Summerfield in Petticoat Pirates (1961)

Petticoat Pirates

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