Underplayed Gems

Don't Give Up the Ship (1959)

Don't Give Up the Ship poster
Directed by
Norman Taurog
Genre
comedy film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 29m
Rated
NR
Rating
6.4 of 10 from 23 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A former Navy officer tries to account for a missing battleship he was once in charge of. The comedy follows his frantic efforts to track down the ship years later.

lightheartedzanyfast-pacedsillywhimsicalplayfulgoofynostalgic

What happens

Don't Give Up the Ship is a 1959 American black-and-white U.S. Navy comedy film from Paramount Pictures, produced by Hal B. Wallis, directed by Norman Taurog, that stars Jerry Lewis and co-stars Dina Merrill, Diana Spencer, Claude Akins, Robert Middleton, Gale Gordon, and Mickey Shaughnessy. The film was shot from October 21, 1958, to January 30, 1959, and was released June 16, 1959. The film was based on the Alcoa Theatre episode Souvenir aired on December 2, 1957, starring Jack Lemmon that was written by Ellis Arnold Kadison. Kadison's idea was based on Edward Anhalt then serving with the Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California signing for a captured German Messerschmidt that was to be used as a prop in a training film. When the aircraft disappeared, Anhalt was issued with a bill from the US Government for $175,000 until a search revealed that the aircraft was discovered as a mockup on the MGM backlot. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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