''The Horizontal Lieutenant'' is a 1962 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

, based on the 1961 novel ''The Bottletop Affair'' by Gordon Cotler who was a Japanese interpreter for US Army Intelligence during World War II. It is a military comedy about an unfortunate army intelligence lieutenant who finds himself isolated on a remote island army outpost during World War II. It stars Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss and was directed by

Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His obituary called him "a capable and versatile director willing to take on any ass ...

. It was the last of four teamings between Hutton and Prentiss following '' Where the Boys Are'', '' The Honeymoon Machine'' and '' Bachelor in Paradise''.

Plot

2nd Lt. Merle Wye, an Army Intelligence officer stationed in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, is rendered horizontal when struck in the head by a

foul ball In baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of ...

while playing for his unit's baseball team. In the post hospital he is attracted to Lt. Molly Blue, a nurse he once knew in college. His superior (and manager of the team) orders the inept Merle to distant Rotohan, a Pacific island liberated from Japanese occupation some months before, ostensibly to relieve Lt. Billy Monk, who has been unable to capture a Japanese holdout called Kobayashi suspected of pilfering military supplies. However the coach really wants Monk, a former professional baseball player, for his team. By claiming to be ordered to dangerous duty Merle tries to seduce Blue; when she discovers the ruse, she barely gives him the time of day. On Rotohan, Merle and his

Nisei is a Japanese language, Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the nikkeijin, ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants, or . The , or Second generation imm ...

interpreter (and

lothario Lothario is an Italian name used as shorthand for an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in '' The Fair Penitent'', a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe.

) Sgt. Roy Tada team up with Monk to flush out the wily thief hiding in the hills. Using a reluctant Tada as a "spy" they discover that Kobayashi has been stealing the supplies, all creature comforts, to feed and clothe his pregnant girlfriend. But Merle is distracted when Blue is also assigned to his camp. With the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, in the form of obnoxious Cmdr. Jeremiah Hammerslag, also hunting Kobayashi, Merle is threatened by his new superior, Col. Korotny, with another transfer if he does not capture Kobayashi soon—this time to an even more remote rock with only six other soldiers as company. While romancing a local girl, Akiko, Tada discovers that Kobayashi is not even a soldier but a former circus performer hidden in a cave in the hills by the villagers. That night Kobayashi is to appear at a

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

staged by the locals to entertain the Americans. When Merle tries to arrest him, the agile Kobayashi stuns him using

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, knocking him horizontal again, and escapes. Col. Korotny tells Merle he is shipping out in the morning. During a drive in the hills to " say goodbye", Merle and Blue stumble on the cave, where Blue captures the acrobat after Merle once more becomes "the horizontal lieutenant". Merle is given a medal anyway and wins her heart.

Cast

* Jim Hutton as Lt. Merle Wye * Paula Prentiss as Lt. Molly Blue * Jack Carter as Lt. Billy Monk * Jim Backus as Cdr. Jeremiah Hammerslag * Charles McGraw as Col. Charles Korotny * Miyoshi Umeki as Akiko * Marty Ingels as Buckles *Lloyd Kino as Sgt. Jess Yomura *Linda Wong as Michido * Yoshio Yoda as Sgt. Roy Tada * Yuki Shimoda as Kobayashi

Production

The novel was published in 1959. Hutton and Prentiss were under contract to MGM at the time. It was known as ''The Bottle Cap Affair''.

Reception

Critical

According to ''Variety'', the film "never gets off the ground."

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $1.1 million in the US and Canada and $750,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $380,000..

Comic book adaption

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

Movie Classic: ''The Horizontal Lieutenant'' (October 1962)

References

Notes

External links

* *
Original trailer
at

TCM.com Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horizontal Lieutenant 1962 films 1962 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films 1960s English-language films Pacific War films Military comedy films Films based on American novels Films set in Hawaii Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Richard Thorpe Films produced by Joe Pasternak Films with screenplays by George Wells Films set on islands Films adapted into comics Films about the United States Army 1960s American films English-language romantic comedy films