The Horizontal Lieutenant
| The Horizontal Lieutenant | |
|---|---|
theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by | George Wells |
| Based on | novel The Bottletop Affair by Gordon Cotler |
| Starring |
Jim Hutton Paula Prentiss |
| Music by | George Stoll |
| Cinematography | Robert J. Bronner |
| Edited by | Richard W. Farrell |
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Production
company |
Euterpe
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,020,000 |
| Box office | $1,850,000 |
The Horizontal Lieutenant is a 1962 American romantic comedy war film, based on the 1961 novel The Bottletop Affair by Gordon Cotler. It is a military comedy about an unfortunate army intelligence lieutenant who finds himself isolated on a remote Japanese island army outpost during World War II. It stars Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss and was directed by Richard Thorpe.
It was the last of four teamings between Hutton and Prentiss following Where the Boys Are, The Honeymoon Machine and Bachelor in Paradise.
2nd Lt. Merle Wye (Hutton), an Army Intelligence officer stationed in Hawaii, is rendered horizontal when struck in the head by a foul ball while playing for his unit's baseball team. In the post hospital he is attracted to Lt. Molly Blue (Prentiss), a nurse he once knew in college. His superior (and manager of the team) orders the inept Merle to distant Rotohan, a secure island liberated some months before, ostensibly to relieve Lt. Billy Monk (Jack Carter), 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, who when she discovers the ruse barely gives him the time of day.
On Rotohan, Merle and his Nisei interpreter (and lothario) Sgt. Roy Tada (Yoshio Yoda) 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, in the form of obnoxious Cmdr. Jeremiah Hammerslag (Jim Backus), also hunting Kobayashi, Merle is threatened by his new superior, Col. Korotny (Charles McGraw), 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.
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Wikipedia