If you see certain scenes of this Martin and Lewis comedy with a few songs (by Dean; He gets very little to do as part of the plot) in tributes or montages, you might think that this is one of the best of their films. It is better than some of Lewis's films (sans Dean), but there is little in the way of plot or lengthy comical moments. Jerry needs to enlist in the Navy because it's a free alternative (with a salary) to his doctor's recommendation that he take a long ocean voyage to get over his allergy to being kissed. Dean's there to be the Abbott to his Costello (basically using con-artist ways to get Lewis into trouble by involving him in some of his schemes) but doesn't even really get a love interest. He does get to kiss someone briefly named Hetty Button, but that's a different story not even developed in this film, and it ain't the greatest show on earth....
When Jerry sings, it's a combination of Betty Boop recordings on the wrong speed and turkeys clucking while drunk, the perfect gag against someone you want to annoy to play out of the blue. Lewis's one funny moment comes when he's on a submarine swabbing the deck before it is scheduled to go down, and he doesn't hear the whistle indicating that they are about to submerge. But when you are hoping that he doesn't alert the command that he's there, that's a problem. Corinne Calvet gets little do do as Lewis's love interest, and Robert Strauss is wasted as the re-enlisting sailor harassed by Martin and Lewis who ends up being their boot camp trainer. Veteran movie grouch Donald MacBride steals the opening segment as the recruiting center commander who ends up a victim of Lewis's nonsense.
When Jerry sings, it's a combination of Betty Boop recordings on the wrong speed and turkeys clucking while drunk, the perfect gag against someone you want to annoy to play out of the blue. Lewis's one funny moment comes when he's on a submarine swabbing the deck before it is scheduled to go down, and he doesn't hear the whistle indicating that they are about to submerge. But when you are hoping that he doesn't alert the command that he's there, that's a problem. Corinne Calvet gets little do do as Lewis's love interest, and Robert Strauss is wasted as the re-enlisting sailor harassed by Martin and Lewis who ends up being their boot camp trainer. Veteran movie grouch Donald MacBride steals the opening segment as the recruiting center commander who ends up a victim of Lewis's nonsense.