The Skipper Surprised His Wife (1950)

When a naval officer's wife breaks her ankle and is laid up, her husband takes over running the household by employing military regimentation and disciple, which leads to a number of amusing situations. (Comedy, 85 mins.)

Director:

Elliott Nugent

Writers:

Dorothy Kingsley (original story and screenplay), William J. Lederer (based on magazine story by) (as Commander W.J. Lederer U.S.N.)

Stars:

Robert Walker, Joan Leslie, Edward Arnold

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Walker	...	Cmdr. William J. Lattimer
Joan Leslie	...	Daphne Lattimer
Edward Arnold	...	Adm. Homer Thorndyke
Spring Byington	...	Agnes Thorndyke
Leon Ames	...	Dr. Philip Abbott
Jan Sterling	...	Rita Rossini
Anthony Ross	...	Joe Rossini
Paul Harvey	...	Brendon Boyd
Kathryn Card	...	Thelma Boyd
Tommy Myers	...	Tommy Lattimer
Rudy Lee	...	Davey Lattimer
Finnegan Weatherwax	...	Muscles the Dog
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Doctor (scenes deleted)

Storyline

When a naval officer's wife breaks her ankle and is laid up, her husband takes over running the household by employing military regimentation and disciple, which leads to a number of amusing situations. (Comedy, 85 mins.)

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Plot Keywords:

taxi driver | slapstick comedy | battleship | nurse | harbor | 

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Taglines:

HE'S NAUTICAL! SHE'S NICE! YOU'LL BE HYSTERICAL! (original poster-all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Flor dos Maridos

Box Office

Budget:

$753,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The destroyer seen at the beginning of the film depicted as the U.S.S. Donegan is actually the U.S.S. Stickell (DD-888), one of 98 Gearing-class destroyers made near and after the end of WWII. Commissioned in 1945, she served the U.S. Navy until 1972, earning six battle stars for Korea, and one for Vietnam. She was then transferred to the Greek Navy and renamed the Kanaris (D212). Finally decommissioned in 1993, she was scrapped in 2002.

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Quotes

Cmdr. William J. Lattimer: The average housewife is either a soap opera addict, a fence-hanger, a salesman-encourager, a book-of-the-monther or just plain lazy.

User Reviews

Nothing Special

If you are familiar with the dozens of Joe McDoakes shorts of the 1940's and 50's, you've seen just about all the comedy in this movie already. But where as Joe was just a bumbling "everyman", in this movie, Robert Walker plays William J. Lattimer, Navy Commander and Annapolis graduate.

When Lattimer's wife Daphne, played by Joan Leslie, breaks her ankle, the good Commander must take over the household chores. It's a bit of a stretch to see how incompetent he is at it. Mistaking bubble bath for dish soap, opening the cupboard and being hit in the head with the ironing board, etc..

It gets a bit more interesting once they burn off some slapstick, but this movie never goes beyond average. It doesn't bore you, but it doesn't excite you either. The large number of users rating this movie a 10 is a mystery to me. US users rate this 5.5, which seems about right. Non-US users rate this 8.6. I have no clue why. Maybe lots of French voters? They really seem to love their non-verbal humor.