| The Horizontal Lieutenant | |
|---|---|
 theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Thorpe |
| Written by | George Wells |
| Based on | novelThe Bottletop Affair byGordon Cotler [fr][1] |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Starring | Jim Hutton Paula Prentiss |
| Cinematography | Robert J. Bronner |
| Edited by | Richard W. Farrell |
| Music by | George Stoll |
Production company | Euterpe |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,020,000[2] |
| Box office | $1,850,000[2] |
The Horizontal Lieutenant is a 1962 Americanromantic comedywar film, based on the 1961 novelThe Bottletop Affair by Gordon Cotler who was a Japanese interpreter for US Army Intelligence during World War II.[3] 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.[4] It starsJim Hutton andPaula Prentiss and was directed byRichard Thorpe.
It was the last of four teamings between Hutton and Prentiss followingWhere the Boys Are,The Honeymoon Machine andBachelor in Paradise.[5][6]
2nd Lt. Merle Wye, anArmy Intelligence officer stationed inHawaii, is renderedhorizontal when struck in the head by afoul ball 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 aJapanese 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 hisNisei interpreter (andlothario) 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 theNavy, 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 avariety show staged by the locals to entertain the Americans. When Merle tries to arrest him, the agile Kobayashi stuns him usingjudo, 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.
The novel was published in 1959.[7]
Hutton and Prentiss were under contract to MGM at the time.[8]
It was known asThe Bottle Cap Affair.[9]
According toVariety, the film "never gets off the ground."[10]
According to MGM records, the film earned $1.1 million in the US and Canada[11] and $750,000 overseas, resulting in a loss of $380,000.[2]
Notes