Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15326 in VHS
• Released on: 1998-03-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 93 minutes

Customer Reviews

Entertainment for all fans of the classic TV sitcom
When this movie was released in the sixties, McHale's Navy fans were finally treated to seeing their heroes presented in wide-screen technicolor. A low-budget film, yet funny and entertaining.

The TV sitcom "McHale's Navy" sails on to the big screen
"McHale's Navy" was a military situation comedy that aired on ABC from 1962-1966. Basically the show was a naval version of Phil Silver's classic "Sgt. Bilko" show, where the main character is a con artist who is out to make a buck and almost always ignores regulations. This time the main character of Lt. Commander Quinton McHale was played by Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine ("Marty"), and that Oscar might well explain why this was one of the few television shows in the Sixties to get to do a theatrical film. Still, the timing of this film is strange since McHale commands a World War II P.T. boat and the commander of the most famous P.T. boat in history was assassinated in Dallas the previous November.

So, you must be asking yourself, what sort of plotline too big for the small screen did they come up with to justify a theatrical film? Well, it seems the crew of P.T. 73 bet their money on the wrong horse in a race, so now they need to raise the money to cover their loses. The result is a long string of bits where the crew tries to raise the money, involving lots of slapstick and funny dialogue. In other words, just like the television show, only 93 minutes long, so fans are going to enjoy this movie while others sit and slowly shake their heads. The result is certainly a lot better than the pathetic 1997 film version (this film gets 4 stars to ensure it is two stars better than that film) and is actually a bit better than your standard "McHale's Navy" episode.

Fans of Tim Conway should enjoy his scene stealing antics as Ensign Charles Parker, while long suffering Captain Wallace B. Binghamton (Joe Flynn), known to the boys as "Old Lead Bottom," suffers indignities at every turn because he is always a day late and several dollars short. Veteran character actor Carl Ballantine plays Lester Gruber and future televison star Gavin MacLeod is "Happy" Haines. My favorite was always Billy Sands as "Tinker" Bell, obviously because of the attendant irony.

McHale's Navy, The Movie
As a fan of the television series, this movie follows through with the same style of fun and entertaining antics of the crew of the PT-73. My memories of viewing the movie many times on television broadcasting always center on the hilarious, unbridled talents of Tim Conway, who carried his comedic skill over to the Carrol Burnett Show, where he would ofttimes bring the skits to a brief halt when he would take control and just be himself, leaving the other show participants in side-aching laughter. My only problem being why on earth is this not on dvd?!? But with the series season one out, and now due out is season two, perhaps the movie will soon follow. It deserves to be on dvd. Forty-three years is long enough!