Petticoat Pirates * (1961, Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood, Cecil Parker, John Turner) – Classic Movie Review 11,480

Director David MacDonald’s 1961 British comedy film Petticoat Pirates stars Charlie Drake, Anne Heywood, Cecil Parker, John Turner, Maxine Audley, Thorley Walters and Victor Maddern.

When a group of 150 women’s UK Royal Navy Wrens, commanded by officer-in-charge Chief Officer Anne Stevens (Anne Heywood), revolt and take command of a warship, the silly stoker Charlie (Charlie Drake), who has never been to sea in real action, disguises himself as one of them.

A British cast of old familiars embarrass themselves in this tepid, slackly scripted and faintly nauseating sexist comedy. Drake dressed as a woman is not as amusing as the makers of this turgid piece must have believed.

Cecil Parker as Commander-in-Chief, John Turner as Lieutenant Michael Pattinson, Thorley Walters as Captain Jerome Robertson, Maxine Audley as Mary the Superintendent, Eleanor Summerfield as Chief Wren Mabel Rawlins and Victor Maddern as Chief Petty Officer Nixon give the best performances, and even these are comic stereotypes.

It is the penultimate film of director David MacDonald (followed by the 1962 The Golden Rabbit) in a career stretching back to Double Alibi (1937).

It is the second in a series of four films produced by Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) featuring Drake. Television fame with The Charlie Drake Show (with its opening catchphrase ‘Hello, my darlings!’) led to four films featuring Drake, none of them successful: Sands of the Desert (1960), Petticoat Pirates (1961), The Cracksman (1963) and Mister Ten Per Cent (1967).

The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS, known as the Wrens) was the women’s branch of the UK Royal Navy. Formed in 1917 for World War One, it was disbanded in 1919, and then revived in 1939 at the start of the World War Two, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993.

Also in the cast are Lionel Murton as Admiral, Barbara Hicks as Physical Training Instructress, Kenneth Fortescue as Paul Turner, Dilys Laye as Sue, Penny Newington as Elizabeth, Michael Ripper as Tug, Anton Rodgers as Alec, Murray Melvin as Kenneth, Angus Lennie as George, Tony Hilton as Pincher, Michael Henry as Jumper, Norman Chappell as Johnson, James Milner as Chips, Diane Aubrey as Gunnery officer, Daphne Jonason as Navigating Officer, James Villiers as English Lieutenant, Kim Tracy as Mess attendant, Jemma Hyde as Carole, Susan Castle as Mandy, Patricia Garwood as Wren in Linen Store, Aleta Morrison as Frog Girl, Jacqueline Jones as Frog Girl, Diana Potter as Frog Girl, and Priscilla Morgan as Wren on Mess Deck.

Petticoat Pirates is written by Lew Schwarz (screenplay), Charlie Drake (additional material) and T J Morrison (story).

The London premiere was on 30 November 1961 at the Warner cinema in London’s West End and the UK general release was on 19 December 1961.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,480

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