Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss are cute and have good timing in their comedic delivery and all, but mostly this is a film searching for laughs and only rarely finding them. The pair get stationed on an American-occupied island during WWII with the task of looking for a Japanese holdout who has been pilfering supplies. It's light fare to say the least, but helped considerably by their presence. I have to say, it was also nice to see the representations of Japanese and Japanese-Americans with few stereotypes. One serviceman (Yoshio Yoda) is a ladies man, counter to the usual emasculation, and the holdout (Yuki Shimoda) kicks Hutton's ass for awhile upon being discovered. Plus, we get Miyoshi Umeki singing "How About You?" late in the film, which was just lovely. I only wish the story and the humor could have been better, or that the double entendre in the film's title could have led to a little more sizzle. As it is, it's cute, but not terribly exciting.
Review of The Horizontal Lieutenant
