Onionhead (1958) User Reviews

It's pretty good, but pretty uneven....and probably not what you're expecting.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 22 October 2010]

Early in his acting career, Andy Griffith had two breakout roles that brought him fame. One was starring in the very gritty "A Face in the Crowd", the other starring in the teleplay and movie version of "No Time For Sergeants". Now considering that "Onionhead" is a military film that came out right after "No Time For Sergents", I naturally assumed it was a similar film--a hilarious comedy featuring Griffith as a very likable idiot. Imagine my surprise, then, when despite the silly title and proximity to "No Time For Sergeants", it had almost nothing in common with this film and really wasn't even a comedy. Sure, "Onionhead" had some comedic parts but only scattered about--otherwise, it was a pretty serious film. In addition, Griffith's character was incredibly different this time. Al Woods was certainly no innocent, but instead was headstrong, occasionally unlikable but ultimately decent guy. Just when you think you don't like him, he shows some character--just like a real life person. And, this real life aspect of the film is probably what will disappoint many viewers who are expecting a rollicking military comedy. However, despite failing to meet these expectations and having an uneven script and an occasionally tough to like leading man, it IS worth seeing. Griffith gives a nice performance and the more you watch the film the more you connect with it. So, if you do give it a try, don't assume it's a comedy or the same-old-same-old...and be patient. It's actually pretty good.

Onionhead has some bright moments

[j-hurst · 6/10 · 29 March 2006]

While I agree that "Onionhead" does not rise near the standards of the two films it most resembles, ("Mister Roberts" and Andy Griffith's earlier "No Time for Sergeants"), I do have some fond memories of this film. Andy Griffith makes one wish that he had done more dramatic roles like this and "A Face in the Crowd" and Walter Matthau proves again how valuable he was in lifting even mediocre material above its natural level. The cast is full of interesting actors and at least one sequence was memorable enough when seen on television many years ago to make the phrase, "cinnamon rolls" a sure laugh-getter for my two brothers and I. It's greatest flaw really is it's inability to decide whether it's a standard service comedy or a character drama. The two parts of it's personality jar against each other rather than seeming lifelike. It's true too, that the main character comes across as rather unlikable for a good stretch of the film.

Better than that . . .

[Gatorman9 · 7/10 · 21 October 2012]

I think the other reviewers are mostly giving this movie a harder rap than it deserves, and that the 5.9 rating it gets is too low. I'd give it at least a 7.0. While it is not MISTER ROBERTS, nothing else is either, and not having read the book I can't compare it to that either. Rather, it seems to be not only a perfectly good example of fare in the humor-in-uniform genre (people seem to have forgotten just how many, many movies were made, particularly after the war, in that vein), but I found it more believable and less contrived than most in terms of both situations and acting. The quality of the banter and chaff was overall much better than you see in most such films including even A-list movies with people like John Wayne in them. I also found the adult situations more believably adult than was typical in A-list movies for those days. I could get into details if anybody really wanted to, but the bottom line is that I was glad I happened upon this on TV and wish I could get a DVD copy to add to my collection.

Shallow Water Sailors

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 16 November 2011]

Apparently a lot of people who are used to Andy Griffith from No Time For Sergeants or from the Andy Griffith Show were expecting something quite different from Onionhead. This is an armed service film set in the Coast Guard during World War II. It's got it's funny moments, but if you're expecting No Time For Sergeants at sea you won't get it. At least Griffith isn't redoing Lonesome Rhodes here.

Andy leaves the plains of Oklahoma behind and becomes a cook after a fashion on a Coast Guard vessel, earning the enmity which gradually warms to respect from chief cook Walter Matthau. He's got less success with Ray Danton the Executive Officer on his ship who is an American version of Captain Bligh in more ways than one. Fans of Mutiny On The Bounty will remember Clark Gable's lecture to Charles Laughton on all the ways that captains make extra money before and during their voyages. Danton has something of that racket going here.

But being headstrong and obstreperous Griffith does not observe the chain of command and causes more problems than what he's trying to solve. He's also got some romantic issues as well with girl he left behind Erin O'Brien-Moore and Felicia Farr the nymphomaniac wife of Walter Matthau.

Best scenes are in the galley with Matthau, Griffith separately and apart. Now their bits are standard for every Hollywood service comedy.

Such colorful cast members as James Gregory, Joey Bishop, Joe Mantell, Tige Andrews, and Claude Akins round out the cast. Many of them clean some Navy clocks when at a bar they're referred to as shallow water sailors. Onionhead is definitely a classic films though it's not quite a comedy.

below average

[westpac · 15 July 2003]

Follow-up to Andy Griffith's big hit in "No Time for Sergeants" moves the action to the Coast Guard and WW II. Though more of a serious role this movie is usually advertised as a comedy when it crops up on TV even though there is none of the broad farce from the earlier film. The title concerns Griffith's character's hair falling out and having an onion mixture applied to it to promote hair growth. All around unmemorable.

Griffith both serious and funny

[daviddaphneredding · 7/10 · 24 July 2016]

In this 1958 Warner Brothers production, Andy Griffith is both nutty and yet very dramatic; this movie indicates that fact very well. While I was watching this as a boy in 1958, I was expecting a comedy, but, unlike the side-splitting comedy "No Time for Sergeants" it was only humorous occasionally. I learned empirically that if anyone was looking for a comedy in this, don't get your hopes up along that line. But again, it was a well-done production of its kind. Tersely, the story is about a 1941 Oklahoma boy named Alvin "Al" Woods in maybe his twenties who becomes upset one night with his girlfriend because of a lack of commitment on her part, which spurns him to go join the Coast Guard where he is assigned to a ship in Boston and ends up being a cook. Because of his naivete he is sometimes taken advantage of by others on the ship, though many of them do end up respecting him. He becomes very serious and firm when, because of a conflict in the kitchen, he takes a very serious stand. Again, his dramatic powers come through when he not only takes his stand, but when he becomes frustrated as well. The 12/07/1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was well-dramatized. The acting was well-done. The very lovely Felicia Farr lends support as Stella Papparonis, a not-so-nice girl who likes to throw herself at men. Walter Matthau is comical as 'Red' Wildoe, the chief cook. Ray Danton must have wanted people to hate him, for here he plays a cold and very dishonest Ensign Dennis Higgins. Erin O'Brien is a sweet and pretty lady as Josephine "Jo" Hill, Woods' first love interest. James Gregory, though smile-less and a bit on the rough side, portrays well Lt. Cmdr. Fox, a man who becomes a very good-hearted and supportive friend of Woods. Claude Akins is nutty as a buddy of Woods. Everything taken into consideration, it is a well-done dramatic feat.

Lousey Movie

[cdj1122 · 3/10 · 6 October 2008]

Unfortunately for the movie, I read the book first and so was vastly disappointed as so often happens when producers, directors and big time actors get involved. . The book had an influence on me joining in the USCG in 1959 on that exact type of 180' bouy tenders mostly, one home-ported in Charleston SC and another based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that spent most of its time cruising the Western and Southern Pacific. The movie hams up the story and must have had a committee of screen writers trying to put in slapstick humor. Years later I reread the book at least twice and it never failed to entertain. By then I could really appreciate the authenticity of the book's details that coincided with my personal adventures and were lost in the movie. I rented the 1958 movie once to see if my opinion had changed but it is no wonder it was a box office bomb.

uneven

[Ajtlawyer · 5/10 · 2 June 2012]

I'd heard of this movie but had never seen it before yesterday. Given it was the movie that Andy Griffith made right after his hilarious "No Time for Sergeants" I expected it to be a comedy but after watching it I'm not sure if it was a comedy, a drama or what.

Griffith plays Al Woods, a lower-class guy from Oklahoma who is working his way through college as a waiter at a high-toned sorority at the college---and getting hot and heavy with one of the sorority girls. She ends up rejecting him because of his low-born status. Infuriated, he quits school and since this is early 1941, he decides to join the service and get as far away as he can. A literal coin flip has him ending up in the Coast Guard.

Though he had entered the Coast Guard to forget women, Woods is still a rake and the first chance he has to hook up with a girl he does, going for the luscious Stella played by Felicia Farr. Assigned to a buoy tender as a cook, even though he doesn't know the first thing about being a cook, you think the movie is going to be a comedy like "No Time for Sergeants" but it never gets there. Woods, despite his lack of cooking skills, becomes a pretty good cook in short order and wins over the respect of the top cook played by Walter Matthau. As it turns out, he and Matthau are vying for the same woman. Matthau marries her but when he ships out for sea, Woods learns that Stella is very much on the make.

The movie is uneven. It never makes up its mind about being a comedy, a drama or something else. The "onionhead" reference isn't explained until well into the movie when Woods is convinced by another Coastie to shave his head. The test of wills between Woods and the supercilious executive officer comes and goes. Woods isn't really all that likable a character but Griffith does a pretty good job with the role. Matthau does his usual fine performance. Felicia Farr went on to be married to Jack Lemmon for awhile. The rest of the cast includes Joey Bishop, Tige Andrews and James Gregory. You can probably count all the movies about the Coast Guard on two fingers---"Onionhead" and the very good Kevin Costner movie, "The Guardian".

The reason I joined the United States Coast Guard

[gwleefltr · 10/10 · 30 March 2008]

This was one of the main reasons I joined the United States Coast Guard in 1976 and retired in 2006. I was 10 years old when I saw the movie and have been remembering it every day since. I would like to find out how to purchase this for my home collection. As I remember the story, it is close to Mister Rogers plot, except a Coast Guard version instead. Granted, there are a lot of flaws one could develop of the view of the Coast Guard, it is the unsung hero of the United States Armed Forces. Very few people realize the how small the Coast Guard is, when I retired, there were only 35,000. This does not come out in this movie, which I wished it would have. Nor does the movie depict the dangerous jobs the men and women of the Coast Guard do on a daily basis.

no laughs

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 10 October 2020]

In 1941, Al "Onionhead" Woods (Andy Griffith) quits college after a fight with his Jo. He's joining the fight against Hitler. A faulty coin toss sends me to sign up with the coast guard instead of the Marines. He is assigned to cook despite not knowing how. Chief cook 'Red' Wildoe (Walter Matthau) is not happy with the new addition and there is corruption within the ranks.

Despite his personality, Andy Griffith can't give this character any more likeability. He's more angry than loveable. It tries to be funny but it struggles due to the character. I don't really like him and that's all there is to that. At the end of the day, a comedy needs the audience to care about the character. I couldn't care less about this guy and I can't get a laugh out of this.

It's not a comedy but..........

[Owen-13 · 3 December 2006]

I have seen the movie a few times over the years, and usually enjoy it for what it is. Its not a comedy, though it has funny moments, and the characters are interesting even though none of them is really appealing. I suppose it would have to be classified as a drama, though it isn't really dramatic in theme or treatment, and it isn't exactly slice of life, its too scatter-shot to be that. A series of incidents that define the character and development of a man from callow youth through cynical adult to something a bit more compassionate and understanding by the end of the movie. This movie was apparently something of a departure for Andy Griffith, as he rarely returned to this sort of material in his career, seeming to prefer a more slapstick, comedic role, but it does indeed demonstrate his capability of handling material outside that venue.

No real drama, almost no humor

[FlushingCaps · 1/10 · 1 October 2010]

I just watched the TCM showing tonight. Technically, I skipped out before it ended. Billed as a comedy, this film has fewer laughs than almost any episode of Columbo or even Law & Order, which were certainly more drama than comedy.

But as a drama, there is none, or almost none. Andy's character didn't like his girlfriend sitting with a guy at a party where he was a waiter, so he rudely goes over and throws a drink on him. Then he is demanding of the girl, so she tells him to take a hike.

He decides instantly to quit school and join the Coast Guard. After one unfunny training scene, he picks a fight with the non-com trying to wake him up. That gets him assigned as a cook on a ship, without any training.

The head cook, Walter Matthau, is surly and wants nothing to do with him, and doesn't care that he hasn't been trained at all. Meanwhile, Andy sees a girl in a bar.

He goes after her in a most disturbing way. Right after meeting her, he is so grabby, huggy that he is totally unlikeable. The second time he sees her--no real date, no getting to know her, he just can't keep his mitts off her. He talks about taking her to a hotel.

This is supposed to be 1941. He knows almost nothing about her, but wants a hotel. When she resists, he is indignant and thus spoils that relationship. Then we learn that although she told him she isn't seeing anyone special, that she is engaged to the head cook. So we see that she is totally unfaithful to her fiancé.

This is about where I checked out. Nobody in this film is likable. There is no intense, or even interesting drama. Our "hero" is totally self-absorbed and seems to have no real "mission", no great task to accomplish at work and no desire for a real relationship with a woman, just quick sex.

I'm just glad this miserable film didn't ruin Andy's career, because his great roles as Andy Taylor and Ben Matlock, plus some other films make him one of my all-time favorite actors. I cannot imagine he ever worked in a film or show that was worse than this.

Failed Comedy

[rmax304823 · 3/10 · 1 October 2010]

The novel by Weldon Hill was pretty amusing but this movie really sucks. Andy Griffith is okay, as far as that goes, but Walter Matthau deserves better. The other characters are based on genuine human types. Eg., Felicia Farr is available for courtship by sailors but is interested chiefly in marriage and a stable home, rather than someone she actually loves. It's a real condition that many young women probably found themselves in at the beginning of World War II. But, as written, her character is so shallow that the humanity lurking within the murk seems practically lucifugous.

It's the story of Andy Griffith who joins the U. S. Coast Guard, is sent directly from boot camp to a ship with a rating of third-class cook, works under a drunken superior, Matthau, who becomes a kind of friend, and a stern but corrupt officer who does not. Beginning as a clumsy cook, Griffith gradually becomes a seasoned and competent petty officer and actually saves the ship during a submarine attack.

I found it almost too painful to watch. Where to begin? The United States Coast Guard, as seen in this movie, bears as much resemblance to the real Coast Guard as Cloud Cuckoo Land bears to ordinary life. The corrupt officer, Ray Danton, for instance, is sketched as phony and unbearable because he chews Griffith out for boarding the ship without saluting the colors, then the OOD. The officer orders Griffith to repeat the ritual twice so that he gets it right. And Griffith, representing the audience, is indignant and disgusted by Danton's arrogance. I must ask: Is the writer kidding? I've seen one man returning from liberty carrying another, too drunk to walk, up the gangway, stop to salute the flag, continue to the quarterdeck, then salute the OOD and ask permission to come aboard. The ritual is fundamental. Everybody does it, officers included. You learn it in boot camp and it becomes automatic.

Against this phantasmic background, the story is played out as one hoary cliché after another. Too much yeast and Griffith's loaves of bread bulge their way out of the ovens among vulgar sounds. It was old when "I Love Lucy" used it.

Drunk scenes can be funny but usually are not and are best left off the screen, as John Ford realized. This one is shown in detail and is not funny.

Military stories can have romantic interludes if they're handled well. Sometimes they are, as in "Pride of the Marines" or "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo." Sometimes they are merely padding. Here they're padding.

The budget -- or someone's decision somewhere up the food chain -- has cut special effects to nil, so that the climactic engagement with the submarine is so clumsily handled that it's embarrassing.

A few bonus points for the appearance of Tige Andrews in a very minor part. I just loved the guy.

If you want to see Andy Griffith in a successful military comedy, watch "No Time For Sergeants."

Loss of Hair and Laughs

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 26 May 2014]

It's springtime in 1941, at an Oklahoma college. Older-looking and ardently amorous student Andy Griffith (as Alvin "Al" Woods) fails to get his kissing partner past first base. Unable to score, he decides to drop out and join the US Coast Guard. After training, Mr. Griffith is stationed at a Boston, MA harbor. He is made assistant cook to gruff, light-haired Walter Matthau (as "Red" Wildoe). They have some very un-funny drunk scenes and both go for pretty Felicia Farr (as Stella). In real life, she will marry actor Jack Lemmon. After the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, Griffith's ship is called into service. "Onionhead" refers to a recurring subplot about Griffith going bald, although he has one of the best heads of hair in the cast. Considering the personnel involved in making this film, it's a disappointment and most interesting for that observation.

**** Onionhead (10/1/58) Norman Taurog ~ Andy Griffith, Walter Matthau, Felicia Farr, Ray Danton

Movie is All Over the Place

[GAWeldon · 3/10 · 26 May 2014]

This movie is trying to be all things to all viewers, and it fails at each of them. There's plenty of story here, but the mixture of comedy and drama is so uneven and just plain weird, that the movie is completely unsatisfying.

There's a pretty good service comedy buried somewhere in there, but its never given a chance to fully come out and build up a head of steam. There's also an interesting character study of a troubled young guy (Andy Griffith) and his attempts to grow up in the military during WW2 (he even gets to use his Matlock skills at one point). There's also the basic story line from "An Officer and a Gentleman" in here, with Andy dealing with women just interested in marrying a military man for his pay and benefits. Unfortunately, each of these potentially interesting stories are tossed together, so that you never know from one scene to the next, which story is about to have its turn.

Andy and Walter Matthau played a great antagonistic relationship in "Face in the Crowd". Here, they're playing comedic pals, and they seem to work less well together. A drunk scene, in particular, looks like the worst dinner-theatre acting I've seen in some time.