Lieutenant Quinton McHale is captain of torpedo boat PT 73, but his crew has very little to do with real navy - they spend most of their time taking bets and making money on the side.
Lieutenant Quinton McHale is running unusual unit - his torpedo boat PT 73 is based on one of the Pacific islands, but instead of fighting the Japanese navy his crew is more preoccupied in making some money. McHale sees all the opportunities to take some bets or sell something for good price. His superior, Captain Binghamton, is always on the lookout to catch McHale on doing something illegal and finally get rid of him. This time he may have the chance - crew of PT 73 took the bets on horse races in Australia and lost all the money they had and even more. McHale must come up with some brilliant idea to get even. Accidentally the solution comes up to them formed in a racing horse.
Film based on popular TV comedy series McHale’s Navy, presents typical plot for the series where McHale makes a fool out of his superior and makes some money on the side. It is almost slapstick comedy, thus it has dated really badly. As for war movies it has very little value - just like in case of other similiar TV series Hogan’s Heroes, the level of reality is really, really low. In case of McHale’s Navy the only plus is PT boat that was used for filming - it is one of very few movies, where they payed such large part.
Our rating
2.8
Film value
3 / 10
Realism factor
1 / 5
Adventure factor
2 / 5
Historical accuracy
1 / 5
Edward Montagne
director
Si Rose
screenplay
Frank Gill Jr
screenplay
George Carleton Brown
screenplay
Ernest Borgnine
as Lt. Quinton McHale
Tim Conway
as Ensign Charles Parker
Joe Flynn
as Captain Wallace B. Binghamton
Gary Vinson
as Quartermaster George Christopher
Bob Hastings
as Lt. Elroy Carpenter
Gavin MacLeod
as Seaman Joseph Hanes
George Kennedy
as Henri Le Clerc
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