Girls at Sea

Girls At Sea is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Gilbert Gunn and starring Ronald Shiner as Marine Ogg and Warren Mitchell as Arthur. It was based on a play by Ian Hay and Stephen King-Hall, previously filmed as The Middle Watch in 1930 and under the same title in 1940. Plot Officers throw an extravagant party on board the battleship HMS Scotia when it visits the French Riviera. At the end of the night, the final shore-boat is judged unseaworthy, and three attractive female guests, Mary (Ann Kimball), Jill (Mary Steele) and Antoinette (Nadine Tallier), must spend the night on board ship. But before they can be escorted ashore the next day, the battleship is called out on manoeuvres off the coast of Italy. Having no choice but to take the women along, Captain Maitland (Guy Rolfe) must hide the girls presence from the admiral (Michael Hordern). Cast Guy Rolfe as Captain Alwin Maitland Ronald Shiner as Marine Ogg Alan White as Commander Michael Hordern as Admiral Reginald Victor Hewitt Anne Kimbell as Mary Carlton Nadine Tallier as Antoinette Fabia Drake as Lady Kitty Hewitt Mary Steele as Jill Eaton Richard Coleman as Captain Robert 'Bobby' Randall Lionel Jeffries as Harry, the Tourist Teddy Johnson as Singer Daniel Massey as Flag Lieutenant Courtney David Lodge as Corporal Duckett Warren Mitchell as Arthur Michael Ripper as Jumper, Marine Mercy Haystead as Claudine Brian Wilde as Bill Harold Goodwin as Wal David Aylmer as Navigating Officer Richard Briers as 'Popeye' Lewis Critical reception The Radio Times wrote, "The 1940s film version of the stage farce The Middle Watch, which starred Jack Buchanan, was pretty bad, but beside this tepid remake it looks like a comedy classic. The cast does its level best to pep up the tired material...Ronald Shiner is cheeky and Michael Hordern is absent-mindedly authoritarian, but Guy Rolfe is as wooden as a figurehead, while all the girls get to do is rush around in a state of undress. Try another form of naval gazing instead" whereas TV Guide called it "An amusing comedy"; and Allmovie noted, "Michael Hordern has some dryly amusing moments as the hapless Admiral."