''The Admiral Was a Lady'' is a 1950 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Albert S. Rogell Albert S. Rogell (August 21, 1901 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - April 7, 1988 Los Angeles, California) was an American film director. Rogell directed more than a hundred movies between 1921 and 1958. He was the uncle of producer Sid Rogell. Filmogr ...

and starring

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

and

Wanda Hendrix Dixie Wanda Hendrix (November 3, 1928 – February 1, 1981) was an American film and television actress. Early life Hendrix's father was a logging foreman, and she was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She was performing in a school play in Ja ...

. The

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of the film was ''Once Over Lightly'', taken from one of the film's songs.

Plot

After the end of World War II, Jean Madison, a former

WAVE In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

ensign, meets the former

aircrew Aircrew, also called flight crew, are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions ...

of an

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

A-20 Havoc light bomber named "Sinful Sinthia" when they go to collect their

unemployment benefits Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployment, unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are fun ...

. They are all members of the 52-20 Club, a government program that pays unemployed American veterans $20 a week for 52 weeks. The men take Jean, whom Jimmy dubs the Admiral, under their wing, showing her how to save money. For example, they open bank accounts in order to receive a free ceramic

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th century ...

and get their $20 checks cashed, then close their accounts without having to pay a fee. They sell the piggy banks to a pawnbroker for 25 cents each. The gang lives free in an empty aircraft factory because Jimmy is the night watchman. Eddie artfully makes their furniture out of aircraft parts and other war surplus. They get their meals discounted for being stale or in trade, as when Mike stands in for the lifeguard at a private club. Former taxi driver Ollie drives them around in a

sound truck A sound truck is a vehicle equipped with a public address system and loudspeakers, typically used to play recorded messages at high volume to the public while driving through residential areas. They are used in many countries by groups to dissem ...

from a local music store in exchange for providing advertising over a loudspeaker. All the while, Jean is secretly followed by a private detective. When Jean learns that her fiancé Henry is returning to the United States, but has not even so much as mentioned her, she becomes upset and boards a bus for home. Meanwhile, Jimmy is summoned to the office of Peter Pedigrew, the "

Jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...

King." It was Pedigrew who had hired the private detective. He threatens to put the men to work, ending their idyllic lifestyle, unless they keep Jean from leaving for 24 hours. Pedigrew later explains that his ex-wife Shirley intends to marry Henry. Pedigrew wants to remarry Shirley (again) because, after two expensive divorces, she has most of his money, and he needs capital desperately to expand his business. Also, he is still irresistibly attracted to her, despite her being "so beautifully wicked". So, he wants the crew to help get Henry back together with Jean. Jimmy reluctantly agrees. Jimmy races to the bus and gets Jean to stay by lying to her about Henry. As they spend time together, Jean discovers that the men are living with a dark secret. Jimmy feels guilty for Mike's injuries when their airplane crashed during the war. Jimmy, the former head of an

employment agency An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In developed countries, there are multiple private businesses which act as employment agencies and a publicly-funded employment agency. Public employment agencies One ...

, will not rest until all his crewmen have resolved things. Jimmy even takes Mike's place in a boxing match, since the injuries could kill Mike, though Jimmy has never been inside a ring in his life before. In the end, Pedigrew catches up with Shirley, Henry comes for Jean, and Eddie realizes he needs to go home to find out if his girlfriend will love him, even if he is poor. Finally, Pedigrew agrees to set up Mike and Ollie in business. So, that only leaves Jimmy, who by now is in love with the Admiral. When the unseen Henry finally knocks on her door, she leaves it locked in favor of Jimmy.

Cast

as Jimmy Stevens *

as Jean Madison, the "Admiral" *

Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

as Peter Pedigrew *

Johnny Sands Johnny Sands (born Elbert Harp Jr., April 29, 1928 – December 30, 2003) was an American film and television actor. He worked in over a dozen films, and on television, before he retired from show business in 1971. He then worked as a real estat ...

as Eddie Hoff * Steve Brodie as Mike O'Halloran, the boxer *

Richard Erdman Richard Erdman ( John Richard Erdmann; June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly in ...

as Oliver "Ollie" Bonelli *

Hillary Brooke Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Career A 5′6″ blonde from the Astoria neighborhood of New York City's borough of Queens, Brooke, who was of Swedish an ...

as Mrs. Shirley Pedigrew * Richard Lane as Marty Gruber, the fight promoter *

Garry Owen The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest ba ...

as Watson Jones, the private detective *

Fred Essler Fred Essler (born Fritz Essler; 13 February 1895 – 17 January 1973) was an American actor. He worked film, television and on stage. He was born Fritz Essler, on 13 February 1895 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, (now Austria); and, died on, 17 Janu ...

as Benny, the pawnbroker

Music

"Once Over Lightly" and "Everything That's Wonderful" were composed by Al Stewart and Earl Rose.

Home media

The film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

and widely available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

or online, with running times ranging between 83 and 87 minutes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral Was a Lady, The 1950 films 1950 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Albert S. Rogell Films set in 1945 American black-and-white films United Artists films WAVES (Navy) Films about veterans 1950s American films