Sailor Beware

Sailor Beware follows two men who meet while waiting to enlist in the navy. Al Crowthers has tried to join before and been turned down each time, but he keeps coming back because he believes the uniform will impress women. Melvin Jones has a different motive: a doctor has recommended an ocean voyage, and the navy is the only way he can afford one. The two become friends, and their time in the service is shaped by Melvin's unusual problem with women's cosmetics and the attention he draws from women aboard.

The film is a comedy directed by Hal Walker, working from a screenplay by James B. Allardice and Martin Rackin, and produced by Hal B. Wallis. Dean Martin plays Al and Jerry Lewis plays Melvin, continuing the screen partnership that made them a popular comedy team of the era. Corinne Calvet appears as herself, alongside Marion Marshall, Robert Strauss as CPO Lardoski and Leif Erickson as Commander Lane, among a credited cast of sixty-nine. It was released in February 1952 and runs 108 minutes.

It sits as the first of two films Walker directed that year, ahead of Road to Bali. Audience response has been modest but consistent: on IMDb it holds 6.2 out of 10 from about 1,500 votes, and on TMDB it also scores 6.2, from a much smaller group of 34 users. The similar figures suggest a film that satisfies the fans who seek it out without standing among the team's most celebrated work.