Independent in the line of "Carry-On" comedies yet to come, this was my first exposure to any of these films although I've seen many similar British comedies unrelated to them. Certainly the Navy would have pictorial records of their new admiral and do something to correct the mistake when the wrong one was delivered. Two old pals (David Tomlinson and Brian Reece) meet up and gets nothing together, passing out in the other one's room. Both have important appointments for the next day, and when they are picked up and taken, they discover that they are in the wrong place. Reece has recently been given the title of battleship commander while Tomlinson is a secretary to over-the-hill naval admiral A. E. Matthews. Think of him as the naval equivalent to "Are you Being Served?'s" young Mr Grace. James Hayter of that series has a small role, his voice instantly recognizable to me.
The problem with this film is that it could have been a funny farce in 1937, but by 1957, the Ealing comedies were getting the attention from the critics, and these sex farces were no longer as funny as they had them in the past. With all of the characters talking extremely fast and a lot of it not making any sense, much of the humor goes way above the viewer's head even though the situations are often zany. Joan Sims (who would later appear in the real "Carry-On" series) in this one gets laughs as a hotel chambermaid who explains the number system of the rooms to Tomlinson. Peggy Cummins is the glamorous leading lady, but her role is superfluous to the goings-on. Just didn't create laughs for me, only a few smirks, and not very often.
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