Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

HotToastyRag At first, I hated this movie. I almost turned it off, but there stood David Niven, in a white captain's uniform and in Technicolor. I kept watching. By the end of the movie, I loved it! Thank goodness for David Niven in a white captain's uniform in Technicolor.The entire movie is interspersed with real WW2 footage and promotional films to help men enlist. It's a little strange, and to be honest, I could have done without the constant cuts, but if you can get used to it early on, that will help you. Screenwriters Phillip Rock and Hal Dresner must have wanted the entire film to feel satirical, but I think it would have been even better without the stock footage. Now to the plot: Alan Alda, Mickey Rooney, Jack Carter, and Manu Tupou are shipwrecked on a deserted island during WW2. They come across an abandoned, wrecked ship, but quickly find that it's not quite abandoned! David Niven, the ship's captain, is still aboard, drinking, making whimsical remarks no one seems to understand, and far from anxious to help with the war effort. But together, and with a random appearance by Faye Dunaway, they patch up the boat and try to help fight the Japanese. Without David Niven's character, the movie would be terrible. And without David Niven cast in the role, it would have devolved into a silly 70s comedy with no class or charm. Everything funny and lovely in the film is due to The Niv's splendid comic timing and suaveness. After watching this film, I dare you not to wish he'd been cast in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. He's infinitely more likable than Rex Harrison. For that matter, why wasn't he cast in My Fair Lady? Well, I guess that's an issue for another time. For now, if you'd like a silly war comedy, give The Extraordinary Seamen a try.

Martin Bradley John Frankenhimer made "The Extraordinary Seaman" in 1969 and it was one almighty flop; hardly surprising considering it was an extremely unfunny comedy set in the Philippines during the Second World War. If it showed us anything it was that Frankenhimer couldn't do comedy and watching this you might assume that David Niven, Alan Alda and Mickey Rooney couldn't do comedy either or maybe the war with Japan just wasn't that funny or maybe it was the continual cross-cutting from the movie to newsreel footage that killed it. The female lead was Faye Dunaway, who already had "Bonnie and Clyde" behind her; that she survived this muck is testament to her abilities both as an actress and as a star. Extraordinary indeed, but for all the wrong reasons.

mrb1980 Director John Frankenheimer's films always had pretty good batting averages. Classics such as "The Manchurian Candidate", "Seven Days in May", and "Birdman of Alcatraz" have all stood the test of time. ("Prophecy" is pretty substandard, but we'll forget about that one.) However, "The Extraordinary Seaman" is just abysmal. Despite the presence of Frankenheimer and a big-name cast (David Niven, Alan Alda, Faye Dunaway, Mickey Rooney) the film has very little plot, fairly atrocious acting, and no point at all.During World War II, Morton Krim (Alan Alda) finds himself aboard an old military ship in the Pacific. Besides the crew (including Rooney) the ship is manned by an eccentric British captain (Niven). After the ship picks up Jennifer (Dunaway), Krim begins to notice that the captain drinks constantly from a whiskey bottle that always seems full, is impervious to bullets and shrapnel, and keeps his uniform immaculately clean, no matter the circumstances. It appears that the captain is a ghost destined to skipper the ship forever until he redeems himself in battle. The crew has various nonsensical and unconnected adventures (including interaction with island natives that is painful to watch), before the captain finally redeems himself by sinking a Japanese ship, in a climax that is supposed to be humorous but instead is just dumb.Lots of WWII newsreel footage is included, but it's so unrelated to the film's so-called plot that it seems way out of place. Niven, Dunaway, Alda, and Rooney are usually worth watching, but they can't rise above the ridiculous story and haphazard direction. In particular, the Japanese airplane attack on Niven's ship is somehow supposed to be funny (I guess) but instead it's just excruciating. Although it is interesting to see a pre-MASH Alda, his performance isn't really believable at all, since he looks very late-1960s in a mid-1940s setting. Frankenheimer was a very capable director, but he wasn't good enough to salvage this dud. If there are worse ways to pass the time than watching this movie, I can't think of any. This may be the biggest star-studded turkey of 1969.

dbborroughs TCM recently ran the legendary EXTRAORDINARY SEAMAN with David Niven Alan Alda and Faye Dunaway, not to mention Mickey Rooney and a few other great character actors.This is a really bad movie, not fun, just bad. The premise has Niven as a dead sea captain haunting a boat until he does a heroic act (Its WW2 and he's been dead since WW1). He's always in white and constantly drinking and never eats. Eventually he confesses his state to Alda who is a high strung CPA who can't figure out whats wrong with the Captain. Intercut with the funny footage is newsreel material cut mixed with witty lines and odd music. Its almost like MASH in some technical ways (the camp announcements say relating to the newsreel narration) but the effect is a stone faced silence. I kept going on with the film to see what was wrong, and its purely the fault of the direction which treats the material too realistically, and Alda who's patented shtick and mannerisms are completely wrong (think MASH at his silliest). How Alda survived this horrible miscasting amazes me, but then weirder things have happened.Not quite one of the all time stinkers that the Medveds once dubbed it in their 50 Worst Films book, but its bad