- Onionhead
-
This article is about the movie. For the drug dealer, see Johnny Eng.
Onionhead 
Directed by Norman Taurog Produced by Jules Schermer Written by Weldon Hill (book)
Nelson GiddingStarring Andy Griffith
Felicia Farr
Walter Matthau
Erin O'BrienMusic by David Buttolph Cinematography Harold Hal Rosson Editing by William H. Ziegler Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date(s) 1 October 1958 Running time 111 min. Country U.S.A. Language English Onionhead is a 1958 movie, set on a U.S. Coast Guard cutter during World War II, starring Andy Griffith and featuring Felicia Farr, Walter Matthau, and Erin O'Brien.[1]
The film was written by Nelson Gidding and Weldon Hill from Hill's novel, and was directed by Norman Taurog. It was such a notorious flop that it drove Griffith, who had enjoyed enormous success in A Face in the Crowd and No Time for Sergeants, into television, according to Griffith's videotaped interview in the Archive of American Television. Weldon Hill is the pseudonym of William R. Scott, a native Oklahoman who based the novel on his own World War II service in the U.S. Coast Guard. Griffith had experienced such success with his previous service comedy, No Time for Sergeants, that this was an attempt to cash in on it. "Onionhead" was marketed as an uproarious comedy but is actually a comedy-drama with some fairly dark themes. The picture also features James Gregory, Rat Pack comedian Joey Bishop, and Claude Akins.
Contents
Plot
In the spring of 1941, Al Woods quits an Oklahoma college to join the armed forces after a quarrel with his co-ed sweetheart, Jo. He joins the Coast Guard, partly by chance due to the flip of a coin.
After boot training, Al is assigned to a buoy tender as a ship's cook. He encounters immediate hostility from the chief of the galley, Red Wildoe, as well as from new crew mates like Gutsell and Poznicki and an arrogant ensign named Higgins.
In a bar, Al picks up Stella, who appears to do this kind of thing with some regularity. They develop a strong attraction, but she seems to be holding out for something more. [2]
A frustrated Al stops seeing her, whereupon he and the alcoholic Wildoe get drunk together and bond. He also befriends Gutsell by fixing him up with a girlfriend of Stella's and learns from Wildoe how to be a cook, making a number of embarrassing mistakes.
Wildoe abruptly proposes to Stella and they marry. A free-for-all breaks out at their wedding celebration, a jealous Al instigating a fight with soldiers who are clearly familiar with Stella from previous nights in the bar.
Pearl Harbor is attacked and war declared. Wildoe is assigned to another vessel and ships out for nearly a year. During this time, Stella begins seeing other men. Al tries to prevent this on Wildoe's behalf, but can't resist Stella himself.
Aboard ship, Al becomes the new chief cook. Higgins is promoted to executive officer and cuts back on the crew's food budget to feather his own nest. Higgins also objects to finding Al's hair in his food, so Al shaves his scalp bald, earning the nickname "Onionhead."
Upon receiving a leave to attend his father's funeral, Al reconnects with Jo, realizing that she is the one he loves.
A final flirtation by Stella leads to Al calling her a tramp. She replies: "I can't help the way I am."
Back aboard ship, Al's attempt to expose Higgins's chicanery implicates the innocent captain as well. After engaging in combat at sea with a submarine, Al gets the captain off the hook by refusing to produce any proof of Higgins' misdeeds. His punishment for the accusation against a fellow officer is being reassigned to Greenland, but before he goes, Al privately slips the evidence to the captain, who will use it to court-martial Higgins.
Cast
Andy Griffith as Al Woods
Felicia Farr as Stella
Walter Matthau as Red Wildoe
Erin O'Brien as Jo Hill
James Gregory as the Skipper
Joey Bishop as Sidney Gutsell
Roscoe Karns as Windy Woods
Claude Akins as Poznicki
Ray Danton as HigginsNotes
- ^ Variety film review; September 24, 1958, page 6.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; September 27, 1958, page 155.
External links
- Onionhead at the Internet Movie Database
- Onionhead at AllRovi
The films of Norman Taurog 1920s Lucky Boy • The Diplomats • In Holland • The Medicine Men1930s Troopers Three (with B. Reeves Eason) • Sunny Skies • Hot Curves • Follow the Leader • Finn and Hattie • Skippy • Newly Rich • Huckleberry Finn • Sooky • Hold 'Em Jail • The Phantom President • If I Had a Million (segments "Prologue" and "Epilogue") • A Bedtime Story • The Way to Love • We're Not Dressing • Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch • College Rhythm • The Big Broadcast of 1936 • Strike Me Pink • Rhythm on the Range • Reunion • Fifty Roads to Town • You Can't Have Everything • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer • Mad About Music • Boys Town • The Girl Downstairs • Lucky Night1940s Broadway Melody of 1940 • Young Tom Edison • Little Nellie Kelly • Men of Boys Town • Design for Scandal • Are Husbands Necessary? • A Yank at Eton • Presenting Lily Mars • Girl Crazy (with Busby Berkley) • The Hoodlum Saint • The Beginning or the End • The Bride Goes Wild • Big City • Words and Music • That Midnight Kiss1950s Please Believe Me • The Toast of New Orleans • Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone • Rich, Young and Pretty • Room for One More • Jumping Jacks • The Stooge • The Stars Are Singing • The Caddy • Living It Up • You're Never Too Young • The Birds and the Bees • Pardners • Bundle of Joy • The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown • Onionhead • Don't Give Up the Ship1960s Visit to a Small Planet • G.I. Blues • All Hands on Deck • Blue Hawaii • Girls! Girls! Girls! • It Happened at the World's Fair • Palm Springs Weekend • Tickle Me • Sergeant Dead Head • Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine • Spinout • Double Trouble • Speedway • Live a Little, Love a LittleTelevision Light's Diamond Jubilee (1954) (with Alan Handley, Christian Nyby, Roy Rowland, King Vidor, William A. Wellman and Bud Yorkin)Categories:- 1958 films
- American films
- English-language films
- Films directed by Norman Taurog
- 1950s comedy films
- World War II films
- Comedy-drama film stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
