Onionhead (1958)

After a quarrel with his girlfriend (Erin O'Brien), a young man (Andy Griffith) leaves college and joins the U.S. Coast Guard just as the U.S. enters WWII. Assigned the duties of ship's cook although he has no experience, he is unprepared for the military life as well as romantic life. Based on the novel by Weldon Hill and directed by Norman Taurog (BLUE HAWAII). An odd mixture of military comedy and a darker subplot, notably the unhappy nymphomaniac wife (Felicia Farr) sleeping around while her husband (Walter Matthau) is away at war. The shift between the two styles prevents a coherent consistency in the narrative. Griffith was just coming off a big military comedy hit NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS and this was a follow up to cash in but the schizophrenic tone turned audiences off. With Ray Danton, James Gregory, Joey Bishop, Joanna Barnes, Claude Akins, Sean Garrison, Joe Mantell and Roscoe Karns.