Lady Be Careful on AllMovie

Previously filmed in 1930 as True to the Navy, Kenyon Nicholson's old stage farce Sailor Beware returned to the screen in 1936 as Lady Be Careful. The plot remains substantially the same, as an amorous sailor named Dynamite (Lew Ayres) bets his pals that he can "thaw" icy beauty-contest winner Billie (Mary Carlisle). What follows is a series of misunderstandings, arguments and reconciliations, all wrapped up in a happy-ever-after conclusion. Part of the problem with this version of the Nicholson play is that neither Lew Ayres nor Mary Carlisle truly enliven their characters: far better within the framework are such supporting actors as Buster Crabbe and Benny Baker. Lady Be Careful was remade in 1944 as the Bing Crosby musical The Fleet's In, then again in 1951 as Martin and Lewis' Sailor Beware.