Nobody's Perfect is a 1968 American comedy film about the fictional USS Bustard and the antics of her crew. It is based on the novel The Crows of Edwina Hill, written by author of western novels and former Navy man Allan R. Bosworth.

Plot

After World War II, four somewhat drunk US Navy sailors steal a Buddha statue from a Japanese village, but as they row back to their ship, they hear that the Navy is cracking down against such thefts, so they hide the statue in a cave. Three of the men are transferred, but the fourth, "Doc" Willoughby, sticks around aboard the submarine rescue vessel USS Bustard, based in Japan, much to the seeming exasperation of his captain, Mike Riley. (In reality, Riley thinks well of Willoughby, despite his occasional antics, and keeps persuading him to continue reenlisting.) Over the next 12 years, Willoughby gets promoted and demoted repeatedly, but eventually rises to the rank of chief petty officer.

Nobody's Perfect (1968 film)

While on liberty ashore, Willoughby falls for a seemingly demure Japanese girl in a kimono shop, who turns out to be a US Navy Nurse Corps officer of Japanese-American descent, Lieutenant Tomiko Momoyama (Kwan). She discovers she was betrothed as a child to a Japanese man named Toshi (Shigeta), who (after seeing her) fully intends to follow tradition. Toshi's uncle turns out to be from the village from which the statue was taken. Willoughby divides his time between trying to return the statue to the village and wooing Tomiko.

Nobody's Perfect (1968 film)

Cast

Doug McClure - HMC "Doc" Willoughby, USN

Nancy Kwan - LTjg Tomiko Momoyama, NC, USN

James Whitmore - LCDR Mike Riley, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Bustard

James Shigeta - Toshi O'Hara

Steve Carlson - Johnny Crane

Jill Donohue - Marci Adler

David Hartman - Boats McCafferty

Gary Vinson - Walt Purdy

George Furth - Hamner

Keye Luke - Gondai-San

Edward Faulkner as John Abelard

References

External links

1968 films

Films based on American novels

Comedy films about Asian Americans

1968 comedy films

Films set in Japan

Japan in non-Japanese culture

1960s English-language films

1960s American films

English-language comedy films

Nobody's Perfect (1968 film)