Thomas (Robert Morse) had the bad luck to be born the son of a celebrated Navy man. Although he is now an ensign in the Coast Guard, he is sort of a bad-luck magnet. He gets into numerous fender benders and mishaps, at home and on the job. This causes his superior officer (Don Ameche) much grief. Nevertheless, Tom's goofy charm wins him the heart of a woman in the boat business, Kate (Stefanie Powers). Into this mix comes a trio of jewel thieves with a leader named Harry (Phil Silvers). They were headed toward Mexico when the police, chasing them, closed the borders. Trying to hideout at the shoreline, they accidentally dropped their picnic basket full of jewels into the shallow coast waters. Aspiring to draw little attention to themselves, they take turns diving into the water to try and recover their jewelry. But, Thomas becomes suspicious and tries to find out their secret. Can Thomas salvage his reputation with a big bust on the waters? This is a terrific little film, made long ago, but still every bit a winner. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the talents of Ameche, Morse, Powers, the great Silvers, Wally Cox, and others on screen. They are supremely capable of generating a "boat load" of laughs, haha. The plot is ingenious, too, with several twists, turns and surprises. Although the film does look a bit dated, it still sports nice costumes and lovely scenery, but the cinematography is definitely lacking. What is really strange is that the film, made for families, is truly more for the adults than for children. There is some slapstick, of course, but most of the humor will fly over the heads of the kiddies. Then, too, there is a good deal of women running around in skimpy swimsuits and some celebration of those "happy hours" on board. Nevertheless, do not skip over this little gem. It is quite funny and clever, putting any viewer into a "yuk fest" funk that will last for hours.

I enjoyed this, possibly Disney's best live-action work since the mid-1960s.

'The Boatniks' captured my attention from start-to-finish, it never drags once thanks to a fun premise and a nicely chosen cast. I was wondering at the beginning how they were gonna connect the two plots together, thankfully they do a fine job at keeping things fresh and amusing.

Robert Morse (Garland) and Stefanie Powers (Kate) team up very effectively, I really bought into how they progress together. Away from those two, you have Phil Silvers (Harry),Norman Fell (Max) and Mickey Shaughnessy (Charlie) who bring most of the comical stuff, their characters aren't anything particularly revolutionary or unique but they are funny - especially given what occurs to them.

Strong pacing, pleasing humour that doesn't get repetitive and a well picked cast. You should definitely give this a watch.

I saw Boatniks back in 1971 at the post theater in Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas and I remember talking a friend into seeing this. He wasn't keen on seeing a G rated family film. But he and I actually did enjoy it.

The three heist men, Phil Silvers, Norman Fell, and Mickey Shaughnessy, steal the film. These three are a trio of the most inept crooks ever filmed. Graduating from the Three Stooges School of Crime, one scheme after another keeps blowing up for these three. They're so bad that on viewing it again after 34 years, my question is how did these three pull off the heist in the first place. Makes you wonder since the film opens with the heist having already been committed.

Our hero isn't too much better. Robert Morse who made a sensational debut on Broadway in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and later did the film, seemed to go nowhere after that. He gets the role Dean Jones usually played in those Disney films of that era, the klutzy hero who finally pulls it together in the last reel after one foul up after another. Stefanie Powers gets the Suzanne Pleshette part, the girl who falls for the klutz.

In these Disney films there's always the hero's boss who is forever on Morse's case. Here that would be Don Ameche as the Coast Guard Commander at the Marina. As debonair and charming as he ever was back in his days at 20th Century Fox, Ameche is always a joy to watch.

Boatniks is not a terribly pretentious movie, but it's good fun.