The Iron Petticoat is a 1956 British Cold War comedy film starring Bob Hope and Katharine Hepburn and directed by Ralph Thomas. Hepburn plays a Russian aviatrix who lands in West Germany and is quickly converted to capitalism after sampling life in the West in the company of Major Chuck Lockwood . Subplots involve Lockwood trying to marry Connie , a member of the British upper class, and Communist agents trying to get Kovelenko to return to the U.S.S.R. The film was heavily influenced by the popular 1939 comedy Ninotchka. Captain Vinka Kovelenko lands a Russian jet in West German territory,... to the surprise of U.S. armed forces who take her prisoner. She is neither on a mission nor defecting, however, just upset about a personal matter back home. A high-ranking American officer named Tarbell cancels the furlough of Captain Chuck Lockwood, who is eager to leave for London and visit his wealthy fiancée Connie. The colonel wants Chuck to sell the Soviet aviatrix on everything that's good about America and permanently come over to their side. He even dangles a $100,000 bonus if she does. Vinka is pursued by her former lover, Ivan, an engineer.
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| Release date: | December 12, 1956 |
| Directed by: | Ralph Thomas |
| Runtime: | 87 Minutes |
| Producer: | Harry Saltzman, Betty Box |
| Music by: | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography: | Ernest Steward |
| Screenplay by: | Ben Hecht, Harry Saltzman |
| Adapted from: | Jet Pilot |
| Genre: | Comedy |