Filmed in black-and-white aboard "PC-1168", an active Navy patrol craft, "You're in the Navy Now" featured the film debuts of Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, and Harvey Lembeck in minor roles as crewmen. Screenwriter Richard Murphy was nominated by the Writers Guild of America for "Best Written American Comedy", basing his script on an article written by John W. Hazard in "The New Yorker". Hazard, a professional journalist and naval reservist, had served during World War II as executive officer of the "PC-452", a similar craft that served in 1943-44 as a test bed for steam turbine propulsion.