Mister Roberts (1955)

Directors:

John Ford
Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Frank S. Nugent (screenplay) and
Joshua Logan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 December 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

All the Uproarious Fun of the Smash Broadway Play!

Plot:

Comedy-drama about life on a not particularly important ship of the US Navy during WW2.

Plot Keywords:

Tyrant | US Navy | Navy | Vomit | Extortion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Lt. JG Douglas A. 'Doug' Roberts
James Cagney	...	Capt. Morton
William Powell	...	Lt. 'Doc'
Jack Lemmon	...	Ens. Frank Thurlowe Pulver
Betsy Palmer	...	Lt. Ann Girard
Ward Bond	...	Chief Petty Officer Dowdy
Philip Carey	...	Mannion (as Phil Carey)
Nick Adams	...	Reber
Perry Lopez	...	Rodrigues
Ken Curtis	...	Yeoman 3rd Class Dolan
Robert Roark	...	Insigna
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Stefanowski
Patrick Wayne	...	Bookser (as Pat Wayne)
Frank Aletter	...	Gerhart
Tige Andrews	...	Wiley (as Tiger Andrews)

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:U | Australia:G | West Germany:12 (nf) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved (certificate #17195)

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Orange

Trivia:

William Powell's last film. Powell had marked difficulties retaining his lines, something that had not happened to him in earlier films, and this was one of the reasons "Mister Roberts" was his final movie appearance.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When they hear of the end of the war in Europe, Pulver calls it "VE Day". As there was no mention of this prior, he could not have known of this appellation and used the term.

Quotes:

Doug Roberts: Doc, that new hospital hasn't got nurses, has it?
Lt. 'Doc': It didn't have yesterday.
Ensign Pulver: It has today.
Lt. 'Doc': And how did you find out they were there?
Ensign Pulver: It just came to me all of a sudden. I was lying on my bunk this morning, thinking. And there wasn't a breath of air. And all of a sudden, a funny thing happened. A little breeze came up, and I took a big, deep breath, and I said to myself "Pulver, boy, there's women on that island!"

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "NYPD Blue: Mister Roberts (#6.18)" (1999)

One of the best films of the 50s

Mister Roberts (1955) - CO-Directors: John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy Enough time had passed that Americans were able to laugh at some of the kookier aspects about military life and Hollywood provided just the right amount of seriousness and irreverence with this 1955 hit.

Henry Fonda gave one of his career making performances in this film as a lieutenant in the Navy who feels that the action of the war is passing him by. Instead of fighting the enemy, he's engaged in a battle of wills with off kilter superior officer James Cagney, who also turns in one of his mythic-making performances. The great William Powell is on board in one of his last roles as the friendly on board doctor. The late Jack Lemmon won an Academy Award for his supporting role of Ensign Pulver, a man who finally straightens his spine and takes macho Cagney on mano-a-mano. (Color)