Mister Roberts (1955)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

John Ford
Mervyn LeRoy
(more)

Writers:

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

Release Date:

30 July 1955 (USA)

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)
Fritz Ford	...	Lindstrom
Jim Moloney	...	Kennedy
Buck Kartalian	...	Mason
Denny Niles	...	Gilbert
William Henry	...	Lt. Billings
Francis Connor	...	Cochran
William Hudson	...	Olson
Shug Fisher	...	Johnson
Stubby Kruger	...	Schlemmer
Danny Borzage	...	Jonesy
Harry Tenbrook	...	Cookie
Jim Murphy	...	Taylor
Kathleen O'Malley	...	Nurse
Maura Murphy	...	Nurse
Mimi Doyle	...	Nurse
Jeanne Murray	...	Nurse
Lonnie Pierce	...	Nurse
Martin Milner	...	Shore Patrol Officer
Gregory Walcott	...	Shore Patrolman
James Flavin	...	Military Policeman
Jack Pennick	...	Marine Sergeant
Duke Kahanamoku	...	Native Chief (as Duke Kahanamoko)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Brangier	...	French colonial officer (uncredited)
Clarence E. Frank	...	Naval officer (uncredited)
Carolyn Tong	...	Bookser's native romance (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford
Mervyn LeRoy
Joshua Logan		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Frank S. Nugent		(screenplay) (as Frank Nugent) and
Joshua Logan		(screenplay)
Thomas Heggen		(play) and
Joshua Logan		(play)
Thomas Heggen		(novel)

Produced by
Leland Hayward	....	producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
Winton C. Hoch		(director of photography) (as Winton Hoch)

Film Editing by
Jack Murray

Art Direction by
Art Loel

Set Decoration by
William L. Kuehl

Costume Design by
Moss Mabry		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Norman A. Cook	....	production manager (as Norman Cook)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wingate Smith	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Earl Crain Sr.	....	sound (as Earl N. Crain Sr.)
William A. Mueller	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Stunts
Philip Crawford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Lewis	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Jack Lewis	....	motorcycle stunt (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator
Franz Waxman	....	conductor

Other crew
Leland Hayward	....	producer: stage play
Commander Merle MacBain	....	technical advisor (as Commander Merle MacBain, USN)
Adm. John Dale Price	....	technical advisor (as Admiral John Dale Price USN [Ret.])

Production Companies

• Orange

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Bros. (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• United States Navy, The  grateful acknowledgment

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:

The part of Doc was originally offered to Spencer Tracy, who declined.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: On more than one occasion, Ensign Pulver's lips don't move when he sings his little song.

Quotes:

Doug Roberts: Doc, he lies in his sack all day long, bores me silly with great, moronic plots against the captain. He's never carried out one of them.
Ensign Pulver: I haven't, huh?
Doug Roberts: No, Frank, you haven't. What ever happened to those marbles you were gonna put in the captain's overhead so they'd roll around all night and keep him awake?
Ensign Pulver: Now you've gone too far. Now you've asked for it.
[Pulls out a box]
Ensign Pulver: What does that look like? Five marbles. Got another one in my pocket. Six marbles. I'm looking for marbles all day long!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Muppet Show: (#1.7)" (1976)

"Dong Dong, Ding Ding or Ding Dong"? Either way this film rings my bell.

Take a run down cargo ship with a motley crew, throw in a pacific island paradise and sign on board four of the biggest Hollywood heavyweights ever, then you are bound to have winning motion picture which stands the test of time.

Henry Fonda re-creates his Broadway role as Lt.Douglas Roberts a navy cargo officer, desperately aching to be transfered from what is nothing more than a floating warehouse, to a destroyer and a chance to get into the fighting.

James Cagney in what is arguably the best of his later roles, plays the selfish and ambitious Captain, who knows that Roberts' work is the key to his own success. With this motive in mind he blocks all of Roberts' requests and makes his life as miserable as possible into the bargain.

It is this story line that provides most of the drama albeit played with a touch of comic frivolity. The true comedy however is provided by Jack Lemmon as the good natured but lazy Ensign, Frank Thurlough Pulver.

Lemmon was a relative newcomer to the movies but none of that seemed evident in his performance. He held his own against three of the best in the business and was awarded an Oscar for his efforts.

However, the highlight of this film for me is the great William Powell as the aging and quick witted Doc.. His comic timing and sophisticated presence was an invaluable asset to any film he made and Mister Roberts is no exception.

Whether he is wise cracking with the crew at sick call or making illegal scotch with his shipmates, Powell steals every scene in which he appears. My personal favourite is when he is called to the captains cabin....ON THE DOUBLE, and he is seen casually strolling slowly and carefree smoking a cigarette, almost as if he was on the Park Avenue of the 1930's where he had made his name.

Cagney's scenes with Lemmon are hilarious. He was a considerate actor and at times you can almost feel the space that he gave Lemmon in order for him to shine. Also the scene in which Fonda confronts Cagney, to ensure the crews liberty, is expertly acted. A must see on the newly released DVD (with commentary by Jack Lemmon himself) is a clip from a 1955 Ed Sullivan show where Fonda and Cagney re-create the scene live and the acting cannot be faulted.

In more than just plot, this film has high points and low points. The high point was the welcome celluloid return of Henry Fonda after an absence of eight years whilst he played Mister Roberts on the New York stage. The low point being, that this was to be William Powell's final movie venture. He had retired in 1953 after How to Marry a Millionaire, but was lured back for "Roberts" by an overwhelming script. But this was to be a final return and I think as swan songs go William Powell indeed had the best.

It was also a troubled production with two directors and constant fall outs with Fonda over the adaptation. To Fonda, Mister Roberts was a work of art he didn't want to see defaced, and he argued bitterly over changes from the original format. Yet the theatre going public and the cinema going public were two different species and the changes were needed.

They must have found the right balance however because we are presented with a flawless motion picture with equal amounts of drama and humour, happiness and sadness and anger and goodwill. This film has the ability to touch everyone on at least one level.

A must-see film with unequaled performances. Recommended.