Mister Roberts (1955)

Mister Roberts
Directed by John Ford and Mervyn Leroy
Written by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua Logan from the play by Logan and Thomas Heggen and the novel by Heggen
1955/USA
Warner Bros./Orange
Repeat viewing/Netflix

[box] Doug Roberts: I looked down from our bridge and saw our captain’s palm tree! Our trophy for superior achievement! The Admiral John J. Finchley award for delivering more toothpaste and toilet paper than any other Navy cargo ship in the safe area of the Pacific.[/box]

This is pretty funny until it turns dark and features an all-star cast.

Mr. Roberts (Henry Fonda) is the cargo officer on a cargo ship in the safe-zone of the Pacific during WWII.  He dreams of escaping the boredom of this duty and nutty Captain Morton (James Cagney) and continuously submits requests for transfer to combat duty. Since Roberts is very good at his job, having won the Morton his prized trophy palm, the captain disapproves each request before sending it forward.

Robert is very popular with his crew.  His two closest companions are the ship’s doctor “Doc”(Wiliam Powell) and his randy roommate Ens. Frank Pulver (Jack Lemon).  The episodic plot features Robert’s efforts to get the crew liberty on a tropic island and its aftermath and Pulver’s revenge plots on the captain and attempt to woo some nurses. With Ward Bond as the Chief Petty Officer.

This is an enjoyable comedy.  It was adapted from a successful stage play but has been successfully opened up.  The ending is baffling and out of keeping with the general tone of the rest of the film.  It may have worked better on Broadway.

John Ford slugged Henry Fonda during an argument during production.  The director was taken off the film soon thereafter.  This was the end of their friendship and their penultimate film together.  Fonda starred in the hit source play and was unhappy with the movie.

This was William Powell’s last film. During its making he was in frail health and had trouble remembering his lines.  None of this shows on screen.  I will miss him for the rest of this journey through the years.

Jack Lemmon won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  Mister Roberts was nominated in the categories of Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording.

Trailer