La souris sur la lune

Few people are even aware that "Richard Lester" (as he was then billed) made this sequel to 'The Mouse That Roared" (his first film in colour) between his two pop quickies 'It's Trad, Dad!' and 'A Hard Day's Night'.

Scripted with his usual good-natured cynicism by Michael Pertwee, there are shafts of genial satire, like the description of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick in the opening narration as "the smallest and least progressive country in the entire world" and the use in the space race of former Nazis by both the Russians and Uncle Sam.

David Kossoff returns from the original; while the three roles played in the original by Peter Sellers are here split between Margaret Rutherford (who gets top billing), Ron Moody and Bernard Cribbins; with June Ritchie a fetching young beatnik.

It's hard for it not to pale in comparison to its predecessor, "The Mouse That Roared," but "The Mouse on the Moon" is still an amiable enough comedy that it overcomes its own slightness and miniscule budget. The plot -- which concerns the Duchy of Grand Fenwick petitioning the United States for a loan so that it can develop a space program (which is really a cover for the prime minister's insatiable desire for indoor plumbing) -- is amusing and gives director Richard Lester and screenwriter Michael Pertwee plenty of opportunities to draw parallels between the Americans and the Russians as they scramble to beat the tiny country to the moon.

Instead of Peter Sellers in three roles, we have Margaret Rutherford taking over one (as the dotty grand duchess) and Ron Moody taking over another (as the ruthless prime minister). Both are funny enough, but they're no substitute for the real thing. Joining them are a young Bernard Cribbens as Moody's son Vincent, who wants nothing more than to be an astronaut, David Kossoff (one of four actors returning from "The Mouse That Roared") as the ever resourceful Professor Kokintz, and Terry-Thomas as a thoroughly inept British spy. Also watch for John Bluthal in his first of many films for Lester as Von Noldol, the enthusiastic German scientist working for the U.S.

For Richard Lester fans, this is a must-see. After all, this is the film that got him the job directing a certain film starring four lads from Liverpool...

Fun film with amusing screenplay by Michael Pertwee based on the novel written by Leonard Wibberley , being well directed by Richard Lester . This is a sequel to ¨The mouse that roared¨(1959), while this second part deals with the tiny country has a hot water problem in the castle , to resolve it , there're attempting a peculiar solution. The tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick ruled by Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII (Margaret Rutherford) and Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy (Ron Moody) decide to carry out a set-up , but they really just want some money for new plumbing , and they accept a generous aid From Americans and URSS, but things don't go according to plan . As the the tiny , impoverished backward nation persuades the Americans and Soviets that they're starting a space program. The U. S. and Soviets get wind of the impending launch and try to beat them to the moon . As Vincent Mountjoy (Bernard Cribbins) and Professor Kokintz (David Kossoff) take off in a rocket to the moon. The Hilarious Story of How the Duchy of Grand Fenwick , a tiny European nation devises a foolproof method of filling its depleted treasury and winning , but collects reparations from generous Americans . You'll roar at the further adventures of "The Mouse That Roared". Territorial claims to the Moon by the Grand Duchy of Fenwick can be substantiated by viewing the hilarious motion picture Mouse on the moon . It's A Blast.....Off!. When A Tiny Nation Of Nuts Goes Into The Rocket Racket! It's The Raciest Race To The Moon That Ever Knocked You Out For The Count...Down!. Stop shooting at our moon!.

This is a funny and entertaining comedy with a great Brit cast , such as Margaret Rutherford , Ron Moody , Bernard Cribbins , David Kossoff , Terry-Thomas , all of them playing sympathetic characters . It's a pretty amusing farce with these masters of the interpretation who display efficiently their abilities. Shot in medium budget by using some sets , props and atrezzo leftover from other films . Picture is a vehicle of these stunning actors , they are authentic comical players and real farceurs . It displays colorful cinematography by cameraman Wilkie Cooper , filmed in studios : Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, and on location in Piccadilly Circus, Piccadilly, London and good sets by production designer John Howell . Lively and evocative musical score by composer Ron Garnier.

This ¨A mouse on the moon¨¨(1963) results to be a sequel of ¨The mouse that roared¨(1963) . Although other characters from The Mouse That Roared (1959) showed up as Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy and his opposition leader Benter , here Peter Sellers made that film , by playing multiple roles emulating his intimate actor , Alec Guinness, and David Kossoff as Kokintz was the only principal cast member of previous movie who returned to play the same role in the follow-up . In ¨A Mouse that roared¨the tiny country declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose and Peter Sellers is commander of a medieval force which arrives during a nuclear drill that has abandoned the streets , as Sellers acting as the scheming Prime Minister of Grand Fenwick, as the scheming Grand Duchess and as Tully Bascombe, commander of the medieval army . While this second outing ¨A Mouse on the moon¨ deals with the kingdom attempting to get the money necessary to put in new plumbing and along the way the Grand Duke is dreaming of hot baths , as they request foreign aid from the U. S. for Space Research , but the Russians send aid, as well, to show that they too are for the internationalization of space , then one scientist is slapping together a rocket.

This well-edited motion picture is compellingly directed by Richard Lester in one of his usual forays into the comedy genre . He reigned supreme as one of the greatest filmmakers of 60s , 70s and 80s , achieving an important cult popularity. Efficiently directed by Richard Lester providing attractive images in its own right , being filmed in his peculiar style coupled with typical surrealist comic touches . As the director's visual style is as witty and strong as always . At the beginning Lester directed various Beatles vehicles and subsequently made known comedies : ¨The knack¨ , a satire : ¨The bed sitting room¨ and a drama : ¨Petulia¨ . He got a big success with ¨The Three Musketeers¨ (1973), which he shot simultaneously with ¨The Four musketeers¨ (1974) for producer Ilya Salkind , resurrected his career . When the Salkinds (Ilya and his father Alexander Salkind) were in the midst of filming ¨Superman¨ (1978) simultaneously with its sequel, Lester was hired as a supervising producer, then took over the filming of the sequel, ¨Superman II¨ (1980), when original director Richard Donner was fired . The sequel was a financial and critical success , and he was hired to direct the far-less successful ¨Superman III¨ (1983) . At the end of the 1980s, Lester returned to the storyline that had revitalized his career back in the early 1970s , filming a second sequel to "The Three Musketeers" titled : ¨The return of the musketeers¨. ¨A mouse on the moon¨ rating : 6.5/10 . Decent and passable . If you like their crazy interpretations , you will most definitely enjoy this one.

The two "Mouse" films benefitted greatly from the wonderfully funny source novels by terribly under-appreciated Irish author Leonard Wibberley. Although the second film suffers in comparison because of the loss of star Peter Sellers, the performances by Ron Moody as Count Mountjoy and Dame Margaret Rutherford are still quite effective. It must be pointed out that some of the higher bits of satire of Wibberley's novel have gone missing from the film. In the novel, the Duchess (a 23-year-old married to Chief Forester Tully Bascomb) asks Count Mountjoy (she has called him "Bobo" since infancy) for an Imperial Russian sable fur coat. Mountjoy, desiring to update the Grand Fenwick castle's 14th century plumbing, gets a decree passed asking for a loan from the United States for $50,000 for the coat. Being the sly fox that he is, he also asks for $5 million to enter the SPACE PROGRAM! Of course, Mountjoy has every intension of buying the Duchess her coat and using the rest on the plumbing (and also for road improvements, as there are no paved roads in the country). The USA realizes that it's a ruse of some sort, but sees it as an excellent PR opportunity and decides to give them $50 million instead! The rest of the plot is pretty much directly translated into the film. Too bad Wibberley's remaining books in the series ("The Mouse on Wall Street," "The Mouse That Saved the West," and "Beware the Mouse!") were never filmed.

The Mouse That Roared was an amazingly original and funny movie. This follow-up picture tries to capture the magic of the first but just can't. The ideas that made the original movie so different now just seem silly in this sequel.

The biggest problem, for me, is that Peter Sellars who was SO IMPORTANT to the original (playing a multitude of roles) isn't in this movie and so there are NO familiar faces. Margaret Rutherford is now the queen (and Peter Sellars made a much prettier queen), and Ron Moody and so many others take on most of the other roles from the original.

My attitude is that if you CAN'T get the original cast, don't bother. This is a fair movie but can't hold a candle to the original.