Mister Roberts

"Mister Roberts," released in 1955 and directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, is a great film adaptation of the hit Broadway play by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan. Lieutenant Douglas Roberts (Henry Fonda), a cargo officer stationed on the weary cargo ship the USS Reluctant in the spring of 1945, is BORED. Roberts yearns for a transfer to a combat vessel. The problem is, he needs the approval of the captain (James Cagney), and the captain, though obligated to send Roberts' requests for transfer as written, exercises his discretion to stamp every letter "disapproved". The brass would never go over the head of a captain who disapproves of a transfer. The captain does this not because he realizes Roberts' importance to the ship, but instead because he is a small mean petty man.

The captain grew up poor and this did not teach him empathy for his fellow man when he climbed out of poverty and became an officer. Instead he just learned to be the ultimate bully. He denies the crew privileges because he can, but he is always interested in schmoozing superior officers whom he deems as important. In the words of "Philadelphia Story", In spite of the fact that somebody's up from the bottom, he can still be quite a heel. "

The crew idolizes Roberts because he is constantly antagonizing their tormenter. But then one day the Captain holds the crew's much deserved and much needed liberty for ransom - Roberts has to stop writing requests for transfers and act like he is toadying to the captain from now on and moreso keep this arrangement secret - and Roberts has to choose.

Because the film is about boredom during wartime, it would be easy for this film to be - well - boring, but to its credit it is not. This is because of all of the small scenes involving the four leads and the outstanding cast. Henry Fonda starred as Mr. Roberts onstage, and it is said he actually directed parts of it after John Ford walked off. William Powell makes his last film appearance as the ship's surgeon, "Doc", and he has some scenes that have that wily and humorous Powell greatness while delivering words of wisdom or a recipe for fake Scotch. Jack Lemmon won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Ensign Pulver, a slimy little weasel and wannabe womanizer who has potential.

I'd recommend this even if you are not particularly fond of war films - I'm not and I enjoyed it a great deal.

'Mister Roberts' is one of two movies that I sometimes name as my all-time favorite movies. The other is 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' with Errol Flynn. I definitely believe that this is one of Henry Fonda's finest roles.

When my now nineteen year old nephew was younger, he would ask to watch my copy of 'Mister Roberts' on VHS just for the hilarious scene where Pulver blows up the laundry and the ship starts to fill up with soap suds. I have a copy of the play which includes pictures from when Fonda played the role of Doug Roberts on stage, and there are some differences from the play, but those differences certainly work in this movie.

I can't imagine better casting for any of these parts--

Henry Fonda as Doug Roberts

Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver

Ward Bond as Dowdy

William Powell as Doc

This is an excellent story of a man who yearns to serve in a war, but yet not to be a hero. He just wants to do his part, and he thinks that in order for his part to be important he has to be in combat. It takes him a while, and a few lectures from Doc, to realize that what he and the crew on the 'bucket' on which they serve do a necessary and important job even as they sail from boredom to tedium and back again, as Roberts says in his letter to Pulver in one of the movie's last scenes. The men are bored, and they can't stand their captain; and during the scene where the captain calls them to their battle stations after finding his special palm tree missing most of them aren't even sure where their battle stations are! The character of Doc has never even seen a battleship and he's in the navy. The entire movie is worth just the scenes of the crew returning from liberty, the making of the scotch, and the soap suds incident.

For a while when I was up at Northern Arizona University I had these lines from the opening scene as part of my answering machine message:

"Now here this. Now here this. Revelry. I repeat...revelry! Attention all hands..."

I recommend this movie very highly and rate it nine out of ten stars!

Mister Roberts is a very personal film for me. This is the first i vividly remember watching with my father. Lt Douglas Roberts is a cargo officer on a cargo ship dubbed "The Bucket". Mister Roberts feels that war in the Pacific is passing him by. An all-star cast and crew adopt this novel and play. Henry Fonda (Grapes of Wrath, On Golden Pond) reprises his role from the play as Roberts. Henry Fonda must clash heads with the captain played by the great James Cagney (Angles with Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy). They are joined by William Powell (My Man Godfrey), Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond (It's a Wonderful Life, My Darling Clementine) and Jack Lemmon (Odd Couple, Some Like it Hot). This is Jack Lemmon's first academy award winning performance. This is a movie is filled with humor and drama. This is movie is a great enjoyment. Naturally some things are different from the play and book. This is a great movie to add to your collection.

MISTER ROBERTS (3+ outta 5 stars)

Funny, kind of sentimental war movie starring Henry Fonda as the title character, forced to serve on a Navy vessel for one of the worst Captains ever (James Cagney). Mr. Roberts dreams of getting off the ship, which is devoted mostly to transporting cargo and being transferred to a battleship to do his bit for WW2. Unfortunately, he makes the Captain look too good... and the Captain refuses to let him go. Meanwhile, the crew's morale keeps going down and down due to the Captain's incompetence and hardheadedness. Classic 50s comedy has some great performances... Fonda, Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon are all in great form! Very similar in style to TV's M*A*SH... in fact, the sentimental finale reminded me quite a bit of a much-heralded episode of that show. Also has the distinction of having one of the best closing lines in cinematic history: "It is I, Ensign Pulver..." Ahhh, I can't spoil it and tell you the rest... see the movie for yourself.

This film is a Classic, with a capital C! You have a great story, a great cast, laughs, tears and a dose of reality. How can you go wrong with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon?

What always struck me about this film was its realism. I spent some time on an auxiliary ship in the navy, and it's not glamorous. This film perfectly captures the life aboard non-combatant ships. They provide a vital service, but rarely get recognized for it. It also demonstrates what real leadership is. The main duty of an officer is to provide leadership and to see to the welfare of his troops. Mr Roberts is a shining example of a great officer.

The film also shows that the enemy isn't always on the other ship. I have seen captains like Cagney's, and you often spent more time defending your crew from those skippers, than you did from the opposing force. As Mr Roberts said, "....I know in wartime they scrape the bottom of the barrel...", well, they sometimes scrape that barrel in peacetime.

There's a great blend of comedy and drama throughout; but, just when you are feeling good, it delivers a punch to the gut. This is life as it is, not an idealized world.

Sign on board for a tour of duty with this film. You'll be glad you did.