La souris sur la lune

Follow-up to 1959's MOUSE THAT ROARED is also based on a Leonard Wibberly novel is mildly amusing in spots. Peter Sellers is gone and the Queen is now played by Margaret Rutherford. This time Grand Fenwick is out to bamboozle both the Soviets and the USA by playing them off against each other over the space race.

Directed by Richard Lester (HARD DAY'S NIGHT), it takes a while before it truly gets off the....er...ground. Once in space it gets funnier. You have German scientists in both the U. S. and USSR giving the Heil Hitler! Salute a full 7 months before Sellers did so in DR. STRANGELOVE. Space trash is already an issue: "Wherever civilization goes, garbage is sure to follow!". On the moon a cosmonaut sneaks off to start constructing something leading to this speculation: "(he's) Building a wall!" It's all silly fun, but, it's not surprising that this was the end of the Mouse series on screen. (there were three other novels)

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...

The competition between the Russians and the Americans is still very much in play in 2020 Given that the Mouse on the Moon does not feel dated with the 2 superpowers trying to out do each other with a foreign aid to a tiny country.. Lots of laughs with a great cast . Margaret Rutherford is one of a kind. She played the daft old lady to perfection. Ron Moody is solid as the bumbling leader and a special nod to the actor playing the scientist as well. And don't forget to feed the bobolinks.

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.

If you have not yet seen either 'Mouse' film, it is probably better to see this one first, rather than view it with expectations raised by the other one.

It is easy to forget that this film was made before there had been any moon landings; plot points such as dust on the moon were real concerns for the Apollo astronauts when they landed for real, some years later. The planting of a flag (although not the first seen on film of course) was either prescient or life imitated art later on...?

Oddly enough both the look of the moon and the look of the rocket's interior are strongly reminiscent of those seen in the Wallace and Gromit animation 'a grand day out', which must surely have been inspired by the 'Mouse' film.

This film does appear on UK TV from time to time; for example on the Sony Movie Classic channel. However this raises my main disappointment concerning this film; the Sony 'watermark' is huge and obtrusive as usual, but the conversion from Celluloid to PAL video which they broadcast is almost an object lesson in 'how not to do it'; goodness knows what they did (possibly started with a bad print, converted badly to NSTC and then badly to PAL?) but the result is fuzzy, jerky in places, with poor/unsynchronized sound quality. The net result is pretty execrable; in places I'd describe it as 'almost unwatchable' in fact. This isn't the best film ever but my enjoyment of it was seriously impaired by the rotten quality of the broadcast video. I can only suppose (and hope) that commercial DVDs are better than that; they surely can't be worse...?

Six out of ten from me; might have been more but for the rotten video quality.