Mister Roberts (film)

Infobox Film
name = Mister Roberts


caption = Movie poster of 1955's "Mister Roberts"
director = John Ford
Mervyn LeRoy
producer = Leland Hayward
writer = Thomas Heggen
(novel, play)
Joshua Logan
(play, screenplay)
Frank S. Nugent
starring = Henry Fonda
James Cagney
William Powell
Jack Lemmon
music = Franz Waxman
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = July 30 1955
runtime = 123 min.
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0048380

"Mister Roberts" is a 1955 comedy-drama film directed by John Ford and stars Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording Oscars; Jack Lemmon received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

ynopsis

Fonda was not the original choice to star in the film version -- Warner Bros. was considering William Holden or Marlon Brando for the lead role. Fonda was only hired because director John Ford insisted on it; the studio thought Fonda had been on stage and off the screen so long that he was no longer a movie box office draw.

Also featured were James Cagney as Captain Morton, William Powell (in his last feature film) as "Doc", Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey, Jr. and Martin Milner. The screenplay was written by Joshua Logan and Frank S. Nugent. The movie was directed by John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy and Joshua Logan (uncredited). Ford was replaced by LeRoy after difficulties with Fonda and a gall bladder attack that necessitated emergency surgery. Since this news of LeRoy shooting some of the movie, it has been widely speculated which scenes in the picture were that of LeRoy. Jack Lemmon shined some light on this issue within his commentary of the DVD. "Mervyn LeRoy would watch all of the rushes that Ford had shot prior to his temporary departure and decided to shoot them the way John Ford would have shot'em"

The dvd release of this film includes an audio commentary of Jack Lemmon years before he were to pass away. In the commentary he reveals some stories of his experience making the film and his views on acting. During the production of the film, Jack Lemmon started a long-time friendship with Cagney until his death in 1989. Their first introduction is as funny as the film itself. Prior to his appearance in his first film years before Mister Roberts he started off in live television. In one particular performance, Jack Lemmon decided to play his character differently. In his brainstorming he decided to play the character left-handed, which is opposite of his own way of movement. With much practice, he pulled off the performance without anyone noticing the change. This change even fooled Lemmon's wife at the time. A few years went by and Jack met Cagney on their way to Midway Island to film Mister Roberts. They introduced each other and Cagney chimned in "Are you still fooling people into believing you're left handed?" They had a great laugh and a strong friendship endured ever since. As Lemmon exclaimed, this was an example of James Cagney's ability to observe human behavior for his acting.

Henry Fonda wrote in his 1982 autobiography, "My Life", he believed as good as the movie is, the play is even better. The film was William Powell's last movie, although he died decades later, in 1984. Powell was offered many chances to return to the screen but refused, apparently believing that 35 years of film acting was enough.

The vessel which played the role of USS "Reluctant" ("the Bucket") in the movie was in fact a light cargo vessel or AKL which was not even a USN vessel at all in WWII. It was actually a US Army FS class cargo vessel several of which were transferred to the Navy after WWII ended. [cite web | author=Ramon Jackson | title=Army FP/FS Vessels | url=http://adams.patriot.net/~eastlnd2/rj/fs/fs.htm | work=Ships and Places | date=27 November 2007 | accessdate=2008-06-14] As it was , an AKL carried a much smaller crew than the USS VIRGO which Thomas Heggen served on during the war. [cite journal | author=Hugh M. Heckman | title=The Story and Memories of the USS VIRGO AKA-20 / AE-30, USS Virgo and Mr. Roberts | url=http://www.uss-virgo.com/roberts_wacky.htm | journal=Sea Classics | publisher=Challenge Publications, Inc. | date=January 1979 | accessdate=2008-06-14] In the movie, Mr. Roberts says to Doc that there are "65 men" aboard which would have been far too many for an AKL. Also, the crew when going below to their berthing compartment are shown in the movie to be descending into the cargo hold. It is also reported that the Navy ship that was used to film the exterior scenes in the movie was USS|Hewell|AKL-14. [cite web | author=Gary P. Priolo | title=Light Cargo Ship (AKL): AG-145 / AKL-14 Hewell | work=NavSource Naval History | url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/49/49145.htm | date=24 January 2008 | accessdate=2008-06-15]

Television and Sequels

The film was remade for television in 1984 as a live telecast, an extremely rare procedure for that period, and starred Robert Hays, Kevin Bacon, Charles Durning, Marilu Henner, Howard Hesseman, and Joe Pantoliano. The show was directed by Melvin Bernhardt. There was also a short-lived NBC television series in 1965, featuring Roger Smith, Steve Harmon and Richard X. Slattery.

"Mister Roberts" was followed by a film sequel, "Ensign Pulver", in 1964, with Robert Walker Jr. taking over the Lemmon role. It also starred Burl Ives as Captain Morton, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman and Jack Nicholson.

Cast

References

External links

*imdb title|0048380|Mister Roberts (1955 film)
*imdb title|0058829|Mister Roberts (1965 TV series)
*imdb title|0207607|Mister Roberts (1984 film)
*ibdb title|1660|Mister Roberts (play)