Mister Roberts

Plot synopsis:
In the waning days of World War II, in the South Pacific, the men of the Navy cargo ship USS Reluctant are hard at work moving supplies and resupplying other ships of the US Navy. The men are led by Lieutenant Doug Roberts, who is well-liked by the entire crew and acts as a liaison between them and their captain, Morton, who is a mean-spirited, exacting and tyrannical officer. Recently the Reluctant was recognized for moving the most cargo of any resupply ship in the fleet. The reward for their efforts is a single palm tree, which was really given to Capt. Morton. The tree is displayed proudly on the foredeck by Morton.The result of the recognition is that the Captain has become more tyrannical than ever. He stolidly refuses to let the crew have a standard liberty and micromanages Roberts' duty to keep them engaged while they complete their missions.Roberts himself feels that, knowing the Pacific war is winding down, he'll never have the chance to serve in naval combat. He's also become quite fed up with the Captain's oppressive attitude and has written a number of letters to the Captain requesting transfer to a combat vessel -- requests that have gone unfulfilled by the Captain.Doug's closest friends on the ship are Ensign Frank Pulver and the ship's doctor, known as Lt. "Doc". Though he likes Pulver immensely, Roberts is quick to point out that Pulver isn't a very effective leader and is a disorganized person in general. Pulver despises the Captain as much as the rest of the crew and talks often about schemes to annoy the Captain but never follows through on them. When he meets the Captain face-to-face one day he cowers before him.The ship is due to make port at a small Pacific Island, one where there is a full hospital. Pulver sees his chance to find a pretty nurse and possibly woo her. He invites her to tour the ship, however she brings her assistant nurses with her, ruining any chance Pulver has at romance.Roberts goes over the Captain's head and requests liberty for the crew. The Captain allows the ship to make port at Elysium, an island tropical paradise but announces that the liberty has been cancelled. Infuriated, Roberts storms into the Captain's quarters and demands to know why liberty was cancelled. Morton tells Roberts a bit of his own history: he was a busboy for several years and received poor treatment from his customers. He then became a ship's steward and the poor treatment continued. He sees Roberts, a college graduate, as representative of those who treated him badly as a youth and now seeks to pay them back.Before he grants the crew liberty, the Captain demands that Roberts quit his efforts to obtain transfer and that he become a model officer, essentially becoming a more by-the-book leader and work the crew to their limits. Roberts reluctantly agrees and the Captain allows the crew to go on liberty.That night the crew become highly drunk, raucous and destructive on the island. Many of them are arrested and brought back to the ship by Army MPs (in some cases, Roberts lets them go right back out again). The men break into the home of the French Colonial governor and wreak havoc there. A small detachment of Army MPs show up and form a cordon around the ship, preventing any other men from leaving. The commanding officer has requested that Morton see the Rear Admiral stationed on the island in the morning.Morton returns from his meeting furious -- he and the crew have been ordered to leave port immediately. He commands Roberts to make good on his promise of becoming a stricter officer, which Roberts does. When one of the crew, Dolan, approaches Roberts with what may be good news -- that officers that have a requisite number of months experience may apply for transfer uncontested -- he viciously puts Dolan on report. Upset that he'd had to enforce discipline when a crew member didn't deserve it, Roberts talks to Doc. The Doc tries to reason with Roberts, who stops short of revealing the deal he'd made with the Captain. Just then, Pulver bursts in with the news that Germany has surrendered in Europe. Roberts is overjoyed about the news and Pulver tells him he'll celebrate by putting a powerful firecracker under the Captain's bunk. However, while he gathers his explosives, they go off in the bowels of the ship, causing the laundry to become flooded with soap suds. Roberts is still overjoyed, thinking that Pulver can make another firecracker, however, all of Pulver's supplies were destroyed in the accident. Roberts is very forgiving of Pulver and goes out to be alone on the deck.On the deck, Roberts listens to the radio broadcast of the victory celebration coming in from New York City. The broadcast then changes to a man giving an inspirational speech about how the war isn't over until it's won in the Pacific. Roberts is moved by the speech and marches up to the Captain's palm tree, salutes it and throws it overboard. When the Captain finds out, he sounds the ship's general alarm which musters the crew to their battle stations. When they've all assembled, he demands to know who destroyed his palm tree. After having his adjutant read the muster list, he determines that Roberts is the culprit. Roberts is called to the Captain's room, but before the Captain can even charge him with the crime, the Captain is overcome with nausea. Roberts calls in Doc to help the Captain, who vomits into his own wastebasket. Doc puts the Captain in his bunk to relax. As Roberts walks down to the deck the crew, knowing that he'd destroyed the palm tree, all salute him and politely bid him goodnight.A few days later Mister Roberts is packing his things. The Captain has approved a transfer for him and he'll be going to the front line in the Pacific. Before he leaves, Dolan informs him that the Captain has replaced the palm tree and has put a 24 hour guard on it. As he gets ready to meet the transfer vessel, a few of the crew give Roberts a medal they'd made: it is a gaudy brass palm tree with a ribbon. Roberts is overcome with gratitude, pins it to his blouse and walks with dignity out to the boat that will take him off the ship. He salutes the entire crew and leaves.Several weeks later, Pulver has taken up Roberts' duties as deck officer, managing the moving of cargo. A few of the crew approach him and tell him that the Captain has cancelled the movie that was to be shown that night. Pulver reluctantly tells them he'll do what he can. The ship's mail arrives and Pulver receives two letters. The first he reads is from Roberts, who seems happy that he's finally in the war and that his unit has been involved in a number of air raids. He talks about the brave crew that served him on the Reluctant and the ridiculous ribbon they gave him. The second letter is from a friend of Pulver's who is serving on the same ship as Roberts and has become friendly with him. Pulver's friend writes that their ship suffered a surprise attack and that Roberts was killed while eating a meal. Pulver is overcome with grief and plans to announce the news to the crew. Doc stops the communications officer and tells him to read the letter that Roberts wrote, saying "it belongs to them".Pulver suddenly becomes enraged and marches up to the palm tree, grabbing it and throwing it overboard. He continues to the Captain's quarters, banging on the door until he's told to enter. Angrily confronting the Captain, he tells him that he'd thrown the palm tree off the ship and demands to know why the movie has been canceled for the evening. The Captain groans knowing that he'll have the same trouble with Pulver that he did with Roberts.

Tags: prank

Review:
Take a run down cargo ship with a motley crew, throw in a pacific island paradise and sign on board four of the biggest Hollywood heavyweights ever, then you are bound to have winning motion picture which stands the test of time.Henry Fonda re-creates his Broadway role as Lt.Douglas Roberts a navy cargo officer, desperately aching to be transfered from what is nothing more than a floating warehouse, to a destroyer and a chance to get into the fighting.James Cagney in what is arguably the best of his later roles, plays the selfish and ambitious Captain, who knows that Roberts' work is the key to his own success.
His comic timing and sophisticated presence was an invaluable asset to any film he made and Mister Roberts is no exception.Whether he is wise cracking with the crew at sick call or making illegal scotch with his shipmates, Powell steals every scene in which he appears.
A must see on the newly released DVD (with commentary by Jack Lemmon himself) is a clip from a 1955 Ed Sullivan show where Fonda and Cagney re-create the scene live and the acting cannot be faulted.In more than just plot, this film has high points and low points.
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 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 can't imagine better casting for any of these parts--Henry Fonda as Doug RobertsJack Lemmon as Ensign PulverWard Bond as DowdyWilliam Powell as DocThis is an excellent story of a man who yearns to serve in a war, but yet not to be a hero.
The cast and story of "Mister Roberts" are both of high quality, and they fit together well to produce one of the best war movies to be set in the Second World War. It effectively and thoughtfully presents many facets of military life - from boredom to conflict, from slapstick to sadness - without resorting to any labored or overblown material.The cast is excellent in its own right, and the main characters are ideally matched with their roles.
Henry Fonda could be no better in portraying Roberts in all his interactions with the other characters, Jack Lemmon is always entertaining as Pulver, and in Doc, William Powell gets the kind of role he played better than anyone.
Through the collaborative efforts of John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan and Henry Fonda the film version of Mister Roberts finally got made.
Mister Roberts became his career signature part.According to the book In the Company of Heroes by Harry Carey, Jr., Henry Fonda because this was his signature part, the part that won him a Tony Award on Broadway, he had a certain proprietary interest in seeing a faithful adaption was done for the screen.John Ford however wanted to put his own individual stamp on the picture as he always does.
Mister Roberts is the only film I know that ever made boredom a component of a successful production.William Powell who was a player for over 40 years on stage and screen put a cap to his career as Doc, the ship's medical officer and confidante of Fonda.
The war is long over, but the spirit of men rotting under a vicious squirt of a Captain, with only an intelligent cargo officer (Lt. Doug Roberts) protecting them, remains an image that people retain sixty years after Japan surrendered.In another review, I mentioned that (ironically) the American naval mutiny everyone recalls is that on board the U.S.S.Caine in the Herman Wouk novel and the film made as a result.
ROBERTS), and Roberts getting transferred to the battle zone where he dies after Germany's surrender in May 1945.Despite problems between John Ford and star Henry Fonda, that led to Ford's removal as director, the film actually is one of those movies where several hands were involved and the results were good (like GONE WITH THE WIND).
Ford, before he was fired, set up the film perfectly - he was an old "navy" man himself, so he brought a sense of reality to the project that (mercifully) was not damaged.One thing that Ford did which was worthwhile was casting Jack Lemmon (then at the start of his film career) as Ensign Frank Thurlow Pulver, would-be sex object and would-be pain-in-the-ass to the Captain.
He would have some great moments here, singing "If I can be with you" several times in the film, watching Fonda and William Powell turn a bottle of Coca Cola into Scotch, explaining to an amazed Jimmy Cagney that he has been the laundry officer on the boat for over a year but has managed never to see Cagney, causing a massive explosion in the ship's laundry on May 8, 1945, and finally pulling his guts together and taking up where Fonda left off as the movie ends.Fonda, Cagney, Powell, and Ward Bond were all old hands in film.
Mister Roberts (1955) - CO-Directors: John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy Enough time had passed that Americans were able to laugh at some of the kookier aspects about military life and Hollywood provided just the right amount of seriousness and irreverence with this 1955 hit.Henry Fonda gave one of his career making performances in this film as a lieutenant in the Navy who feels that the action of the war is passing him by.
For one small example, I'd never noticed the detail of the warships passing by during the opening credits before.The story of "Mister Roberts" is a bit melodramatic for my taste -- after all, it started out on Broadway -- but it doesn't matter because you have five huge headliners to carry it, all at different stages of their careers -- William Powell in his last feature film; James Cagney, James Fonda, and Ward Bond in their mid-career phases (though Bond would be cut down too young in 1960); and Jack Lemmon in practically his first movie.
To put James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Ward Bond, and the great William Powell all in one Movie, you couldn't miss having a Classic Film..A suberb Film and Terrific cast and writing, make this my all time Favorite...
The movie features sterling performances from Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon.
He is a quiet, strong, fair, courageous man in a story sure to mist up your eyes even if you're watching it for the twentieth time.Jack Lemmon won a supporting Oscar for his performance as Ensign Pulver, a kind of lazy, but slyly resourceful Walter Mitty type who talks a great game but never follows through...
William Powell, in his last film, plays the ship's wise and ever diplomatic doc with graceful precision.Marty (1955) starring Ernest Borgnine, a kind of politically correct (for its time) love story about ordinary folk, won the Academy's honor for best picture in 1956, the year Mister Roberts was nominated.
I also loved the careful concocting of the "scotch whiskey" by Doc. The weekly letters requesting a transfer, the Hoot Gibson films we (thankfully) never see, the ever worshipful palm tree, Pulver's marbles in a tobacco tin that he shakes in Roberts's face, vowing to prove his manhood by putting them in the captain's overbin, his "firecracker," his "If I could be with you/One hour tonight/To do the things I might/I'm telling you true/I'd be anything but blue," the giddy nurses, and the infamous liberty are other unforgettable bits.
Fonda as always who can seemingly accommodate any role, Cagney as the (symbol of) evil in the film excellent, Jack Lemon and his top seamless acting (it seems you could drop this guy anywhere, comedy drama lead role second dense script light script, he'll get it done anyhow just as well) and the rest of the cast.
The men aboard ship, which includes (William Powell, in his last film), Jack Lemmon and Ward Bond as Chief Petty Officer Dowdy, admire Roberts and decided to help him with a secret plan.
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).
But the characters he created, the Captain, here played with verve and near-genius by James Cagney, Doug Roberts, ably and intelligently borough to life by Henry Fonda, wise old Doc in the person of charismatic William Powell and Engisn Pulver, energetically played by Jack Lemmon do not give up, nor despair.
This is the story of how the human spirit is threatened not only by the brutality of war but also, in more subtle ways, by boredom and bureacracy as well as the egos of small-minded people.Fonda and Cagney are wonderful as the battling duo who fight over the morale of the ship's crew.
Other great performances come from William Powell as the ship's doctor,Jack Lemmon as the irrepressible Ensign Pulver and Ken Curtis as Dolan,one of the ship's crew.Curtis, by the way, would later play Festus Haggen on the long running Gunsmoke series.
I only saw this once and it was quite awhile ago but I remember being very disappointed for two main reasons: (1) - I got it because I wanted to see a good comedy and it wasn't very funny; (2) the great cast of James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, Betsy Palmer and Ward Bond made me anticipate a super movie.Well, the drama in here - particularly at the end - was it far more pronounced and effective than the comedy was throughout the 123 minutes.
A brilliantly written, consummately acted wartime comedy drama which offers four legendary actors (Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell) some of the most memorable moments of their illustrious careers.
One crewman, Mr. Roberts (Fonda) longs to be transferred to a "real" warship in the action zone, but his transfer requests are repeatedly rejected by the formidably stern ship's captain.The film veers from drama to comedy to tragedy, but whatever mode it is in at any given point, it works perfectly.
One can also more generously look at it as a 1950's version of MASH without sex or blood.The cast is great, but everybody, James Cagney, Henry Fonda, William Powell and Jack Lemon all did tons of better films.It is a talky play without much action.
As in most of his films, women are basically off the radar or just hanging around the edges.Again, the four lead actors are pros and could make reading the phone booth exciting, but the material is geared towards a 1950's middle-class mentality.I think people were saturated with World War II action movies, so making a World War II movie without any action must have seemed like a real daring thing in the 1950's, but it just comes off as boring today.I wish the character of the captain had been expanded.
Jack Lemmon gives the proceedings a touch of whimsy as wacky Ensign Pulver (for which he won a Supporting Oscar), and William Powell is amiable and low-keyed (as always) as the lieutenant, but James Cagney's overacting as the captain is insufferable.
Put them together and add James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon and you have yourself the amiable Mister Roberts (1955), a movie whose backstage drama should have been called Clash of the Titans.Ford had always been known as a tough man to like yet he did have a stable of reliable actors willing to work with him including Fonda and the legendary John Wayne whom he called the "big idiot".
Only the wise ship doctor (William Powell) and careless Ensign Pulver (Jack Lemmon) know his motivation to fight the good fight and aspire to help their friend make it to the front.It's hard to tell which director did what to make Mister Roberts the sum of its parts.
A comedy-drama about life on a not particularly important ship of the US Navy during World War II...Henry Fonda makes a solid leader (I mean, gee, he played Abraham Lincoln) on board a ship with a selfish, almost hermit-like captain (played effortlessly by James Cagney -- some of his best work, albeit in a small role).
with drama, sentiment, and laugh out loud comedy.Lemmon is wonderful as the irrepressible junior officer, Ensign Pulver, trying to be a normal young man, prove his ability to stand up for himself, and survive in the oppressive environment created by the ship's Captain.Henry Fonda and William Powell are priceless as the older, wiser, and more settled officers seeking to both provoke and settle down Pulver.Cagney is completely believable as the bitter Captain whose idea of having a taut ship is to make sure everyone on board is miserable as often as possible.This film is a series of amusing vignettes woven around Mr. Roberts desire to get off the cargo ship and "into the shooting war", where he feels he can make a difference.The ending is poignant in the face of war, and at the same time uplifting in its portrayal of the maturing Pulver.This film is a must see for all serious movie fans..
And, of course, the grand old man of cinema, William Powell (as Doc) injects just the right amount of lecturing to Mr Roberts to get his point across about caring for others...It's a good film for teenagers and young adults to see, despite the World War Two setting.
Cagney and Fonda are perfect foils, and William Powel and Jack Lemmon just about steal the movie from them.
The film mostly works thanks to the tremendous acting of the four leads: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon.
Entertaining naval comedy-drama.Lt (jg) Doug Roberts (played by Henry Fonda) is an officer aboard a US Navy supply ship.
In "Mister Roberts," that captain is James Cagney, and the executive officer is Henry Fonda (Mr. Roberts), beleaguered by the notion that he's missing out on the important parts of the war, and that his time aboard a supplies ship stationed in the safe zone of the South Pacific is wasted.
Cagney, Jack Lemmon and William Powell fill out the other major roles, and this is one of those instances where an entire cast just clicks -- the chemistry between all of them is palpable.The film gets a bit maudlin and treacly towards its conclusion, and it tries to race through too much plot in its last moments, but I forgive it these flaws, since it did come out at a time when there would still have been an intense nostalgia for and a great deal of sentimentality surrounding WWII stories like this one.Grade: A.
On a US cargo ship with no battle action called the USS Reluctant, Lieutenant Junior Grade Doug Roberts (Henry Fonda) is an honest and good officer who cares for his men.
Consider that it stars Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell.
Mister Roberts, played by Henry Fonda, is kind of like the first mate, and the Captain is played brilliantly by James Cagney, in a harsh but comic role.
HENRY FONDA reprises his stage role and does a good, if not inspired job as the title character.But it's really JAMES CAGNEY as the martinet captain who bellows out orders or harsh punishment over loud-speakers, and JACK LEMMON as Ensign Pulver, so afraid of the brash captain that he keeps a low-profile until the final hilarious moment when he does finally confront the man.
Mervyn Leroy & John Ford directed this hit comedy based on the successful stage play that stars Henry Fonda as Lt. Doug Roberts, who is stationed on a cargo ship in the Pacific during WWII.
Mister Roberts was a stage play with Henry Fonda and the movie is filmed very much like a stage play.The script is pretty much a comedy.
Even James Cagney, when he is supposed to be angry, seems to be suppressing a smile.I'm not fond of any of the Fonda family so Henry Fonda's performance seems dull.Jack Lemmon is the comic relief but he's not nearly as good here as he is in Some Like It Hot.William Powell's last film and he seems very tired in it.The scenes with the female nurses are sure to make you laugh or cringe.For a much better film about a screwy ship captain see The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart..
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (after John Ford left the project), it earned Jack Lemmon his first Oscar – Best Supporting Actor – for playing Ensign Pulver, who finally grows a backbone in the film's final minutes, uttering one of movies' most unforgettable closing quotes in the process.
In the title role Fonda is really good at being both laid back and objectionable to the thundering moments from Cagney, and of course Lemmon nearly steals the show with his fantastically Oscar winning eccentric physical and vocal laughs, I will admit there were moments where I lost track of the story, but the actors and characters were great, the Second World War setting and stuff is interesting enough, the visual and dialogue based jokes are funny, and overall it is an enjoyable comedy drama.
The film is set on board the USS Reluctant (The Bucket to its crew) towards the end of World War Two. Henry Fonda plays Lieutenant Doug Roberts, the ship's cargo officer.
Eventually, the crew becomes aware of the deal, and this sets in motion events that make the final half-hour of this film moving and memorable.Fonda had played Mister Roberts for many years on the stage and the role had become like a second skin.
ROBERTS (1955) **** Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, Betsy Palmer.