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Mister Roberts Overview:

Mister Roberts (1955) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy and Joshua Logan (uncredited) and produced by Leland Hayward.

The film was based on the novel of the same name and also Stage Play written by Thomas Heggen published in 1946 (novel); Feb 18, 1948 - Jan 6, 1951 (play performed at Alvin Theatre, NY) .

SYNOPSIS

One of the great WWII comedies, this tale of day-to-day life on the cargo ship Reluctant satirizes the boredom, pettiness, cruelty, and illogic of the military. Fonda recreates his acclaimed Broadway role of the decent Lieutenant Roberts who, while enduring a crew of half-wits and a nasty captain with an inferiority complex (Cagney), fears the Pacific naval war will be over before he ever sees anything more explosive than a fire extinguisher of home-brewed "jungle juice." Director Ford includes a number of his stock company, such as Curtis and Bond. Followed by Ensign Pulver in 1964.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1955 --- Ceremony Number 28 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorJack LemmonWon
Best PictureLeland Hayward, ProducerNominated
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Mister Roberts BlogHub Articles:

Mister Roberts (1955)

By Beatrice on Feb 3, 2016 From Flickers in Time

Mister Roberts Directed by John Ford and Mervyn Leroy Written by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua Logan from the play by Logan and Thomas Heggen and the novel by Heggen 1955/USA Warner Bros./Orange Repeat viewing/Netflix This is pretty funny until it turns dark and features an all-star cast. Mr. Robe... Read full article

Mister Roberts (1955)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 18, 2014 From 4 Star Films

Starring an all star cast including Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon, this comedy-drama chronicles the happenings on an unimportant boat during World War II. Mr. Roberts (Fonda) is one of the officers on The Reluctant and he is good to his men but constantly at odds with th... Read full article

Mister Roberts (1955)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 18, 2014 From 4 Star Films

Starring an all star cast including Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon, this comedy-drama chronicles the happenings on an unimportant boat during World War II. Mr. Roberts (Fonda) is one of the officers on The Reluctant and he is good to his men but constantly at odds with th... Read full article

A Strange Mess: Mister Roberts

By Judy on Jul 10, 2014 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

... Read full article

A Strange Mess: Mister Roberts

By Judy on Jul 10, 2014 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

This is a contribution to the John Ford blogathon sponsored by Christianne Benedict at Krell Laboratories and Bemused and Nonplussed. Check out all the marvelous entries! Punching his leading man. Drinking on the set. Quitting the production after being hospitalized. The tales of John Ford’s behav... Read full article

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Mister Roberts Quotes:

Chief Petty Officer Dowdy: [Referring to the letter from Forney] Could I have that, I'd like to post it for the crew.
Lt. 'Doc': [Referring to the letter from Roberts] No, post this one. It's theirs.
Capt. Morton: [on the loudspeaker in reference to his "missing" palm tree... ] All right! Who did it? Who did it? You are going to stand sweating at those battle stations until someone confesses! It's an insult to the honor of this ship! The symbol of our cargo record has been destroyed and I'm going to find out who did it if it takes all night!
Reber: Say, Doc, when I woke up this morning, I had...
Lt. 'Doc': And remembered you were working cargo. Continue.
Reber: [holds his side] Honest, Doc, I couldn't even straighten up! I guess it's the old appendix again, huh, Doc?
Lt. 'Doc': That appendix of yours certainly gets around, Reber. Now it's on the wrong side. Two aspirin, marked for duty. Next.
Reber: Aspirin? For a floatin' appendix, Doc?
Lt. 'Doc': Yes, it's the latest thing. I'll have one with you.
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Mister Roberts Facts
Henry Fonda won the 1948 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "Mister Roberts" for playing the title role which he recreated in the movie.
The ship "Ghost" in the film was sister ship to the USS Pueblo that was captured by communist North Korea as an alleged spy ship in 1968.
Joshua Logan, who directed and co-wrote the Broadway production, was brought in to redirect some sequences which the producers felt that original director John Ford had captured ineffectively before he was taken off the project. Logan was credited as co-writer instead of co-director because it was felt that having three names listed as director would look silly in the credits. Both Logan and Henry Fonda felt that the film version did not have anywhere near the quality of the stage production.
William Powell's last film. Powell had marked difficulties retaining his lines, something that had not happened to him in earlier films, and this was one of the reasons "Mister Roberts" was his final movie appearance.
At first the US Navy was not happy that the movie was to be made at all - Capt. Morton (James Cagney) was not the kind of officer the Navy wanted the public to see - and was going to withhold all cooperation with the filmmakers. It took the influence of John Ford, a former Navy captain, on some of his friends at Navy headquarters in Washington to secure the Navy's cooperation.
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