Mister Roberts

Year: 1955 (USA)
Genre: War Drama/Screwball Comedy
Directed: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan
Stars: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon, Betsy Palmer, Ward Bond, Philip Carey, Nick Adams, Perry Lopez, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey Jr.
Production: Warner Bros.


John Ford was the brilliant director behind such American classics as The Searchers (1956), Stagecoach (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Henry Fonda was the agile lead actor in such classics as 12 Angry Men (1957) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and On Golden Pond (1981). 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.

Did you question my authoritah there boy?

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”. James Cagney recalled meeting him for the first time and immediately knowing there would be personality concerns saying “He told me we would tangle asses”. The set of Mister Roberts was made infamous when Ford punched Fonda in the face after an argument. That and an emergency gallbladder operation led Ford to leave Mister Roberts, being replaced by Mervyn LeRoy of Quo Vadis (1951) fame. After LeRoy had finished putting his mark on the film, Fonda brought original play author Joshua Logan in to re-shoot key scenes.

What results after all this horse trading is done is a movie that is surprisingly good. Not South Pacific (1958) good but decent enough to pass for nostalgic WWII fare. Fonda stars as Roberts, an underappreciated junior lieutenant onboard a cargo ship in the middle of the Pacific. He yens to fight with his brethren but is refused multiple transfers by Captain Morton (James Cagney) who sees him as the key to his success in the Navy. 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.

Seriously why would you punch an actor in the face?!

It’s hard to tell which director did what to make Mister Roberts the sum of its parts. LeRoy wanted to shoot things how Ford would have and hides his style well. Likewise there is only a handful of interior scenes with drifting camera movements that has Logan’s name all over them (Ford used to avoid tracking shots and close-ups).

Still the film has the overall feel of having too many chefs in the kitchen. The energy between scenes is jerky overall, most evident when the ship lands ashore for liberty. Actors seem to talk past each other while attempting to convey they’re having a good time. Minutes later the scene ends with Roberts standing triumphantly under a warm morning light; then the Captain reestablishes authority. The scenes are cut correctly but lack an overarching theme. We know what Roberts wants yet at this point we should know how he’s going to get it. Unfortunately this isn’t so. Is Roberts supposed to be pensive, worried or celebratory throughout? Did he feel he won a victory against the Captain for allowing liberty? How does all this relate to his goal?

You dare question my artistic decisions?!

Henry Fonda had always said he was proud of the film but thought seeing the play live was much better. Fonda had been playing the main character for years on the stage and due to being absent from the screen for eight years, likely wanted a surefire triumph to reinstall his box-office appeal. Yet his insistence in adapting the play with only minor changes I feel stifled Ford’s attempts to breathe air into the picture.

Regardless Mister Roberts is still an interesting film with much to say about the wartime doldrums. Eager soldiers and sailors poise for deliverance and absolution yet are met with a mind-numbing wait. “I’m tired of being a lousy spectator,” remarks Roberts. Yet while most military men in WWII eventually saw battle, the crew of the U.S.S. Reluctant never got to be on the frontlines staying listless in the safe area of the Pacific. Still Roberts becomes a hero of a different sort and for that we thank the multiple hands it took to put Mister Roberts to the screen.

Final Grade: C-