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Mister Roberts (1955)
In director John
Ford's and Mervyn LeRoy's war-time comedy-drama - it was about the
interactions of the crew of a WWII re-supply cargo ship (the USS
Reluctant) in the South Pacific in the spring of 1945 who were
brought together to face up against and defy their tyrannical ship
captain (James Cagney). The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua
Logan was based upon the 1946 novel and the Tony Award-winning 1948
Broadway play.
Director Joshua Logan helmed Warner Bros' sequel
Mister Roberts, Ensign Pulver (1964) starring Robert
Walker, Jr. (as Ensign Pulver), Burl Ives (as the Captain) and Walter
Matthau (as 'Doc'). Shortly later, an NBC-TV show titled Mister
Roberts aired as a series of 30 episodes from
1965-1966.
- in an early scene, cargo officer Lt. Douglas 'Mister'
Roberts (Henry Fonda) was speaking about his disgust early one
morning to his ship's physician Lt. 'Doc'
(William Powell in his last film); Lt. Roberts was portrayed
as a well-liked officer who reluctantly served on the WWII naval
cargo ship 'bucket' USS Reluctant (known as "The Bucket")
that brought combat ships supplies such as TP, toothpaste,
paint, soap, and other items
- the quick-witted, highly-educated Lt. Roberts was
fed up with the uncouth Lieut. Commander 'Captain' Morton's (James
Cagney) palm tree (given as a reward for efficiently moving the
most cargo): ("I
looked down from our bridge and saw our Captain's palm tree! Our
trophy for superior achievement! The Admiral John J. Finchley Award
for delivering more toothpaste and toilet paper than any other
Navy cargo ship in the safe area of the Pacific"); the tree
became a detested symbol of the Captain's authoritarian rule and
his undeserved reputation
- Roberts, who was well liked by the entire crew,
pined for real war action and yearned for a transfer into a combat
zone, but was never granted a transfer by the stubborn and jealous
Captain, who refused to sign and approve transfer requests: ("Well,
I don't want to be here, I wanna be out there. I'm sick and tired of
being a lousy spectator")
- another character was the
cowardly and lazy, prank-playing, womanizing Ensign Frank T. Pulver
(Oscar-winning Jack Lemmon), the laundry and morale officer
- Mister Roberts complained to and confronted
the tyrannical and pompous "Captain" Morton when blackmailed
to refrain from continually writing letters to the Navy Department
to request a transfer off the ship, in exchange for 'liberty' shore
leave for the crew: (Captain: "There's a war on and I'm Captain
of this vessel. And now you can take it for a change. The worst
thing l can do to you is to keep you right here, Mister! And here
is where you're going to stay! Now, get out!" Mister Roberts: "What
do you want for liberty, Captain?" Captain: "You are
through writing letters ever." Mister
Roberts: "Okay." Captain: "And that's not all. You're
through talking back to me in front of the crew. When I give an
order, you jump!")
- at their next stop, the male crew was anxious and
itching to be granted shore leave after more than a year aboard
the ship (after spotting nurses on the dock), but the Captain insisted
that only Roberts and Ensign Pulver would be allowed onshore to
pick up supplies; during his shore leave, Pulver convinced Lieut.
Ann Girard (Betsy Palmer), one of the visiting nurses, to meet
him later onboard the USS Reluctant
- in a humorous scene, Lt. 'Doc' and Lt. Roberts
mixed up a home-made batch of simulated scotch (from water, Coke,
and a "drop
of iodine for taste", and "one drop of hair tonic for
age") for Pulver's R&R aboard ship rendezvous; Pulver
was pleased with the results: ("Smooth! That dumb little blonde
will never know the difference!") and then sang to himself:
("She won't know the difference. She won't know the difference....She'll
never know the diff-er-ence''); however, the plan of seduction
with the "jungle juice" failed
- Lt. Roberts assessed Pulver as "likeable" but also
accused him of being disorganized: ("There's
no getting around the fact, you're a real likeable guy, but...well,
l also think you're the most hapless, lazy, disorganized and, in
general, the most lecherous person l've ever known in my life");
Pulver complained: ("l am not!...I'm not disorganized for one
thing!")
- another of Pulver's pranks
was his cock-eyed scheme on VE Day to explode a homemade firecracker
(made with a toilet paper roll and "fulminate of mercury")
under the Captain's bunk: ("We're
gonna heave a firecracker under that old man's bunk and BAM, BAM,
BAM. Wake up, you unpatriotic old slob. It's VE Day. Did you ever
see such a hand-painted, hand-packed firecracker in your life?");
but his plan backfired when it prematurely blew up the laundry
and caused an overflow of soapy suds throughout the ship's corridors;
Pulver gave the excuse that a steam pipe broke
Pulver's Disastrous VE Day Firecracker Scheme
- Soapy Explosion
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- with the war soon coming to a close, Roberts gave
up hope that he would ever serve combat duty; he gave a salute
to the Captain's revered palm tree before heaving it off the ship,
causing an incensed Captain Morton to vow to find the culprit:
("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!")
- the Captain faced a 'show-down' with 'Mister' Roberts
- but forgot to turn off the PA system as he accused Roberts of
breaking his promise to him; the crew was able to listen to the
Captain's strong-armed tactics and dastardly bargain with 'Mister'
Roberts (about the crew's shore leave in exchange for an end to
his letters), and as a result, the crew had renewed respect for
their officer for sacrificing his own ambitions for them
- weeks later, the crew helped to forge a transfer
request for Mister Roberts (including the Captain's
forged signature), and Roberts was successfully transferred to
a combat ship; Roberts was deeply moved when he was presented
with a handmade medal shaped like a palm tree and inscribed: "Order
of the Palm, for action against the enemy above and beyond the
call of duty"
- Pulver was promoted to Roberts' vacated position
as cargo officer, and the Captain brought in a scrawny replacement
palm tree for the deck
- there were two concluding letter-reading scenes
(both read by Ensign Pulver for the crew) with the first letter
from 'Mister' Doug Roberts (written three weeks earlier) who was
now serving his new assignment on board the USS Livingston during
the Battle of Okinawa, including his statement that he would rather
have his old crew's hand-made Order of the Palm medal than the
Congressional Medal of Honor: ("Doc, I've been aboard this
destroyer for two weeks now, and we've already been through four
air attacks. I'm in the war at last, Doc! I've caught up with that
task force that passed me by. I'm glad to be here. I had to be
here, I guess. But I'm thinking now of you Doc, and you Frank.
And Dolan, and Dowdy, and Insigna and everyone else on that bucket.
All the guys everywhere who sail from Tedium to Apathy and back
again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony. This is a tough
crew on here, and they have a wonderful battle record. But I've
discovered, Doc, that the unseen enemy of this war is the boredom
that eventually becomes a faith and therefore, a terrible sort
of suicide. And I know now that the ones who refuse to surrender
to it are the strongest of all. Right now, I'm looking at something
that's hanging over my desk. A preposterous hunk of brass attached
to the most bilious piece of ribbon I've ever seen. I'd rather
have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor. It tells me what
I'll always be proudest of - that at a time in the world when courage
counted most, I lived among 62 brave men. So, Doc, and especially
you, Frank, don't let those guys down. Of course, l know that by
this time, they must be very happy because the Captain's overhead
is filled with marbles. And here comes the mail orderly. This has
to go now. l'll finish it later. Meanwhile you guys can write too,
can't you? Doug")
- during the second letter reading, this one from Pulver's
friend Fornell (also on the USS Livingston), Pulver was stunned
by the news that Mister Roberts had died in action during a kamikaze
raid: ("Mister Roberts is dead. This is from Fornell. They took
a Jap suicide plane and killed everybody in a twin 40 battery and
went right on through and killed Doug and some other officer, in
the wardroom. They were drinking coffee when it hit")
- with a determined and resolute look on his face, Pulver
tossed the Captain's replacement palm tree off the ship's deck into
the water, entered the bridge, banged on Captain Morton's door, and
finally stood up to him - with the film's final line of dialogue
about his complaint that the movie to be shown that night had been
cancelled: ("Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw
your stinkin' palm tree overboard! Now what's all this crud about
no movie tonight?"); obviously, the spirit of Mister Roberts
would live on in Pulver
Resolute Pulver
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Tossing 2nd Palm Tree Off Deck
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Pulver to the Captain: "I just threw your
stinkin' palm tree overboard"
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Crazed Sailors Viewing Nurses on Shore
Lt. 'Mister' Roberts with Lt. 'Doc' Complaining About
the Captain's Palm Tree
Ensign Frank T. Pulver (Jack Lemmon)
Lt. 'Mister' Roberts Complaining to Captain Morton
(James Cagney)
'Doc' Mixing Up Home-made Scotch ("Jungle Juice")
Visiting Nurses Aboard the Ship Given a Tour by
Pulver
'Mister' Roberts Heaving Captain's Palm Tree Off
Ship
Pulver's Reading of 'Mister' Roberts' First Letter
Pulver After Reading the Second Letter: ("Mister
Roberts is dead...")
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