|
Mister Roberts (1955)
In this war-time comedy-drama, the
crew of a WWII re-supply cargo ship (the USS
Reluctant) in the South Pacific were brought together to face
and defy their tyrannical ship captain:
- the scene of Lt. Douglas 'Mister' Roberts' (Henry
Fonda) expression of disgust for Lieut. Commander 'Captain' Morton's
(James Cagney) palm tree (given as a reward for efficiently moving
the most cargo), as he spoke to the ship's physician Lt. 'Doc'
(William Powell) early one morning: ("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 symbol of the Captain's authoritarian rule
- the portrayal of Lt. Roberts as a well-liked officer
who reluctantly served on the WWII naval cargo ship 'bucket' USS
Reluctant (known as "The Bucket") while pining for
real war action - he yearned for a transfer into a combat zone but
was never granted a transfer: ("Well, I don't want to be here,
I wanna be out there. I'm sick and tired of being a lousy spectator")
- the character of cowardly and lazy, prank-playing
Ensign Frank T. Pulver (Oscar-winning Jack Lemmon), the laundry
and morale officer
- the scene of Mister Roberts' confrontation with tyrannical
and pompous "Captain" Morton when blackmailed to refrain
from continually writing letters to request a transfer off the ship,
in exchange for 'liberty' shore leave for the crew: (Captain: "There's
a war on and l'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 l give an order, you jump!"); the crew was anxious
and itching to be granted shore leave after more than a year aboard
the ship (after spotting nurses on the dock); 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 nurses, to meet him later onboard
the USS Reluctant
- the humorous scene of Lt. 'Doc' and Lt. Roberts mixing
up a batch of 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 with the visiting nurses;
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 failed
- Lt. Roberts' assessment of Pulver: ("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!")
- Pulver's cock-eyed scheme on VE Day to explode a
homemade firecracker (with "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?"); his plan backfired when it blew up the laundry
and caused an overflow of soapy suds throughout the ship's corridors
Pulver's Disastrous VE Day Firecracker Scheme
- Soapy Explosion
|
|
|
|
- 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 revelation that 'Mister' Roberts was the culprit
when the crew heard (over the PA system) the Captain's strong-armed
tactics and dastardly bargain with 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
- the crew helped to forge a transfer request for
Mister Roberts (including the Captain's signature), and Roberts
was successfully transferred to a combat ship; 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
|
Tossing 2nd Palm Tree Off Deck
|
"I just threw your stinkin' palm tree overboard"
|
|
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
Visiting Nurses Aboard Ship Given Tour by Pulver
'Mister' Roberts Heaving Captain's Palm Tree Off
Ship
Pulver's Reading of 'Mister' Roberts' First Letter
Pulver After Reading of Second Letter ("Mister
Roberts is dead...")
|