1st watched 11/30/02 - 7 out of 10(Dir-John Ford & Mervyn Leroy): Slow starting, but strong finishing comedy-drama about a navy cargo & it's crew that are in the 2nd World War, but not in the battle. 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. The 1st hour is confusing because the music is played in an overly-dramatic fashion, yet the actors & the action is rather comedic in nature. There are also many scenes with obvious voice-overs involving mostly Ensign Pullver(played by Jack Lemmon), then right when you're about to write this off it makes a tremendous turn-around probably mostly due to the performances of Fonda & Cagney. In the last hour, there are moments of tremendous hilarity and moments of tremendous calamity and we feel both of them. All in all this is very similar to what we saw two decades later in the TV-series MASH(in a different war, with a different point of view) but the same combination of hilarity & calamity in a setting off of the mainstream battle. The similarities are very intriguing but both stand out for a unique viewing experience of their own.
Review of Mister Roberts
