The mouse that roared the
The mouse that roared the
Literature / The Mouse That Roared
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The Mouse That Roared is a 1955 novel by Irish-American author Leonard Wibberley, which was adapted into a 1959 film directed by Jack Arnold and starring Peter Sellers, William Hartnell and Jean Seberg.
Lodged between France and Switzerland lies the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a tiny monarchy. The local economy is entirely dependent on the one product that Fenwick exports, its trademark Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. However, when an American company throws a copycat product on the market («Pinot Grand Enwick»), the statelet is threatened by bankruptcy.
To prevent the worst, the Fenwickers devise an ingenious plan: To declare war on the USA, get defeated, and then allow themselves to be reimbursed by American subsidies. Soon, a troop of twenty-four longbowmen in mail armour board a ship to New York City with the intent to surrender to the American authorities — only to run into unexpected obstacles.
Like the film Dr. Strangelove, the book (and later film) The Mouse That Roared was a farcical look at Cold War nuclear politics, though it ended on a far happier note than Kubrick’s film. Wibberley wrote four sequels to the initial novel: Beware of the Mouse (1958), The Mouse on the Moon (1962), The Mouse on Wall Street (1969), and, finally, The Mouse That Saved the West (1981). Each of them follows the same basic formula — the Duchy of Grand Fenwick triumphs over the powerful nations of the Earth in some improbable way.
The third novel, The Mouse on the Moon, was made into another film in 1963 and features Grand Fenwick winning The Space Race.
The novel and film of The Mouse That Roared include examples of:
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Княгиня Глориана, правительница крошечного княжества Фенвик, призывает парламент и премьер-министра Руперта Маунтджоя обсудить проблему грядущего финансового краха их государства. Вся экономика княжества, которая держится на экспорте вина в США, вот-вот рухнет, потому что в Калифорнии запущено производство вина под названием «Энвик».
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The mouse that roared the
An impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose, but things don’t go according to plan.
The tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick, in the French Alps, is the smallest country of the world and its economy is supported by the exportation of their wine Pinot Grand Fenwick. When the producers from California fake Grand Fenwick’s wine and sells a knock-off at a lower price, the country becomes bankrupt. The Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy sends three protests to the United States that are not answered. Then he proposes that Grand Fenwick declares war upon the United States and immediately surrender since the Americans historically support any defeated nation after war to rebuild the country. Grand Duchess Gloriana XII and the government supports the idea and the clumsy forest ranger Tully Bascombe is promoted to Field Marshal and sails to New York with a twenty-men army armed with bow and arrow. Meanwhile the American government is testing the «Q-Bomb», which is more powerful than any nuclear weapon and capable of destroying the world, and the New Yorkers are hidden in shelters as part of the drill. Tully and his men arrive in a deserted New York and accidentally stumble upon the bomb and its creator, Doctor Alfred Kokintz, and his gorgeous daughter Helen Kokintz and Tully abducts them together with a general and four police officers. Now Grand Fenwick government has a huge problem since many countries are offering their support to the tiny count to have the «Q-Bomb». What will they do?
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose, and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force to New York (armed with longbows) which arrives during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets. Wandering about to find someone to surrender to, they discover a scientist with a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth. When they capture him and his bomb they are faced with a new possibility: What do you do when you win a war?
Spoilers
The synopsis below may give away important plot points.
Synopsis
The world’s smallest nation, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, which lies on the Swiss-French border, is quietly and prosperously ruled by the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Peter Sellers), with the assistance of the Hereditary Prime Minister, Count Rupert of Mountjoy (Peter Sellers), the Hereditary Field Marshall and Grand Constable, Tully Bascombe (Peter Sellers) and the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, David Bentner (Leo McKern).
Disaster strikes, however, when the Duchy’s only export, its wine, Pinot Grand Fenwick, is undercut in the United States by a Californian copy, Pinot Grand Enwick. Faced with bankruptcy, and having had no reply to its protests, the Duchy decides to declare war on the United States, Mountjoy having reasoned that it will certainly lose and will then be magnificently rehabilitated by the generous, victorious Americans. A Declaration of War is duly sent, but is considered a press-room joke by its recipient in Washington.
Tully Bascombe, his lieutenant Will Buckley (William Hartnell), and twenty soldiers, in chain mail and armed with longbows, including Roger (Timothy Bateson) and Cobbley (Monte Landis) and (Alan Gifford), are sent to invade the United States, making the first part of their journey by bus and then by tramp steamer, captained by Pedro (Harold Kasket), encountering, en route, the QEII (captain Stuart Saunders, second officer Ken Stanley), which they mistakenly attack.
General Snippet (Macdonald Parke), in charge of the New York exercise, alerted by an army captain (Bill Edwards) of the spread of rumours of «men from Mars», arrives with four New York policemen (Bill Nagy): they are also taken captive. Leaving the Grand Fenwick flag flying from the New York customs shed, the Grand Fenwick party re-embarks and returns home. Prof. Kokintz persuades Helen to try and seduce Tully, to persuade him to allow her father to deactivate the Q-bomb, but Tully, seasick, is unreceptive. In France, the Americans cannot get anyone (ticket collector, Jacques Cey) to listen to them.
Back in Grand Fenwick the whole country is excitedly preparing to welcome the American victors, and planning what to spend the money on: they are dumbfounded when Tully arrives with his prisoners and declares that Grand Fenwick won. The Q-bomb is taken to the dungeons, Prof. Kokintz and his daughter to the castle, and the General and policemen to the «Museum of Ancient Torture» before the policemen are also taken to comfortable quarters in the castle: the General, insisting on his exact rights under the Geneva Convention, is shown to a small, dim cell with a tin plate of food.
The U.S. Secretary of Defense (Austin Wills) finally puts together the pieces and realizes that the United States has been defeated: he has to tell the President, persuade the Pentagon generals (Lionel Murton) that this is the only course, and then go to Grand Fenwick to surrender. Meanwhile Grand Fenwick by its possession of the Q-bomb has now become the most powerful nation on the planet, as explained by the BBC Announcer (Colin Gordon).
Mountjoy and Bentner now decide the only course is to help the Americans to escape and take the Q-bomb with them: they release the General and policemen, and give them the Q-bomb, and they also persuade Helen to leave, but not before Tully has declared his love for her: Prof. Kokintz, being entertained by the Duchess on the harpsichord, cannot be found. Taking the Duchess’ elderly car, the Americans drive away, but are pursued by Tully. The car stalls and has to be pushed over a hill-crest: it then runs away with the General and the Q-bomb on board, running into a haystack, which sets the Q-bomb into high alert mode: tossed from hand to hand, it is captured by Tully and returned to the Duchy.
Tully and the U.S. Secretary of Defense now discuss the peace treaty terms; the Californian wine will be discontinued, Prof. Kokintz and Helen, who will now marry Tully, will remain in Grand Fenwick, and so will the Q-bomb: as the Duchess points out, any atomic war would destroy Grand Fenwick anyway, and the big nations have not succeeded in nuclear disarmament, so now it is time for a League of Little Nations to try.
Prof. Kokintz, finally allowed to disarm the Q-bomb, drops it! It was a dud all along: or was it? The little white mouse that emerges from it may know.
User Reviews
Any film buff remembers Peter Sellers playing three roles in the Cold War comedy «Dr. Strangelove». Well, «The Mouse That Roared» was a sort of prequel to that.
Some people might say: «If you’ve seen one zany comedy, you’ve seen ’em all.» Be that as it may, you’ve still gotta see «TMTR». It’s just so funny. And one scene that’s likely to open any teenage boy’s eyes is when Peter Sellers walks into Jean Seberg’s room and she’s. well, I won’t spoil it for you, but I will assert that it seems like it would have been risqué for 1959. Classic.
This is one of the strangest movies of the 1950s—starting BEFORE the opening credits and lasting until the final seconds! Just plain weird! It seems the insignificantly small Duchey of Grand Fenwick is in crisis—the nation is nearly bankrupt and there appears to be no way out of their financial dilemma. Untimately they hit upon a plan—they will declare war against the United States and quickly surrender. Then, based on how the US treated its defeated foes after WW2, the US is sure to pour mountains of financial aid into Grand Fenwick! The first problem is they don’t have an army. What they do have are some old medieval suits of armor and some bows and arrows, so with these they set off for America! What happens next, you’ll just have to see to believe!
This movie is very interesting because Peter Sellars appears in the movie in many different roles (apparently the gene pool in Grand Fenwick is rather limited)—ranging from the hero of the story, Tully Bascombe to the conniving prime minister to even the queen! It reminds me very much of the Alec Guinness film KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, in which Guinness played multiple roles.
The down side is that occasionally the plot lags and becomes a bit too silly. However, considering the risks they take and the overall weirdness and how funny the movie is in general, I think these lags can easily be over looked.
This movie had a sequel, MOUSE ON THE MOON, about the space race. I didn’t particularly care for that—it was very silly but the magic just wasn’t there.
The Mouse That Roared is a delightful combination of Jonathan Swift like satire and Marx Brothers like anarchy. You can see traces of Gulliver’s Travels and Duck Soup in this very funny film that was the first real starring roles for Peter Sellers.
The tiny Duchy of Fenwick founded by a British lord is buried deep somewhere in the Swiss Alps and it’s the only spot in the geography of Switzerland where English is the primary language. Nothing much has changed since the 14th century there. In fact a lot of the natives look very much like Peter Sellers because Sir Roger Fenwick more than George Washington who by all accounts shot blanks was truly the father of his country. In fact if genetic science is true a whole lot of inbreeding should have made the populace look like the Deliverance cast.
Instead several look like Peter Sellers and Sellers does an incredible job playing the Grand Duchess, the Prime Minister, and the Field Marshal of Fenwick. Sellers is magnificent in all three roles and all three roles are distinct characters, he’s not just doing variations on himself.
Fenwick has a one crop economy, its special blended wine and some California outfit like Gallo is putting out an ersatz imitation and the economy is going to tank. The solution declare war on the USA and apply for the foreign aid that they missed after World War II when so many countries got it from Uncle Sam.
Field Marshal Sellers puts together a Fenwick Army of about two dozen or so and they take a French freighter from Marseilles and invade America. They are armed with the latest state of the art weaponry and uniforms from the 14th century, longbows and chain mail armor. And through a wild combination of circumstances they capture the ultimate weapon the Q Bomb and its inventor David Kossoff and his daughter Jean Seberg and take it back to Fenwick where Fenwick assumes status of a superpower.
I have to make mention of William Hartnell who spent more times in the British barracks as a tough sergeant major that he should have qualified for veteran’s benefits. He takes that same character he perfected and transforms it to medieval times. Hartnell is good, he has to be because Field Marshal Sellers isn’t exactly the most military of men.
I do so love the recreation of the Duchy of Fenwick, the makers of this film actually anticipated some kind of Renaissance Fair that later caught on and have become so popular.
With satire that holds up so well today, The Mouse That Roared can be seen and enjoyed for centuries into the future.
In the tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick, the proud producers of the Pinot Grand Fenwick, have learned how a cheap imitation of this great wine is being produced in America. Horror of horrors, a plan of action must be drawn. The Prime Minister, Count Rupert Mountjoy, has a clever scheme: Why not declare war to the Americans, figuring they will come with enough money for the reconstruction of the country. Even the monarch, the Great Duchess Gloriana admires the plan that has been put together.
Tully Bascombe, is asked to lead the invading force of about twenty soldiers, but not having its own air force, they must resort to take a French ship to New York, which happens to be deserted at the moment they disembark because of a drill being performed in the city. The force led by Bascombe ends up in Professor Kokintz lab, where he, and his daughter, who is his assistant, are taken prisoners when they mistake Kokintz’s experiment with a bomb. The men, in triumph, take the same ship back to Fenwick.
This delicious fable, directed by Jack Arnold, is a satire on how even small person can stand to bigger and powerful ones and make a point while carrying on the quest for respect and acceptance. The film lives thanks to the wonderful acting of Peter Sellers, who plays three different roles and steals the picture with his amazing take on all the characters. He reminds us of another British actor, Alec Guinness, who also played multiple characters in «Kind Hearts and Coronets».
Not having seen the film in many years, we found the DVD transfer quite enjoyable and it still holds quite an impact thanks to Peter Sellers and the rest of the cast and the inspired direction of Jack Arnold.
It’s a great concept, with two soldiers fighting over which one is going to get the Empire State Building («I saw it first. It’s mine.»), and a display for the hostages on duchy soil that includes the orchestra playing «Frankie and Johnnie.» Sellers’ roles are that of Gloriana XII, the reigning duchess, Baron Montjoy, the prime minister, and Tully Bascomb, the shy, unwilling army commander who falls in love with the inventor’s daughter (Jean Seberg). He creates three completely different characters, all totally believable.
All in all, a wonderful farce with a serious undertone. Highly recommended.
Sort of «Dr. Strangelove» without the deep, dark edge.
A genial and funny film, with some witty things to say about global politics, but also just a touch dopey at times.
THE MOUSE THAT ROARED was Peter Sellers’ first starring film, and he would succeed beyond all expectations. This became a huge «sleeper hit» when it was shown in the States, and deservedly so. Its brand of satire still holds up today.
The story is about a miniscule European state, the duchy of Grand Fenwick, which sees a way out of bankruptcy by declaring war on the US (to be followed by a quick surrender, and rehabilitative aid from the generous victor). An invasion force, with 12th century chainmail and crossbows, is thereupon dispatched to New York. But by mistake, the commander captures the nuclear «Q-Bomb», along with its inventor and his beautiful daughter, and brings them back to Grand Fenwick.
Sellers plays three roles: Gloriana XII, the old reigning duchess (believe it or not); Baron Montjoy, the crafty prime minister; and Tully Bascomb, the inept army commander. For my money, the third role is the best. Absent any sort of disguise, except for a pair of glasses, Tully is the central character. The first scene of Grand Fenwick’s part-time commander, and full-time gamekeeper, has him caught in a trap and unable to scare away the fox that just sits there looking at him. As the bumbling hero, he is funny in his own right, and we’re all rooting for him to save the day at the end.
The one and only Sellers does a great job in all departments, the state of Grand Fenwick is expertly brought to the screen with a unique sense of humor, and this MOUSE still roars plenty loud even after forty some years. Four out of five stars.
The tiny Duchy of Grand Fenwick, in the French Alps, is the smallest country of the world and its economy is supported by the exportation of their wine Pinot Grand Fenwick. When the producers from California fake Grand Fenwick’s wine and sells a knock-off at a lower price, the country becomes bankrupt. The Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) sends three protests to the United Stated that are not answered. Then he proposes that Grand Fenwick declares war upon the United Stated and immediately surrender since the Americans historically support defeated nation after war to rebuild the country. Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Peter Sellers) and the government supports the idea and the clumsy forest ranger Tully Bascombe (Peter Sellers) is promoted to Field Marshal and sails to New York with a twenty-men army armed with bow and arrow. Meanwhile the American government is testing the «Q-Bomb», which is more powerful than any nuclear weapon and capable to destroy the world, and the New Yorkers are hidden in shelters as part of the drill. Tully and his men arrive in a desert New York and accidentally stumble upon the bomb and its creator, Doctor Alfred Kokintz (David Kossoff), and his gorgeous daughter Helen Kokintz (Jean Seberg) and Tully abducts them together with a general and four police officers. Now Grand Fenwick government has a huge problem since many countries are offering their support to the tiny count to have the «Q-Bomb». What will they do?
«The Mouse That Roared» is a comedy with a hilarious satire to the Cold War. Peter Sellers has an amazing performance in different roles, since the inhabitants have the same family tree. Most of the situations are funny and the film is funny since the very beginning with a Columbia logo joke with a mouse on the pedestal. This mouse will appear again in the very end. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): «O Rato Que Ruge» («The Mouse That Roars»)
This is actually one of the first comedy films I can remember seeing, my dad being a Sellars fan and having brought it home once. As a child of course I couldn’t understand all the satirical elements here, but I did understand the basic set-up of having them invade the USA to get reparations and then winning the war, a premise I found amusing then at the age of 6 or 7 and that I still find very amusing.
There aren’t really a lot of belly laughs in this one for me. but nonetheless it’s always watchable. Sellars is great in all 3 roles, really a bit of a case study in his technique. As the Grand Duchess Gloriana, he’s the image of a strong woman. Her countrymen sometimes think she’s just a fool, but she knows more than Mountjoy and Buckley in some ways. My favorite scene with her is when she’s on the harpsichord and singing along. His count Rupert is a good example of the Sellars villain, in this case a very self-disciplined man who looks down on absolutely everyone else in the world. Tully Bascombe is a bit of a loser and a nerd, who everyone (again) thinks is a fool but who actually knows how to seize an opportunity when he sees it, whether it’s a chance to conquer the USA or Jean Seberg. Speaking of Seberg, she is just entrancing in this film, though her character has little of substance to do.
The film was directed by Jack Arnold, more famous for his 50s monster films including «Creature from the Black Lagoon» and his later lagoon adventures with Gilligan and the Skipper. In the 60s Arnold parlayed his success with Gilligan into this film and several films with Bob Hope. This is the jewel of the bunch as far as what I’ve seen, probably Arnold’s best film after he left Universal.
Recommended to fans of political humor and Peter Sellars.
This is a totally absurd comedy, with many silly humor in it, that in a way makes this a little irresistible movie.
The movie features Peter Sellers in an early role. He plays three different characters in this movie, just the way he always liked it, including one female character. Sellers always had the power to play several different characters in the same movie, just as convincing and also let them convincingly interact with each other. Something other comedians impersonate but never succeeded at it as good as Peter Sellers. In a way it really is Sellers that makes this movie work. I can’t imaging how this movie would had been without him. The answer is probably bad, very, very bad.
For «The Mouse That Roared» is far from a good or clever comedy. It instead is a simple and silly one. The story is incredibly simple and the comical premise of the movie gets underused. It relies too heavily on its silly comical situations and silly characters, rather than its story or wittiness.
The idea of the movie sounds really promising. Having a little bankrupt country, somewhere in the French Alps, who’s still living somewhere in the 14th century, declaring war on ‘modern’ America, in the hope that they will loose, so they will receive foreign aid. They head off to New York, with a couple of longbow-men. What they don’t know is that New York is abandoned due to a nuclear weapon test. To everybody’s surprise they succeed in capturing a new super-bomb and take some hostages with them back to Grand Fenwick, making them the victorious party of the war, to their own government’s dismay.
The movie is obviously a satire of the Cold War and the story also shows some indirect references to the later and inferior movie «The Producers (1968)».
However not all comical potential gets fully taken advantage off. The invasion of New York and the cultural difference between the two completely different worlds, could had been used better, to full comical potential. The movie is very short and that shows in the movie and its story- and its build up. It’s filled with missed opportunities and not well enough developed comical situations. It makes «The Mouse That Roared» a sort of a lacking comedy, that could and should had been great but just isn’t.
Surely the movie entertains and some of the absurd moments are hilarious, so it still in its core remains a movie that is worth watching for a couple of laughs.
Weirdest thing about the movie is that it is directed by Jack Arnold. A man who in the early ’50’s mostly got fame for directing some (classic) B-monster movies and science-fiction. It was like he was thinking; Hey the ’50’s are almost over, lets find another genre to direct in. That’s mostly how «The Mouse That Roared» feels; a comedy experiment from a director who wasn’t fully comfortable with the genre.
Oh and by the way; Jean Seberg can’t act! Highly annoying and distracting from the story.
See if for its silliness and an early Peter Sellers, in good form.
I find myself with mixed feelings and in the middle on this flick. It has it’s funny moments, but overall I found myself looking for more in the way of satirical dialog and inspired sight gags. For Peter Sellers, his first starring film role was a good warm up for the characters he would portray in 1964’s «Dr. Strangelove», a much bolder and biting vision of Cold War hysteria. The Museum of Ancient Tortures is merely a blip on the screen compared to the ironies of Strangelove’s ‘War Room’.
I caught the film today on Turner Classics, and one of the trivia bits revealed was how much Peter Sellers admired the work of Sir Alec Guiness as an actor. Sellers was inspired by Guiness’ 1949 film «Kind Hearts and Coronets», in which the British icon portrayed eight different characters. In that regard, Sellers does an admirable job and always keeps you guessing with his versatility.
An Exercise in Cold War Absurdity.
This is a true classic, with one of the wittiest scripts ever written, and hilarious performances from a perfect cast.
It’s not slapstick, which is perhaps why some people not acquainted with British humor (at least before Monty Python), have been turned off. It’s also a bit sophisticated for children. It’s a satire which relies for its laughs on an absurd plot, absurd dialogue, and hilariously absurd caricatures.
Although it’s considered a harmless entertainment, ‘The Mouse That Roared’ is chock full of satiric jibes at the dirty politics, international relations, and paranoid culture of The Cold War- its just that the jokes are so quick and subtle that you might miss them if you blink (one of my favorite touches concerns a radio report of ‘aliens’- actually the chain-mailed soldiers of Grand Fenwick- sighted in Central Park. Upon hearing the report amongst a crowd of shocked New Yorkers, one well-dressed, perfectly normal looking gent mutters about the supposed alien invasion: ‘I knew it it HAD to come to this!’ This is the filmmakers’ fairly accurate portrayal of how far some Americans had descended, by this time, into Atomic, Cold War and Space-Crazed paranoia).
It should be said that the diplomatic relations between America and the World, as portrayed in this film, are even MORE RELEVANT now than they were during the Cold War; except that the American statesmen seem so virtuous and well-meaning in comparison to some of our current ones. Rent it and you’ll see what I mean.
This is also, all things considered, probably the best Peter Sellers vehicle produced in Britain- all the rest, of varying quality, were much shorter on laughs (also of note, however, are ‘The Naked Truth’ and ‘Only Two Can Play’). Tully Bascombe is not an outrageous or demonstrative character like Inspector Clouseau. Instead, Sellers takes a fairly normal, if a bit pathetic, Everyman and manages to make him quite funny in nearly every scene. And as the Grand Duchess he is absolutely hilarious- it’s impossible to watch this performance for a moment without laughing.
As someone who is very well acquainted with British film comedies, I can say without hesitation that this is one of the very best, even in a decade which produced ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’ and ‘The Ladykillers’ (directed by Alex MacKendrick, who was a cousin to Roger macDougall, the ingenious screenwriter of ‘Mouse That Roared.’ Even if the film’s plot and dialogue were not so consistently funny, its undoubted charm, and its magnificent triple performance by Sellers, are more than worth the price of rental.
Yet there is something very gentle and charming that moves this film along. I suppose that little something could very well be that the «bottom line» for the tiny country was world peace. Not a bad concept.
A fey, light-hearted frolic that almost floats away on its own marshmellowy charm, «The Mouse That Roared» served to introduce American audiences to the man who would reshape film comedy in the 1960s much the way his countrymen the Beatles did with pop music.
Yes, that’s Peter Sellers making what amounted to his debut as an over-the-title star, playing not one but three roles. First, he’s Count Rupert Mountjoy, prime minister of the tiny nation of Grand Fenwick, who hatches the scheme of declaring war on the United States in order to quickly surrender and reap Marshall Plan-style aid. Then he’s Tully Bascombe, the nearsighted leader of the Fenwick expeditionary force, who stumbles upon a weapon to force an American surrender. Finally, he’s the Grand Duchess Gloriana, ruler of Grand Fenwick and very keen on war so long as no one gets hurt.
With that premise, and Sellers in the driver’s seat, you expect more than «Mouse That Roared» delivers. Not that it’s bad, or unentertaining. But after a rousing opening 20 minutes spent basking in Fenwick’s goofy ambiance and establishing the daring plot, the film loses steam; first moving the action to an unconvincing Manhattan setting, then inserting a romantic subplot between Tully and an American girl (Jean Seberg) which features neither actor to good effect. The comedy is never sharp, but over time it becomes forced, recovering a bit only at the end.
It’s a shame because the premise, as said, offers much, and director Jack Arnold, while no Kubrick, seems to appreciate both Sellers’ gift for light comedy and the kind of film which suits that best. At times, especially with some inspired breaks from the action, «The Mouse That Roared» feels more like an Ealing comedy than the Ealing comedy Sellers actually made four years before, the far darker «Ladykillers.»
«Mouse» has an edge to it, regarding the folly of mutually assured destruction and American hegemony, yet it manages to couch this very cleverly by emphasizing how essentially good the U.S. really is. You try selling the idea of a film showcasing a successful sneak attack against New York, in which the attackers are presented as the good guys. Yet «Mouse That Roared» was a monster hit, and for that Arnold and his team deserve credit.
«Only an imbecile could have won this war, and he did!» complains Mountjoy of Bascombe, seeing no good in holding America hostage with a football-shaped explosive device 100 times more powerful than an H-Bomb.
Sellers is distinctive if not a laugh magnet in his three roles, but the film suffers from poor supporting work around him. Except for Leo McKern, playing Mountjoy’s scheming ally, no one distinguishes him- or herself around Sellers, and a couple of key performances are gratingly bad. The humor of the Fenwickians being mistaken as spacemen by Manhattanites is beaten to the ground, as is the «comedy» of Tully’s gang peppering the QEII with arrows as it passes them on the ocean.
History favors the big battalions, but comedy loves the underdog. Here you are presented with a vehicle for an underdog who would prove every bit as worthy of our favor as Chaplin or Keaton, though it would take better films to make that point.
This little satire of the cold war has none of the smug reactionary stances that the original novel had. It takes aim at great powers and small no-powers, it skewers democracies (like the US and Britain) and aristocracies (like the grand duchy of Fenwick and Britain) and shows absolutely no mercy.
Done when Peter Sellers was in his «fat boy» period, this well cut little movie has to be placed in context in order to be appreciated fully. 40 years ago the world was quite different, and this movie reminds you of it. See something totally different from the same period, like Rear Window by Hitchcock to get you in the spirit of the times.
Allegorical film that in many way presages the much blacker comedy Dr. Strangelove (1964). Sellers gets to show off his early talents with multiple parts, especially the wizened Grand Duchess. The wild comic premise is really imaginative and sneakily acceptable for Cold War audiences. The world’s smallest country Fenwick decides to end their economic troubles by invading the US with a dozen medieval soldiers, then surrender, and wait for post-war aid.
The trouble is the world’s big powers (read the Soviets and Americans) can’t be entrusted with the fate of the world. After all, they’re competing for the world’s most destructive bomb, and now an American professor has come up with the ultimate weapon, the Doomsday bomb or Q- bomb. That is, the Americans have it until Fenwick, invades in goofy fashion and takes it from the professor. Too bad that Fenwick is run by a bunch of comedic characters all looking suspiciously like Peter Sellers. Now they’ve suddenly become the world’s most powerful country. What will they do.
It’s tricky for the time to imply that America can’t be trusted with a Doomsday weapon. So the screenplay and casting add a cosmetic overlay of well-groomed, reasonable American diplomats. Besides, Americans are not included in the Monopoly game going on between the Brits, French and Soviets, which looks like a reference to Old World empire building. Anyway, beneath the farcical jocularity, I see a serious, controversial subtext cleverly packaged.
However that may be, the movie itself is consistently funny. Sellers is in fine form, along with a surprisingly able Jean Seberg so soon after her St. Joan (1957) debacle. Too bad her life evolved so tragically. So catch up with the movie if you haven’t already. It’s one of the more unusual satires of the day.
I was disappointed by the much-hyped «Dr. Strangelove» movie, which I found overlong, dreary, and unrealistic (as mentioned in my review of that movie). However, this movie, which also has Peter Sellers starring in three roles and is themed on the Cold War, is far better and far funnier.
A dinky European kingdom needs money, so it decides to send a group of chain-mail armored soldiers, armed with crossbows, on a boat the New York City with the idea that the soldiers would fight with the United States and lose, getting a heap of aid money as a result the way Western Europe did. But the residents of New York City happen to be hiding under the streets as part of a nuclear-attack drill, with only a few people above the streets, scuttling the original plan. On top of that, American scientists have invented a «Q-bomb» which can destroy most of America, and it falls into the invaders’ hands. What to do?
The story, visuals, and acting are quite humorous, and the movie manages to skewer its targets. Definitely the better of the Cold War movie satires.
A California winery has marketed a ‘knock-off’ version of Pinot Grand Fenwick and the microscopic European country of Grand Fenwick finds itself on the verge of bankruptcy. The United States does not respond to any of the protests that Grand Fenwick sent. Consequently, the Prime Minister of Grand Fenwick, Count Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) suggests that they declare war on America. Everybody argues that Grand Fenwick would lose the war. «You must remember, the Americans are a rather strange people,» Mountjoy defends his strategy. «There isn’t a more profitable undertaking for any country than to declare war on the United States and be defeated.» Mountjoy adds, «Whereas other countries rarely forgive anything, the Americans forgive everything. No sooner is the aggressor defeated than the Americans pour in food, machinery, clothes, technical aid and lots of money for the relief of its former enemies.» He ends his defense with the following: «In effect, we declare war on Monday, we’re defeated on Tuesday, and by Friday, we well be rehabilitated beyond our wildest dreams.»
Gloriana the Twelfth (Peter Sellers) worries about putting Tully Bascom (Peter Sellers) in charge of an army of archers. They sent along former British Army sergeant Will Buckley (William Hartnell, later the first «Dr. Who») to help supervise the army. Poor Tully suffers from a host of ailments including seasickness and he is seasick from the moment his army and he leave the Port of Marseilles and head for New York Harbor. Along the way, our heroes pass the luxury liner the Queen Mary and fire arrows at it when they warn them that New York Harbor has been shut down as part of a drill. Our heroes arrive in Manhattan and find it totally deserted. Tully reads in a newspaper that Columbia Professor Alfred Kokintz (David Kossoff of «Indiscreet») is building a Q-bomb. The Q-Bomb makes the H-Bomb look like a picnic.
Tully surprises Mountjoy, Gloriana the Twelfth, and the government when he returns from New York with the Q-Bomb, Professor Kokintz with his daughter Helen (Jean Seberg of «Saint Joan»), General Snippet (MacDonald Parke of «John Paul Jones»), and three New York City cops. Suddenly, Grand Fenwick officials are aghast of Tully’s achievement. They wanted him to lose the war. On the contrary, he has won the war! The officials are apoplectic until Tully explains that they have the most destructive bomb ever made. The other superpowers offer to defend Grand Fenwick against America, but Secretary of State Defense (Austin Willis of «Hour of the Gun») counsels his government to capitulate.
Scenarists Roger MacDougall and Stanley Mann altered several things. The film «The Mouse That Roared» (1958) differs in at least seven ways from the Christopher Sergel two-act play. First, the Duchess Gloriana the Twelfth of novel and play is a 22-year old girl. In the film, Peter Sellers plays the sovereign of Grand Fenwick as a full-figured widow in her twilight years. Furthermore, Sellers plays bespectacled forest ranger Tully Bascom as well as the aristocratic Prime Minister Count Mountjoy. Second, the U.S. President plays a prominent role in Sergel play, but he is only heard about in Arnold’s film. In Sergel’s play, the President is in the room with Professor Kokintz when the inventor describes the destructive power of his Q-Bomb. Third, General Snippet in on hand, too, but he has two daughters who are WACs. In the film, Snippet had no daughters. Fourth, in the movie, Southern Europe Protocol Clerk Chester X. Beston received the Grand Fenwick Declaration of War, ignored it, and got shipped off to an obscure posting because he thought the boys in the Press had played a trick on him. In the play, Beston is the Secretary of State. Fifth, in the play, Tully and company kidnap Professor Kokintz during a protest rally at Columbia University on the suggestion of a rioting student. However, in Arnold’s film, the Grand Fenwick Army enters New York during an air raid drill when the streets are empty and everybody is in an air-raid tunnel. Tully and his men march unmolested to Kokintz’s laboratory, take the professor, his daughter Helen, General Snippet and the Q-bomb into custody. Sixth, in the film, Tully becomes romantically attached to Kokintz’s daughter Helen. Tully has no love interest in the play. Seventh, in the film, Tully’s men also take some New York City policemen as hostage, but they only take Snippet, his WAC daughters, and Kokintz.
«The Mouse That Roared» qualifies as a hilarious comedy that shows how a superpower is held hostage by a tiny country. Actually, in a less complimentary light, the quandary that the United States found itself in with Grand Fenwick is comparable to the debacle of the Vietnam War.
The Mouse That Roared
1959, Comedy, 1h 23m
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