Year of Release: 1955Country of Origin: USA
Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon
Plot outline: Comedy-drama about life on a not particularly important ship of the US Navy during WW2 (IMDb).
Adapted from the play based on Thomas Heggen's book of the same name, this movie perfectly captures the life aboard a non-combatant ship. Far away from the action of the war, the ship provides a vital service, but rarely get recognized for it. Henry Fonda plays the title character, Lt. Douglas Roberts, who spends more time defending his crew from the tyranny of the ship's commanding officer than he does from the enemy. He remarkably demonstrates what true leadership is. James Cagney, in one of his best performances, plays the selfish and ambitious skipper, Captain Morton. He cunningly uses Roberts' work to advance his own career. With this motive in mind he blocks all of Roberts' requests and makes his life as miserable as possible into the bargain. William Powell, in his last appearance, plays the aging and quick witted sidekick, Lt. 'Doc'. His comic timing and sophisticated presence steal every scene in which he appears. Jack Lemmon provides the touch of comic frivolity as the good natured but lazy Ensign Frank Thurlowe Pulver. Lemmon was relatively new when the movie was made, but none of that seemed evident in his performance. He held his own against three of the best in the business and was awarded an Oscar for his efforts. It takes Mister Roberts a while, and a few lectures from 'Doc', to realize that what he and his crew do is an important job even as they sail "from apathy to tedium with occasional side trips to monotony and ennui," as he says in his letter to Pulver in one of the movie's last scenes. Its realism provides a good balance of comedy and drama throughout. This movie has the ability to touch everyone on at least one level.
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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