One of Henry Fonda's very best roles, and I understand, one of his favorites. Apparently, he starred in the play which had a years-long run on Broadway. However, this was before my time, and so I was unaware of that until reading it yesterday on IMDb. While a very good movie, it didn't seem to be as good as I remembered it, from seeing it on television in the late Sixties. This more likely reflects on me, rather than the film. William Powell was excellent in the role he came out of retirement to play, and Jimmy Cagney found an excellent role here for him to play in middle age. He chewed the scenery some, but everyone knows that martinet ship captains like that do exist, and are a literary mainstay, reaching back to Wolf Larssen, Ahab, and beyond. Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for his role as Ensign Pulver, and it seems well-deserved to me, though I don't know who the competition was. I haven't seen the film wherein Lemmon reprised this role, but I have not heard good things about it. The ending shouldn't surprise anyone, although it did me, when I saw this as a kid. Still a darned good movie, deserving of a place in anyone's DVD collection, particularly anyone who is fond of the work of any of the four main performers.
Review of Mister Roberts
