''The Mouse That Roared'' is a 1959 British comedy film on a Ban The Bomb theme, based on

Leonard Wibberley Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley (9 April 1915 – 22 November 1983), who also published under the name Patrick O'Connor, among others, was an Irish author who spent most of his life in the United States. Wibberley, who published more than 100 ...

's novel ''

The Mouse That Roared ''The Mouse That Roared'' is a 1955 satirical novel by Irish-American writer Leonard Wibberley, which launched a series of satirical books about an imaginary country in Europe called the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. Wibberley used the premise to m ...

'' (1955). It stars

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

in three roles: Duchess Gloriana XII; Count Rupert Mountjoy, the Prime Minister; and Tully Bascomb, the military leader; and co-stars

Jean Seberg Jean Dorothy Seberg (; ; November 13, 1938August 30, 1979) was an American actress who lived half of her life in France. Her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 film ''Breathless'' immortalized her as an icon of French New Wave cinema. Seb ...

. The film was directed by Jack Arnold, and the screenplay was written by

Roger MacDougall Roger MacDougall (2 August 1910, in Glasgow – 27 May 1993) was a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and director. Biography MacDougall began writing the occasional screenplay in the late 30s, working both alone and in collaboration with ...

and

Stanley Mann Stanley Mann (August 8, 1928 – January 11, 2016) was a Canadian screenwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, he began his writing career in 1951 at CBC Radio, and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the 1965 film '' The Collector'', based on ...

Plot

The minuscule European Duchy of

Grand Fenwick The Duchy of Grand Fenwick is a tiny fictional country created by Leonard Wibberley in a series of comedic novels beginning with '' The Mouse That Roared'' (1955), which was made into a 1959 film. In the novels, Wibberley goes beyond the mer ...

is bankrupted when an American company comes up with a cheaper imitation of Fenwick's sole export, its fabled Pinot Grand Fenwick wine. Crafty Prime Minister Count Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) devises a plan: Grand Fenwick will declare war on the United States, then surrender, taking advantage of American largesse toward its defeated enemies to rebuild the defeated nation's economy. Duchess Gloriana (also Sellers) is hesitant but agrees to the plan. Mild-mannered game warden Tully Bascomb (also Sellers) is charged as Field Marshal to lead the Grand Fenwick troops, aided by Sergeant Will Buckley (

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Bri ...

). The contingent of 20 soldiers in medieval

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

books passage across the Atlantic on a small merchant ship, arriving in New York Harbor during an air-raid drill that leaves the city deserted and undefended. They chance upon a

civil defence Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...

truck and are mistaken for invading Martians, prompting an investigation by blustering but ineffectual General Snippet (

MacDonald Parke MacDonald Parke (1891 – 1960) was a Canadian film and television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media ...

). Puncturing the tyres of the general's jeep with their bows and arrows, the Grand Fenwick troops take him and four police officers hostage. Still looking for a place to surrender, Tully and Will stumble across Dr. Alfred Kokintz (

David Kossoff David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. In 1954 he won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his appearance as Geza Szobek in '' The Young Lovers''. He played Alf Larkin in TV sit ...

), whose invention of the Q Bomb – capable of destroying an entire continent – has prompted the defence drills. He has built a football-sized prototype of the unstable bomb, which Tully takes possession of. With Kokintz and his attractive daughter Helen (

) as additional hostages, Tully declares victory and returns with them to Grand Fenwick. The duchess indulges Tully's victory, and the prime minister resigns in disgust at Tully's blunder, leaving him as acting prime minister. When the incident is discovered, the U.S. government is thwarted from retaking the weapon and hostages by force, fearing the dishonour of attacking such a small and defenceless nation. Instead, they send the U.S. Secretary of Defense (Austin Willis) to discuss terms of surrender and get back the bomb. Meanwhile, Grand Fenwick receives competing offers of defensive aid from each of the world's powers, in exchange for the weapon. Tully becomes smitten with Helen, who initially despises him for taking them but falls for his simple charm. Then Snippet and Mountjoy conspire to steal the bomb and return it (and Helen) to America, but Tully gives chase and retrieves it. The Secretary of Defense and Tully agree to terms: the knock-off wine will be taken off the market, Grand Fenwick will receive monetary aid from the US, Helen and her father will remain in Grand Fenwick, and so will the bomb: held by "the little countries of the world" as a weapon of last resort if the superpowers refuse to disarm. Checking the bomb for damage, Tully, Helen, and Dr. Kokintz find it was "a dud" all along, and leave it in the dungeon, conspiring to keep its impotence secret. However, after they leave, a mouse emerges from it, and it appears to rearm, sitting ready to explode if disturbed.

Cast

as Duchess Gloriana XII/Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy/Tully Bascombe *

as Helen Kokintz *

as Will Buckley *

as Doctor Alfred Kokintz *

Leo McKern Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Cla ...

as Benter *

as General Snippet *

Austin Willis Alexander Austin Willis, (30 September 1917 – 4 April 2004) was a Canadian actor and television host. Biography Austin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to parents Alexander Samuel and Emma Graham (Pushie) Willis. His older brother, J. Fran ...

as United States Secretary of Defense *

Timothy Bateson Timothy Dingwall Bateson (3 April 1926 – 15 September 2009) was an English actor. Life and career Born in London, the son of solicitor Dingwall Latham Bateson and the great-nephew of rugby player Harold Dingwall Bateson, he was educated at ...

as Roger *

Monte Landis Max Landstein (born 20 April 1933) is a Scottish-American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the comic foil in multiple episodes of ''The Monkees'', most notably as "Mr. Zero" in "The Devil and Peter Tork". He began ...

as Cobbley *

Alan Gifford Alan Gifford (born John Lennox; March 11, 1911 – March 20, 1989) was an American-born actor from Taunton, Massachusetts, who worked mainly in the UK, where he died in Blairgowrie, Scotland at age 78. Known best for his role in '' 2001: A ...

as Air Raid Warden *

Colin Gordon Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a ...

as BBC Announcer *

Harold Kasket Harold Kasket (26 July 1926 – 20 January 2002) was an English actor in theatre, films and later television from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as ''Maigret'', '' The Sain ...

as Pedro

Production

Stage rights to the book were bought in 1955 by

Howard Dietz Howard Dietz (September 8, 1896 – July 30, 1983) was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist, best remembered for his songwriting collaboration with Arthur Schwartz. Biography Dietz was born in New York City. He attended Columbia Colle ...

. Walter Shenson was doing publicity for '' Abandon Ship!'' (1956) in England in 1956 when given a copy of the novel by that film's star

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...

. Shenson optioned the film rights in 1957 as his first independent production. He spent over a year trying to raise finance. He eventually obtained interest from

Carl Foreman Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and ''High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were black ...

who had an arrangement to produce films for Columbia through his Highroad Films.

Changes from book

Liberties were taken in the film adaptation to display Peter Sellers' versatile comedy talents. The lead character of the book is the Duchess Gloriana XII, an attractive young royal in the manner of the young Queen Elizabeth II and

Princess Grace Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

. In the film version, however, Peter Sellers plays the role as a parody of an elderly

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

(who thinks the president of the United States is Calvin Coolidge), and his Mountjoy is a parody of Benjamin Disraeli. The sequences for Marseille and New York Harbor were filmed in Southampton; the presence of the ocean liner there was a lucky coincidence. In addition, in the novel, an encounter with the New York Police Department leads to bloodshed that complicates peace negotiations; this does not appear in the film. Additionally, in the film, both Tully and Helen are with Dr. Kokintz when he discovers the bomb is a dud, and it is Tully who suggests that they keep that fact a secret; in the book Dr. Kokintz discovers the fact alone and apparently keeps it to himself.

Casting

The lead role went to

. The female lead went to

, who was then under contract to Columbia. At the time

was well known for playing army sergeants, having played Sgt. Grimshaw in ''

Carry on Sergeant ''Carry On Sergeant'' is a 1958 British comedy film about National Service starring William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Eric Barker; it is the first in the series of ''Carry On'' films, with 31 entries released from 1958 to 1992. The film was ...

'' in 1958 and Sgt. Maj. Percy Bullimore in the TV sitcom ''

The Army Game ''The Army Game'' is a British television sitcom that aired on ITV from 19 June 1957 to 20 June 1961. It was the very first ITV sitcom and was made by Granada, and created by Sid Colin. It follows the exploits of Hut 29, a dysfunctional gro ...

''.

Shooting

Title designer

Maurice Binder Maurice Binder (December 4, 1918 – April 9, 1991) was an American film title designer best known for his work on 16 James Bond films including the first, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. Early work He was born in Ne ...

added a mouse in an opening joke with the

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

logo. One scene has diplomats playing a board game called ''Diplomacy'', but the game more resembles ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

'' rather than the game ''

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

''.

Reception

The film did not perform up to expectations in the UK earning theatrical rentals of $200,000 but was a surprise hit at the US box office with rentals of $2 million. It was felt that the reluctance of the characters to join the army in a time of need was received less well in the UK than in the US. The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote the film "laid an egg", but

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

at ''The New York Times'' offered a more positive review. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90%, based on reviews from 20 critics.

Adaptations

Television pilot

In 1964, Jack Arnold obtained exclusive television rights for ''The Mouse That Roared'' from Leonard Wibberley. He produced and directed a television pilot with ABC Television and Screen Gems called ''The Mouse That Roared'', starring

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950� ...

as the Duchess, Mountjoy, and Tully, and co-starring

Joyce Jameson Joyce Jameson (born Joyce Beverly Kingsley; September 26, 1932 – January 16, 1987) was an American actress, known for many television roles, including recurring guest appearances as Skippy, one of the "fun girls" in the 1960s television seri ...

Sigrid Valdis Patricia Annette Olson (September 21, 1935 – October 14, 2007), known by her stage name Sigrid Valdis, was an American actress who played "Hilda" in the American television series '' Hogan's Heroes''. Early life and career Valdis began acti ...

, and Richard Deacon. However, the pilot was not picked up for production. It was filmed by Richard H. Kline.

Sequel

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...

directed the sequel ''

The Mouse on the Moon ''The Mouse on the Moon'' is a 1963 British comedy film, the sequel to ''The Mouse That Roared''. It is an adaptation of the 1962 novel '' The Mouse on the Moon'' by Irish author Leonard Wibberley, and was directed by Richard Lester. In it, the ...

'' (1963), adapted from Wibberley's 1962 novel ''

''.

Home video

The film was released on VHS 14 July 1993. It was also released on DVD for the first time on 8 July 2003. It was released on Blu-Ray in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment on 7 April 2021.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouse That Roared, The 1959 films 1959 comedy films British comedy films British satirical films British political satire films Columbia Pictures films Films based on Irish novels Films set in Europe Films set in New York City Films directed by Jack Arnold 1950s satirical films Films with screenplays by Stanley Mann 1950s British films