''The Mouse on the Moon'' is a 1963 British comedy film, the sequel to ''

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 ...

''. It is an adaptation of the 1962 novel '' The Mouse on the Moon'' by Irish author Leonard Wibberley, and was directed by

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 ' ...

. In it, the people of the 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 ...

, a

microstate A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law.Warrington, E. (1994). "Lilliputs ...

in Europe, attempt space flight using wine as a propellant. It satirises the

space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the t ...

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

and politics.

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 ...

, who had played three roles in the first film, did not return for this sequel and was replaced by Margaret Rutherford and

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in ''Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe ...

for two of Sellers' characters. The third character, Tully Bascombe, was not present in the sequel. Likewise

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 ...

did not reprise his role of Benter; this part was played by

Roddy McMillan Roddy McMillan OBE (23 March 1923 – 9 July 1979) was a Scottish actor and playwright, possibly most famous for his comedy role as Para Handy for BBC Scotland's television series, '' The Vital Spark''. He also played the lead role in Edw ...

. The film also featured

June Ritchie June Ritchie (born 31 May 1941) is a British actress. Biography Ritchie trained at RADA, where she graduated in 1961, having won the Emile Littler Award for Most Promising Actress and the Ronson Award for the outstanding female student. She ...

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

and

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

, with

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 ...

reprising his role as Professor Kokintz.

Plot

Financial disaster looms for Grand Fenwick when the current vintage of its only export, wine, starts exploding in would-be consumers' faces. Prime Minister Mountjoy (Ron Moody) decides to ask the United States for a loan, ostensibly to fund its entry in the race to the Moon, but actually to save the duchy (and install modern plumbing so he can have a hot bath). The devious politician knows that the Americans will not believe him, but will consider the half million dollars he is asking for to be cheap propaganda supporting their hollow call for international co-operation in space. He is delighted when they send him double the amount as an outright gift. The Soviets, not wishing to be one-upped by their Cold War rivals, deliver an obsolete rocket. Mountjoy asks resident scientist Professor Kokintz (David Kossoff) to arrange a small explosion during the "launch" of their lunar rocket to make it look like they have actually spent the money as intended. Meanwhile, Mountjoy's son Vincent (Bernard Cribbins) returns after being educated in England. Mountjoy is disappointed to find that Vincent has picked up the British sense of fair play and the ambition to be an astronaut. Professor Kokintz has pleasant news for Vincent: he has discovered that the wine makes excellent rocket fuel. Together, they secretly begin preparing the rocket for flight. Maurice Spender (Terry-Thomas), a bumbling spy sent by the suspicious British, is given a tour of the ship, including the shower heads converted into attitude jets, and reports back to his bosses that it is all a hoax. Mountjoy invites the Americans, Soviets, and British to the launching. To everyone's surprise, the rocket leisurely takes off with Kokintz and Vincent aboard. Kokintz calculates it will take three weeks to reach the Moon. Humiliated, the Americans and Soviets decide to risk sending their own crewed rockets, timing it so they will land at the same time as (or a little before) Grand Fenwick's ship. However, Vincent accidentally hits a switch, speeding up the vessel, and he and Kokintz become the first to set foot on the Moon. The latecomers are greatly disappointed. When the Americans and Soviets try to race home to salvage some sort of propaganda coup, they almost enter the wrong ships and then, when they attempt lift-off, both descend deep into the lunar dust. The American and Soviet spacemen have to hitch a ride with Kokintz and Vincent. They return to Grand Fenwick during a memorial ceremony (they had been out of radio contact for weeks and presumed lost). The diplomats immediately begin squabbling about who reached the Moon first.

Cast

* Margaret Rutherford as Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII *

as Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy *

as Vincent Mountjoy *

as Professor Kokintz *

as Maurice Spender *

as Cynthia, Mountjoy's protester niece and Vincent's love interest *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

as British delegate * John Phillips as Bracewell, the American delegate *

Eric Barker Eric Leslie Barker (12 February 1912 – 1 June 1990) was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British '' Carry On'' films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning ...

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

man *

as Benter * Tom Aldredge as Wendover * Michael Trubshawe as British aide *

Peter Sallis Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Russian delegate *

Clive Dunn Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn (9 January 19206 November 2012) was an English actor. Although he was only 48 and one of the youngest cast members, he was cast in a role many years his senior, as the elderly Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom ' ...

as Bandleader *

Hugh Lloyd Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...

as Plumber *

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director. Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners,

as Standard bearer * Mario Fabrizi as Mario, the valet *Jan Conrad as Russian aide * John Bluthal as Max Von Neidel * Archie Duncan as U.S. Air Force general *

Guy Deghy Guy Deghy (born Gedeon Aladar Istvan Deghy; 11 October 1912 – 25 February 1992), was a Hungarian-born actor who appeared largely in British films and television, as in the 5th episode of the first season of '' The Saint'' depicting Inspector ...

as Russian scientist *

Richard Marner Richard Marner (born Alexander Pavlovich Molchanov, russian: Александр Павлович Молчанов, translit=Aleksandr Pavlovič Molčanov; 27 March 192118 March 2004) was a Russian-British actor. He was probably best known for h ...

as Russian Air Force general *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Member of Whitehall Conference *

Robin Bailey William Henry Mettam "Robin" Bailey (5 October 1919 – 14 January 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Often cast in upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Mr Justice Graves in Thames Television's '' ...

as Member of Whitehall Conference * John Wood as countryman *

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

as himself

Production

The film was made on sets left over from

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

's film '' Sword of Lancelot''. Sellers recommended Lester, whom he knew from his direction of ''

The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film ''The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film'' is a 1959 British sketch comedy short film directed by Richard Lester and Peter Sellers, in collaboration with Bruce Lacey. The film was released in 1959. It was filmed over two Sundays in 1959, at a ...

''. Producer Walter Shenson and director Lester next made

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

film '' A Hard Day's Night''.

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and so ...

issued a comic book of the film.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouse On The Moon, The 1963 films 1960s science fiction comedy films British political satire films British satirical films British science fiction comedy films British sequel films Cold War films Films about space programs Films adapted into comics Films based on Irish novels Films directed by Richard Lester Films set in Europe Films shot at Pinewood Studios Moon in film United Artists films Films scored by Ron Grainer 1963 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s British films