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Mister Roberts (1955)
In John Ford's/Mervyn LeRoy's comedy-drama about the
interactions of the crew of a WWII re-supply cargo ship (the USS
Reluctant) on the Pacific Ocean - with a tyrannical ship captain:
- the scene of Lt. Doug 'Mister' Roberts' (Henry Fonda)
expression of disgust for Lieut. Commander 'Captain' Morton's (James
Cagney) palm tree (given as a reward for moving the most cargo),
as he spoke to Lt. 'Doc' (William Powell) early one morning: ("I
looked down from our bridge and saw our captain's palm tree! Our
trophy for superior achievement! The Admiral John J. Finchley Award
for delivering more toothpaste and toilet paper than any other
Navy cargo ship in the safe area of the Pacific")
- the portrayal of Lt. Roberts as a well-liked officer
who reluctantly served on the WWII naval cargo ship 'bucket' USS
Reluctant (known as "The Bucket") while pining for
real war action - he yearned for a transfer into a combat zone but
was never granted a transfer: ("Well, I don't want to be here,
I wanna be out there. I'm sick and tired of being a lousy spectator")
- the character of cowardly and lazy Ensign Frank T.
Pulver (Oscar-winning Jack Lemmon)
- the scene of Mister Roberts' confrontation with tyrannical
and pompous "Captain" Morton when blackmailed to refrain
from continually writing letters of transfer off the ship, in exchange
for 'liberty' shore leave for the crew: (Captain: "There's a
war on and l'm Captain of this vessel. And now you can take it for
a change. The worst thing l can do to you is to keep you right here,
Mister! And here is where you're going to stay! Now, get out!" Mister
Roberts: "What do you want for liberty, Captain?" Captain: "You
are through writing letters ever." Mister Roberts: "Okay." Captain: "And
that's not all. You're through talking back to me in front of the
crew. When l give an order, you jump!")
- the humorous scene of Lt. 'Doc' and Lt. Roberts mixing
up a batch of scotch (from water, Coke, and a
"drop of iodine for taste", and "one drop of hair tonic
for age") for Pulver's R&R aboard ship with visiting nurses;
Pulver was pleased with the results: ("Smooth! That dumb little
blonde will never know the difference!") and then sang to himself:
("She won't know the difference. She won't know the difference....She'll
never know the diff-er-ence'')
- Lt. Roberts' assessment of Pulver: ("There's
no getting around the fact, you're a real likeable guy, but...well,
l also think you're the most hapless, lazy, disorganized and, in
general, the most lecherous person l've ever known in my life");
Pulver complained: ("l am not!...I'm not disorganized for one
thing!")
- Pulver's cock-eyed scheme on VE Day to explode a
homemade firecracker (with "fulminate of mercury") under
the Captain's bunk ("We're gonna heave a firecracker under that
old man's bunk and BAM, BAM, BAM. Wake up, you unpatriotic old slob.
It's VE Day. Did you ever see such a hand-painted, hand-packed firecracker
in your life?"); his plan backfired when it blew up the laundry
and caused an overflow of soapy suds throughout the ship's corridors
Pulver's Disastrous VE Day Firecracker Scheme
- Soapy Explosion
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- Roberts' salute to the Captain's revered palm tree
before heaving it off the ship - and Captain Morton's vow to find
the culprit: ("All right! Who did it? Who did it? You are
going to stand sweating at those battle stations until someone
confesses! It's an insult to the honor of this ship! The symbol
of our cargo record has been destroyed and I'm going to find out
who did it if it takes all night!")
- the revelation that 'Mister' Roberts was the culprit
when the crew heard (over the PA system) the Captain's strong-armed
tactics and dastardly bargain with Roberts - and the crew's renewed
respect for their officer for sacrificing his own ambitions for them
- the concluding letter-reading scenes (both read by
Ensign Pulver for the crew) with the first letter from 'Mister' Doug
Roberts (written three weeks earlier) who was now serving his new
assignment on board the USS Livingston during the Battle of
Okinawa, including his statement that he would rather have his old
crew's hand-made Order of the Palm medal than the Congressional Medal
of Honor: ("Doc, I've been aboard this destroyer for two weeks
now, and we've already been through four air attacks. I'm in the
war at last, Doc! I've caught up with that task force that passed
me by. I'm glad to be here. I had to be here, I guess. But I'm thinking
now of you Doc, and you Frank. And Dolan, and Dowdy, and Insigna
and everyone else on that bucket. All the guys everywhere who sail
from Tedium to Apathy and back again, with an occasional side trip
to Monotony. This is a tough crew on here, and they have a wonderful
battle record. But I've discovered, Doc, that the unseen enemy of
this war is the boredom that eventually becomes a faith and therefore,
a terrible sort of suicide. And l know now that the ones who refuse
to surrender to it are the strongest of all. Right now, I'm looking
at something that's hanging over my desk. A preposterous hunk of
brass attached to the most bilious piece of ribbon I've ever seen.
I'd rather have it than the Congressional Medal of Honor. It tells
me what I'll always be proudest of - that at a time in the world
when courage counted most, I lived among 62 brave men. So, Doc, and
especially you, Frank, don't let those guys down. Of course, l know
that by this time, they must be very happy because the Captain's
overhead is filled with marbles. And here comes the mail orderly.
This has to go now. l'll finish it later. Meanwhile you guys can
write too, can't you? Doug")
- during the second letter reading, this one from Fornell,
Pulver was stunned by the news that Mister Roberts had died in action
during a kamikaze raid: ("Mister Roberts is dead. This is from
Fornell. They took a Jap suicide plane and killed everybody in a
twin 40 battery and went right on through and killed Doug and some
other officer, in the wardroom. They were drinking coffee when it
hit")
- with a determined and resolute look on his face, Pulver
tossed the replacement palm tree off the ship's deck into the water,
entered the bridge, banged on Captain Morton's door, and finally
stood up to him - with the film's final line of dialogue about his
complaint that the movie to be shown that night had been cancelled:
("Captain, it is I, Ensign Pulver, and I just threw your stinkin'
palm tree overboard! Now what's all this crud about no movie tonight?")
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Resolute Pulver
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Tossing 2nd Palm Tree Off Deck
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"I just threw your stinkin' palm tree overboard"
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Crazed Sailors Viewing Nurses on Shore
Lt. 'Mister' Roberts with Lt. 'Doc' Complaining About
the Captain's Palm Tree
Ensign Frank T. Pulver (Jack Lemmon)
Lt. 'Mister' Roberts Complaining to Captain Morton
(James Cagney)
'Doc' Mixing Up Home-made Scotch
Visiting Nurses Aboard Ship Given Tour by Pulver
'Mister' Roberts Heaving Captain's Palm Tree Off
Ship
Pulver's Reading of 'Mister' Roberts' First Letter
Pulver After Reading of Second Letter ("Mister
Roberts is dead...")
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