Although this humorous war drama is largely forgotten today, “Mister Roberts” was once a big hit in American cinemas. It was also one of the first films that offered a different, more comical side of the war, because we follow the fate of the crew of a supply ship in 1945, who never saw the events of the war at all. Although the main stars of the film were Henry Fonda and James Cagney, the only Oscar (out of three nominations, for best film and sound) was won by Jack Lemmon for supporting male role. This was the last film in which one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the thirties, William Powell, appeared, and the crew of the supply ship, mockingly called the Kant, is rightly angry and dissatisfied because they haven’t gotten off the ship for a year.
They are anchored in the waters of the Pacific, the war is coming to an end, and although they have nothing to do, the unpopular old and mean Captain Morton (Cagney) still keeps a tight rein. His first officer, Lieutenant Roberts (Fonda), wants to go to war with all his might and constantly asks for a transfer, but the captain constantly refuses his requests. And while Morton’s crew does not really like him, but is afraid of him, Roberts is a real man of the people and understands the dissatisfaction of the crew and allows them a lot of freedom, which is why he often ends up himself. Due to disobedience, Roberts will soon come into conflict with the commander, and everything will escalate when he allows the crew to disembark when arriving at one of the ports and loading goods.
Although from today’s perspective “Mister Roberts” seems somewhat archaic, this film stands out for the standard good performances of three great American actors, Fonda, Cagney and Lemmon. It is interesting that the producers’ first two choices for Lieutenant Roberts were William Holden and Marlon Brando, mostly because Fonda took a break from making films for seven years and devoted himself to theater during that period. However, he was hired at the insistence of the director, the legendary American filmmaker John Ford, with whom he had previously worked on several films.
Despite this, Ford was fired soon after filming began because he was constantly arguing with the actors, especially Cagney and Fonda, with whom he allegedly fought before suffering a gallstone attack and ending up in emergency surgery. In his place, Mervyn LeRoy was hired, who was at his creative peak in the thirties, having shot films such as “Little Caesar” and “I Am a Fugitive From a Chaing Gang”, as well as the historical spectacle “Quo Vadis” at the beginning of the fifties, and was and producer of “The Wizard of Oz”. However, this was not the end of the troubles for the director, because after filming ended, at Fonda’s insistence, Joshua Logan was also hired, based on the Broadway play the film was actually made.