The Mouse That Roared (1959)

An impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose, but things don't go according to plan.

Director:

Jack Arnold

Writers:

Roger MacDougall (screenplay), Stanley Mann (screenplay),

Stars:

Peter Sellers, Jean Seberg, William Hartnell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Sellers	...	Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe
Jean Seberg	...	Helen Kokintz
William Hartnell	...	Will Buckley
David Kossoff	...	Doctor Alfred Kokintz
Leo McKern	...	Benter
MacDonald Parke	...	General Snippet
Austin Willis	...	United States Secretary of Defense
Timothy Bateson	...	Roger
Monte Landis	...	Cobbley (as Monty Landis)
Alan Gifford
Colin Gordon	...	BBC Announcer
Harold Kasket	...	Pedro

Storyline

The Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides that the only way to get out of their economic woes is to declare war on the United States, lose and accept foreign aid. They send an invasion force to New York (armed with longbows) which arrives during a nuclear drill that has cleared the streets. Wandering about to find someone to surrender to, they discover a scientist with a special ultimate weapon that can destroy the Earth. When they capture him and his bomb they are faced with a new possibility: What do you do when you win a war?

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Plot Keywords:

cold war | duchy of grand fenwick | scientist | invasion | satire | 

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Taglines:

The Hilarious Story of How the Duchy of Grand Fenwick Waged War on the U.S. - and Won

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

El rugido del ratón

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Highroad Productions, Open Road Films (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color by Pathé)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Sellers made this film in part as a means of emulating his hero, Alec Guinness, by playing multiple roles in one movie.

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Goofs

During the Institute for Physics scene, Professor Kokintz addresses Tully as both "Grand Marshall" and "Mr. Constable", but nowhere in the preceding dialogue is Tully introduced as such. Prof. Kokintz couldn't have known his two titles.

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Quotes

United States Secretary of Defense: A fine thing, the United States and the Grand Duchy of Fenwick are at war, and it takes the F.B.I. to find out about it.

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Crazy Credits

An animated mouse roars like a lion as the title appears onscreen.

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Connections

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80"
(1880) (uncredited)
Written by Johannes Brahms
In the score when the Prime Minister announces the degrees he garnered

User Reviews

A British Comedy Classic, and A Relevant One- don't listen to the review above!

An Exercise in Cold War Absurdity.

This is a true classic, with one of the wittiest scripts ever written, and hilarious performances from a perfect cast.

It's not slapstick, which is perhaps why some people not acquainted with British humor (at least before Monty Python), have been turned off. It's also a bit sophisticated for children. It's a satire which relies for its laughs on an absurd plot, absurd dialogue, and hilariously absurd caricatures.

Although it's considered a harmless entertainment, 'The Mouse That Roared' is chock full of satiric jibes at the dirty politics, international relations, and paranoid culture of The Cold War- its just that the jokes are so quick and subtle that you might miss them if you blink (one of my favorite touches concerns a radio report of 'aliens'- actually the chain-mailed soldiers of Grand Fenwick- sighted in Central Park. Upon hearing the report amongst a crowd of shocked New Yorkers, one well-dressed, perfectly normal looking gent mutters about the supposed alien invasion: 'I knew it it HAD to come to this!' This is the filmmakers' fairly accurate portrayal of how far some Americans had descended, by this time, into Atomic, Cold War and Space-Crazed paranoia).

It should be said that the diplomatic relations between America and the World, as portrayed in this film, are even MORE RELEVANT now than they were during the Cold War; except that the American statesmen seem so virtuous and well-meaning in comparison to some of our current ones. Rent it and you'll see what I mean.

This is also, all things considered, probably the best Peter Sellers vehicle produced in Britain- all the rest, of varying quality, were much shorter on laughs (also of note, however, are 'The Naked Truth' and 'Only Two Can Play'). Tully Bascombe is not an outrageous or demonstrative character like Inspector Clouseau. Instead, Sellers takes a fairly normal, if a bit pathetic, Everyman and manages to make him quite funny in nearly every scene. And as the Grand Duchess he is absolutely hilarious- it's impossible to watch this performance for a moment without laughing.

As someone who is very well acquainted with British film comedies, I can say without hesitation that this is one of the very best, even in a decade which produced 'The Lavender Hill Mob' and 'The Ladykillers' (directed by Alex MacKendrick, who was a cousin to Roger macDougall, the ingenious screenwriter of 'Mouse That Roared.' Even if the film's plot and dialogue were not so consistently funny, its undoubted charm, and its magnificent triple performance by Sellers, are more than worth the price of rental.