Enjoy unlimited streaming on Prime Video
Thousands of other titles available to watch instantly.
7.0/10
7,377
71 user 23 critic

The Mouse That Roared (1959)

Approved | | Comedy | November 1959 (USA)
Trailer
2:30 | Trailer

On Disc

at Amazon

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) (as Roger Macdougall), Stanley Mann (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Reviews

Videos

Photos

Learn more

More Like This 

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A tiny country persuades the Americans and Soviets that they're starting a space program, when they really just want some money for new plumbing.

Director: Richard Lester
Stars: Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Bernard Cribbins
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A naive aristocrat in search of a career becomes caught up in the struggles between his profit-minded uncle and an aggressive labour union.

Director: John Boulting
Stars: Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, Peter Sellers
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Dodger Lane (Peter Sellers) has planned the perfect robbery while in prison. He intends to break out of prison, steal a fortune in diamonds, and break back into prison before anyone notices... See full summary »

Director: Robert Day
Stars: Peter Sellers, David Lodge, Bernard Cribbins
Up the Creek (1958)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

During the Cold War, an idiotic R.N. lieutenant, who cannot be fired due to his connections, is transferred from the Admiralty to the far away Mothball Fleet to a rusty destroyer whose crew is running an illegal money-making scheme.

Director: Val Guest
Stars: David Tomlinson, Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

A thirty-something square falls in love with a hippie and decides to "drop out" himself.

Director: Hy Averback
Stars: Peter Sellers, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

A Millionairess and a doctor cannot marry until they meet conditions set-up by their respective parents.

Director: Anthony Asquith
Stars: Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, Alastair Sim
Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

The crooks in London know how it works. No one carries guns and no one resists the police. Then a new gang appears that go one better. They dress as police and steal from the crooks. This ... See full summary »

Director: Cliff Owen
Stars: Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, Bernard Cribbins
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

An incompetent barrister is assigned to defend a wife murderer.

Director: James Hill
Stars: Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Beryl Reid
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Angela Barrows, an accomplished business analyst from the US, attempts to contemporise the late MacPherson's tweed factory, shaking the very foundation of a men-only company.

Director: Charles Crichton
Stars: Peter Sellers, Robert Morley, Constance Cummings
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A minister is accidentally appointed to a snobbish parish.

Directors: John Boulting, Roy Boulting
Stars: Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Isabel Jeans
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own.

Director: Clive Donner
Stars: Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider
The Mouse That Roared (TV Movie 1966)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  
Director: Jack Arnold
Stars: Sid Caesar, Richard Deacon, Joyce Jameson
Edit

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 MacDonald Parke ... General Snippet (as Macdonald Parke)
Austin Willis Austin Willis ... United States Secretary of Defense
Timothy Bateson ... Roger
Monte Landis Monte Landis ... Cobbley (as Monty Landis)
Alan Gifford ... Air Raid Warden
Colin Gordon ... BBC Announcer
Harold Kasket Harold Kasket ... Pedro
Edit

Storyline

The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, the smallest country in the world, is nestled in the French Alps. Being as isolated as it is, its life is a throwback to olden days. It is a happy, peace-loving country. Its economy solely rests on export of its only wine, Pinot Grand Fenwick, to the US. When a California vintner starts producing and selling a knock-off of the Pinot Grand Fenwick at a lower price, the Grand Fenwick economy goes into a crisis situation, the country on the brink of bankruptcy. Three protests to the US go largely unanswered. Grand Fenwick's Prime Minister, Rupert of Mountjoy, believes the solution is to declare war on the US, and promptly lose the war in less than a day with no casualties on either side, after which the US, which it has historically done, will provide vast financial aide to rebuild the country. Grand Fenwick's monarch, the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, ultimately supports this concept. The plan is to send an official declaration of war to the US, have a small ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Direct Hit to Your Funny Bone! See more »

Genres:

Comedy

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Release Date:

November 1959 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

La souris qui rugissait See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jack Arnold did not ask the studio's permission to make fun of the Columbia logo, convinced they would say no. At the film's opening, "Miss Columbia" discovers a mouse under her skirts and runs off screaming. At the end she returns to her pedestal. Studio executives first heard of the joke when they attended the New York previews, where it got a huge laugh. After that, there was no thought of cutting it, though it is absent from some television prints. See more »

Goofs

During the montage showing the "empty" Manhattan, there is a driver visible in one of the "abandoned" cars. See more »

Quotes

General Snippet: Remember, men, no matter what they do, don't talk.
U.S. Policeman: What if they torture us?
General Snippet: Just don't talk!
U.S. Policeman: Can we scream a little?
See more »

Crazy Credits

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

Connections

Referenced in How I Met Your Mother: The Ashtray (2013) See more »

Soundtracks

Frankie and Johnny
(1912) (uncredited)
Music by Bert Leighton and Frank Leighton
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »

User Reviews

 
A good, trim, well paced satire brimming with irony
10 December 1999 | by ndgmtlcdSee all my reviews

This little satire of the cold war has none of the smug reactionary stances that the original novel had. It takes aim at great powers and small no-powers, it skewers democracies (like the US and Britain) and aristocracies (like the grand duchy of Fenwick and Britain) and shows absolutely no mercy.

Done when Peter Sellers was in his "fat boy" period, this well cut little movie has to be placed in context in order to be appreciated fully. 40 years ago the world was quite different, and this movie reminds you of it. See something totally different from the same period, like Rear Window by Hitchcock to get you in the spirit of the times.


20 of 22 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 71 user reviews »

Contribute to This Page

Stream Popular Action and Adventure Titles With Prime Video

Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.

Start your free trial



Recently Viewed