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

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

duchy of grand fenwick | bomb | satire | radio broadcast | actor playing multiple roles | 

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Taglines:

Direct Hit to Your Funny Bone!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

La souris qui rugissait

Filming Locations:

Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation,Highroad Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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.

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Goofs

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

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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?

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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 How I Met Your Mother: The Ashtray (2013)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

A good, trim, well paced satire brimming with irony

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.