The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

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

Writers:

Leonard Wibberley (novel), Michael Pertwee (screenplay)

Stars:

Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Bernard Cribbins

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margaret Rutherford	...	Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII
Ron Moody	...	Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy
Bernard Cribbins	...	Vincent Mountjoy
David Kossoff	...	Professor Kokintz
Terry-Thomas	...	Maurice Spender (as Terry Thomas)
June Ritchie	...	Cynthia
John Le Mesurier	...	British Delegate
John Phillips	...	Bracewell - U.S. Delegate
Eric Barker	...	M.I.5. Man
Roddy McMillan	...	Benter
Tom Aldredge	...	Wendover
Michael Trubshawe	...	British Aide
Peter Sallis	...	Russian Delegate
Clive Dunn	...	Bandleader
Hugh Lloyd	...	Plumber

Storyline

Sequel to The Mouse That Roared (1959), the tiny country of Grand Fenwick has a hot water problem in the castle. To get the money necessary to put in a new set of plumbing, they request foreign aid from the U.S. for Space Research. The Russians then send aid as well to show that they too are for the internationalization of space. While the grand Duke is dreaming of hot baths, their one scientist is slapping together a rocket. The U.S. and Soviets get wind of the impending launch and try and beat them to the moon.

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Plot Keywords:

1960s | soviet union | united states | cold war | psychotronic film | 

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Taglines:

Territorial claims to the Moon by the Grand Duchy of Fenwick can be substantiated by viewing the hilarious motion picture MOUSE ON THE MOON

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Theatrical movie debut of Tom Aldredge (Wendover).

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Goofs

In the beginning of the movie when the world is shown, it's spinning in the wrong direction.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII: It's that nasty tin thing again!

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Connections

Referenced in You Can't Do That! The Making of 'A Hard Day's Night' (1996)

User Reviews

"But we've got pudding!"

If you have not yet seen either 'Mouse' film, it is probably better to see this one first, rather than view it with expectations raised by the other one.

It is easy to forget that this film was made before there had been any moon landings; plot points such as dust on the moon were real concerns for the Apollo astronauts when they landed for real, some years later. The planting of a flag (although not the first seen on film of course) was either prescient or life imitated art later on...?

Oddly enough both the look of the moon and the look of the rocket's interior are strongly reminiscent of those seen in the Wallace and Gromit animation 'a grand day out', which must surely have been inspired by the 'Mouse' film.

This film does appear on UK TV from time to time; for example on the Sony Movie Classic channel. However this raises my main disappointment concerning this film; the Sony 'watermark' is huge and obtrusive as usual, but the conversion from Celluloid to PAL video which they broadcast is almost an object lesson in 'how not to do it'; goodness knows what they did (possibly started with a bad print, converted badly to NSTC and then badly to PAL?) but the result is fuzzy, jerky in places, with poor/unsynchronized sound quality. The net result is pretty execrable; in places I'd describe it as 'almost unwatchable' in fact. This isn't the best film ever but my enjoyment of it was seriously impaired by the rotten quality of the broadcast video. I can only suppose (and hope) that commercial DVDs are better than that; they surely can't be worse...?

Six out of ten from me; might have been more but for the rotten video quality.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

17 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mouse on the Moon

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Shenson Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1