The smallest country in the world, The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, is in trouble financially. Located on the France - Switzerland border, the country only has one export: wine (made the old fashioned way... by stomping on grapes). The United States is the main consumer of the wine, until a company in California creates a cheap version of the wine and gives it a similar name. With sales down, the country is looking towards bankruptcy. The Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Sellers) gathers her advisors to figure out how to solve the crisis. The Prime Minister, Count Rupert Mountjoy (Sellers), and the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, Benter (McKern), convince the rest of the council to declare war on the U.S. They plan to lose, and then the US will come in and fix everything for them.
The Field Marshall, Tully Bascombe (Sellers again), is sent to America with a group of 20 men, including a soldier from WWII, Will Buckley (Hartnell). They arrive in New York, prepared to surrender to the first person they spot (see the quote above)... but the streets are bare. The people are underground for an air raid, in preparation for the new bomb being prepared in their midst. The bomb is the Q Bomb, which is much stronger than the H Bomb, and operates on a hair trigger. The bomb maker is Professor Kokintz (Kossoff), and is aided by his feisty daughter Helen (Seberg). They are captured by the Fenwick army, along with the bomb, a few military men, and a General (Parke), and taken to Grand Fenwick...
A political satire about the Cold War, this film is funny without being obnoxious or overly focused on politics. Still funny after all these years. The script is adapted from a novel ("The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley), and relies on the humor in the situations and in the stars instead of slapstick, like many films.
Peter Sellers steals the show with his multiple characters: 3 very distinct personalities. He gets the pleasure of being the hero, the villain, and the endearing monarch. As Tully he is the reluctant hero, awkwardly trying to fullfill his mission so he can get home to his fields. As Prime Minister Mountjoy he is the scheming villain, although you don't realize he's the villain at first. And as the Grand Duchess, he is the second coming of Queen Victoria, just slightly detached from reality, but keen enough to still make decisions. It is interesting to see Sellers at this point in his career, and how he presents the careers prior to his memorable roles in The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The rest of the cast works, but Sellers is the reason to watch.
The second novel in Wibberley's series about Grand Fenwick was also adapted to film: The Mouse on the Moon (there are 3 other novels in the series).
The Mouse That Roared (1959) 83 minutes
Director: Jack Arnold
Starring: Peter Sellers as Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe
Jean Seberg as Helen Kokintz
William Hartnell as Will Buckley
David Kossoff as Professor Alfred Kokintz
Leo McKern as Benter
MacDonald Parke as General Snippet
The Field Marshall, Tully Bascombe (Sellers again), is sent to America with a group of 20 men, including a soldier from WWII, Will Buckley (Hartnell). They arrive in New York, prepared to surrender to the first person they spot (see the quote above)... but the streets are bare. The people are underground for an air raid, in preparation for the new bomb being prepared in their midst. The bomb is the Q Bomb, which is much stronger than the H Bomb, and operates on a hair trigger. The bomb maker is Professor Kokintz (Kossoff), and is aided by his feisty daughter Helen (Seberg). They are captured by the Fenwick army, along with the bomb, a few military men, and a General (Parke), and taken to Grand Fenwick...
A political satire about the Cold War, this film is funny without being obnoxious or overly focused on politics. Still funny after all these years. The script is adapted from a novel ("The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberley), and relies on the humor in the situations and in the stars instead of slapstick, like many films.
Peter Sellers steals the show with his multiple characters: 3 very distinct personalities. He gets the pleasure of being the hero, the villain, and the endearing monarch. As Tully he is the reluctant hero, awkwardly trying to fullfill his mission so he can get home to his fields. As Prime Minister Mountjoy he is the scheming villain, although you don't realize he's the villain at first. And as the Grand Duchess, he is the second coming of Queen Victoria, just slightly detached from reality, but keen enough to still make decisions. It is interesting to see Sellers at this point in his career, and how he presents the careers prior to his memorable roles in The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The rest of the cast works, but Sellers is the reason to watch.
The second novel in Wibberley's series about Grand Fenwick was also adapted to film: The Mouse on the Moon (there are 3 other novels in the series).
The Mouse That Roared (1959) 83 minutes
Director: Jack Arnold
Starring: Peter Sellers as Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe
Jean Seberg as Helen Kokintz
William Hartnell as Will Buckley
David Kossoff as Professor Alfred Kokintz
Leo McKern as Benter
MacDonald Parke as General Snippet
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