The Mouse That Roared (1959)
Retro Review #46: Peter Sellers leads the tiny nation of Grand Fenwick in an amusing assault against America.
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
+ Feature film, £ 1h 23m
+ Based on literature (novel) The Mouse That Roared (1955)❗⭐ by Leonard Wibberley
+ 1️⃣/2 films in Grand Fenwick series ⭐
A-v
Grade: A-v (8.0) / HOF: 10
EQ 👍A- | 📖A- 👥A- 📽️B 🎼A
DW 😎9.0 | 🌚9 🌝9
POPCAP 💯n/a 🍿n/a 🧢n/a
L-R 💻⬆️1️⃣ 👀⬇️🔽 🛐⬇️1️⃣
I was probably around ten or eleven years old when I had read all the juvenile fiction in the local library that interested me, and began checking out books from the adult fiction shelves. I remember reading and enjoying The Mouse That Roared and later seeing the movie adaptation listed in the TV Guide, and enjoying the film also.
Some fifty years later, watching it as an adult, it’s still a fun ride.
It begins with the tiny fictional European country of Grand Fenwick. In financial distress, the miniscule duchy decides to declare war on the United States, expecting to quickly lose and then be showered with the celebrated largess America is known to bestow upon its conquered foes.
Peter Sellers plays three roles in the film, since the nobility of the little nation are all related and look alike. He ably delivers a boatload of physical comedy, but more of the laughs stem from the clever British satire, which pokes fun at America and other countries as only the Brits do so well. Don’t be surprised to feel like this movie would have been made by Monty Python had they arrived on the scene a decade earlier.
The contemporary late-1950s setting during the Cold War, combined with the almost-Python vibe, do make the film feel a bit dated. Don’t worry. After a while, that just adds to the humor and charm.
Much of the plot revolves around the Q-bomb, a bomb more powerful than an H-bomb, which is capable of destroying much of an entire continent. This threat of apocalyptic destruction increases the Dark Scale reading, but the Whimsy in the film is so goofy, it never feels like a real threat.
But herein lies the problem. That lack of genuine menace makes for an entertaining, non-frightening, Dark Whimsy movie. However the filmmakers were clearly trying to make an anti-atomic-war statement. They even get a bit preachy about it near the end. When the movie is so silly and the bomb looks like a complete joke, how can the viewer feel concerned?
Satire can work when you mock people causing a problem, but in this case the people offering the solution seem more ridiculous. So to me, the message doesn’t land, but at least the creators get to signal their virtue. 🙄
Honestly, the movie is better for the persuasion failure. It’s easy to ignore the pesky intended lesson, so give The Mouse That Roared a watch, and I doubt you will have any problem thoroughly enjoying this clever comedy.
Onwards!
+ last viewed (2) 2025-02-15, HDX7, 1.85v, 1D
+ first viewed 1970s, sd2, 1.85vv, 1
+ 🍌🪖⚓🥸😛
+ ✅1️⃣ OK for teens and adults. | Approved
+ 😡+1 😵💫+1 🤬+2 🤭+1 🫣+0^
+ 👀⬇️🔽 ➖☮️
+ ✝️ -0
+ ✡️ -0 (🖤)
+ 🗽 -1 ➖🇺🇳⬛
Last updated 2025-04-14
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