The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

"The Mouse on the Moon" is a comedy satire and sci-fi film that is quite dated and has lost much of its appeal over time. It is one of two movies based on a series of novels by Irish-American author, Leonard Wibberley. The first, "The Mouse that Roared" was a 1955 novel that was made into the smash hit movie of the same title by Columbia Pictures in 1959. Peter Sellers starred in three roles in that film. This second film is from the third novel of the "Mouse" series, also by the same title. It was published in 1962. The mouse refers to the smallest country in the world, the fictitious Grand Duchy of Fenwick. Land-locked somewhere in the middle of Europe, Fenwick has continued its cherished customs based on its English heritage. This film enjoyed success at the time, but its plot was considerably dated to the period of a single decade. Among other drawbacks from the original are a far inferior screenplay and fewer big name stars in the cast. The setting was the space race during the Cold War that pitted the U.S. against the Soviet Union. Russia scored first when Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel in space. On April 12, 1961, he orbited the earth in Vostok 1. The U.S. scored second with the first man on the moon in 1969. Neil Armstrong left earth in Apollo 11 on July 16 with Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon, and Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.Since then, the space race has ended, and modern space exploration is done by several nations, most often in cooperative ventures. But, for 1963 the space race was a hot item. So, this film naturally had more interest. The script milks it as much as possible. But, only mildly funny in places then, the script doesn't hold as much interest among audiences in the 21st century. Here's a sample line of humor from the film. Maurice Spender (played by Terry-Thomas), "I read your letter in the Times. Rushed over here post-haste." Professor Kokintz (played by David Kossoff), "How nice." Maurice Spender, "I say. I'm extremely excited to see those Botherbinks." Professor Kokintz, "Botherbinks? Bobolinks." Maurice Spender, "No, that's what I said, didn't I? Bob... bob... bobolinks."

The tiny country of Grand Fenwick is again the center of attraction as its resourceful Prime Minister Mountjoy and a scientist, Professor Kokintz, want to make a statement to the world. The P.M. thinks that by interesting the Americans in a phony space plan, his country will receive a fair compensation in aid to replace the nation's poor plumbing system, while the professor has found what he was looking for with the help of the Grand Fenwick's wine in order to achieve his ambitious project. The tiny country is the envy of the American, Russian and British government because it will achieve something that its most powerful counterparts cannot do: be the first to land on the moon!The sequel of "The Mouse That Roared" gets a fun production by Richard Lester, a man that understood comedy well. One would have thought the loss of the previous hit star, Peter Sellers, would not work, but thanks to Mr. Lester's vision it is a much better film that we expected. Not having seen at all, we were able to catch up with it, as it appeared on a cable channel recently. The film has a great look in spite of the time elapsed since it was first release.On hand for this installment, are some excellent English performers. Margaret Rutherford makes a valuable contribution with her Gloriana XIII, a dizzy lady who gets her speeches confused whenever she happens to speak at a public function. Ron Moody is perhaps the best thing in the movie as the ambitious Mountjoy. Bernard Cribbins and June Ritchie play a young couple in love. David Kossoff is Professor Kokintz, the brainy inventor that is instrumental in the launching of the space ship. The excellent Terry-Thomas adds a funny performance to the movie.

The story line of how the underdog can beat the big boys is well executed, and although this comedy is not hilariously funny the story moves at a sufficient pace to keep the interest levels up. A wonderful array of stalwart British comedy actors march through this film, including a cameo for Frankie Howerd in need of the new public convenience.Where this film falls down, for me, is in Ron Moody's performance. His overacting singlehandedly turns this from potentially being a good film into one that can't be recommended. As if he were playing to a school of 5 year olds awaiting an episode of Crackerjack, Moody shouts and splashes and blusters his way aimlessly through this movie. Unfortunately he has a lead role. I'm no fan of Peter Sellers, but this film could have been so much more if perhaps the lead role had been given to John le Mesurier or Eric Barker rather than relegating them to small support roles.

The two "Mouse" films benefitted greatly from the wonderfully funny source novels by terribly under-appreciated Irish author Leonard Wibberley. Although the second film suffers in comparison because of the loss of star Peter Sellers, the performances by Ron Moody as Count Mountjoy and Dame Margaret Rutherford are still quite effective. It must be pointed out that some of the higher bits of satire of Wibberley's novel have gone missing from the film. In the novel, the Duchess (a 23-year-old married to Chief Forester Tully Bascomb) asks Count Mountjoy (she has called him "Bobo" since infancy) for an Imperial Russian sable fur coat. Mountjoy, desiring to update the Grand Fenwick castle's 14th century plumbing, gets a decree passed asking for a loan from the United States for $50,000 for the coat. Being the sly fox that he is, he also asks for $5 million to enter the SPACE PROGRAM! Of course, Mountjoy has every intension of buying the Duchess her coat and using the rest on the plumbing (and also for road improvements, as there are no paved roads in the country). The USA realizes that it's a ruse of some sort, but sees it as an excellent PR opportunity and decides to give them $50 million instead! The rest of the plot is pretty much directly translated into the film. Too bad Wibberley's remaining books in the series ("The Mouse on Wall Street," "The Mouse That Saved the West," and "Beware the Mouse!") were never filmed.