The Mouse That Roared

Grand Fenwick is a small European Duchy situated high in the French Alps. It is so small in fact that it only covers 15¾ square miles and is the smallest country in the world. Regardless of its meagre size, Grand Fenwick is a very prosperous nation. The driving force behind their wealth is their much sought after wine, named Pinot Grand Fenwick. The product is particularly liked by the Americans, and they are the wine’s primary buyers. Trouble arises, however, in 1959, when a Californian winegrower, hoping to cash in on Grand Fenwick’s success, releases an imitation of Pinot Grand Fenwick named Pinot Grand Enwick. This wine is sold at a lower price, and drives the Pinot Grand Fenwick out of the market.

With the country’s main source of income lost, Grand Fenwick is about to fall in to bankruptcy if nothing is done. The nation’s Prime Minister, Count Mountjoy (Peter Sellers), presents a daring plan: to declare war on the United States, and then lose on purpose. His reasoning behind the seemingly insane strategy is that when the US defeats a nation in war, the losing country is given financial assistance to get back on its feet. The ruler of Grand Fenwick, Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Peter Sellers), agrees to the plan, and gives the order for the army to invade North America. For some reason, the Grand Fenwick army comprises of men in mail with longbows.

The commander of the army is Tully Bascombe (Peter Sellers), who is a kind but slightly fumbling man. He sets sail with his men to New York, where they are surprised to find the city deserted. Their timing was immaculate, as there is an air raid drill in New York on that day and the entire city is underground in public bomb shelters. Tully and his men steal a prototype super bomb that is capable of destroying two million square miles. They also kidnap the scientist that was working on the bomb and his daughter. They travel back to Grand Fenwick where Tully gives the good news to the Duchess and the Prime Minister; it seems that they have actually won the war against the United States. The results are quite funny, and the rest of the film contains some very well thought out gags. The Mouse That Roared is a very light-hearted comedy, and offers quite a few laughs throughout its length. The deeper themes of the film, such as that of the arms race, are still quite relevant today, and this film makes for an interesting perspective on the whole matter.

Peter Sellers gives brilliant performances as the three lead characters. The Mouse That Roared, much like Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, is a film that shows the great diversity that this actor possessed. Jean Seberg is disappointing in her role as Professor Kokintz’s daughter and Tully’s love interest. She doesn’t seem to fit the role very well; in fact for most of the scenes she's in she really appears to be putting very little effort in. David Kossoff is adequate without being great as the somewhat nutty Professor Kokintz. But, of course, as in many of the films he was in, everyone in the cast pales in comparison to Peter Sellers.

The Mouse That Roared was released in 1959, and thus allowances must be made with regards to the video and audio transfer. I was very pleasantly surprised, however, with the quality of the video. Columbia TriStar hasn’t really put a foot wrong with this effort. The transfer is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is 16x9 enhanced. It seems many of the older films that are being released on DVD have been changed to full frame, so it is nice to see The Mouse That Roared still maintaining its original aspect ratio.

Probably the most noticeable thing about the video is the distinct lack of film artefacts. For a film of this age, I would have expected to see many more floating around the screen, but they really only popped up every now and again. Most are all quite small and innocuous; no big fat ones to ruin the viewing experience.

The colours are, in general, well presented, especially for a film of this vintage. For the most part they are well saturated and accurate, and the skin tones are spot on. Shadow detail is good, though most of the scenes are in quite well lit areas. The sharpness is good; much better than most films from this era.

The disc is single sided and single layered, so there is no layer change to contend with. There are plenty of subtitles available, though when I viewed the English ones they did seem to be rather abridged.

There are five audio tracks available on this release; English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, all in Dolby Digital mono. It would really be unrealistic to expect more from this release with regards to the audio transfer, and really this is all that is required.

The quality of the sound, even though it is mono, is high. There are no problems with the dialogue mixing; everything that is said is crisp and easy to hear. No problems with audio synch are present.

The only extra available is the original theatrical trailer. It runs for 2:24 and is in Dolby Digital mono.

If it wasn’t for Peter Sellers, The Mouse That Roared would only be a very mediocre film, most probably lost in the murky depths of age. However, even thought it was quite early in his film career, Sellers brings such an amazing life and verve to the movie that it just can’t be ignored. The transfer is very acceptable for a film of this age; Columbia TriStar have done a fantastic job and a lot of care has obviously been taken to clean up the image. This film is a must see if you are a Peter Sellers fan, and well worth a look if you enjoy light-hearted comedies.