Guilty pleasure, anyone?
Joshua Logan, who directed "Mister Roberts" on stage and helmed certain uncredited sequences for the John Ford-Mervyn LeRoy 1955 film version, got the bright idea of continuing Thomas Heggen's beloved story by speculating on what happened to Ensign Pulver (the Jack Lemmon character, natch) after Mister Roberts (Henry Fonda) died in combat.
The result was 1964's immediately forgettable but strangely likable "Ensign Pulver" with the Lemmon-esque Robert Walker Jr. (the lookalike son of Robert Walker) assuming the title role.
This is an excellent example of a film that's not especially good but that has a cast that makes it worthwhile.
The plot is negligble, but get this cast:
-Burl Ives, taking over for James Cagney as Captain Morton.
-Walter Matthau, excellent as Doc, the William Powell role.
-Kay Medford, always wonderful, this time as a tough head nurse who meets her match in Matthau's Doc.
-Millie Perkins as a young nurse and potential love interest for Ensign Pulver.
-Diana Sands and Al Freeman, Jr., hilarious as two rather worldly south-seas natives.
-Jack Nicholson, James Coco, Tommy Sands, Jerry Orbach, James Farentino, Larry Hagman, George Lindsey, Gerald O'Loughlin and Peter Marshall as assorted sailors on "The Bucket."
Put it out on DVD already!
Cinema Obscura is a recurring feature of The Passionate Moviegoer, devoted to those films that have been largely forgotten. Suggestions welcome.
(Artwork: Poster art for Joshua Logan's "Ensign Pulver")
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Anyone interested in perusing some 2060 of my film reviews, dating back to 1994, can do so by simply going to RottenTomatoes.Com
3 comments:
Wow! Talk about a forgotten film. First off, Mr. Baltake, I just wanted to second the thought that its great to have your reviews/essays consistently available again. As a Philadelphian, I both thoroughly enjoyed and then thoroughly missed your work in the News. I avoided this movie for decades, but now I have a desire to see it - if only for Al Freeman, Jr. and Diana Sands.
Here's some controversy for you...
For some time, I've been of the opinion that 'Ensign Pulver' is a more successful film than it's predecessor ('Mister Roberts') simply because as a modest early 60s comedy, it doesn't promise much, but delivers a great deal. For one thing, the film is genuinely funny. Matthau is marvelous in a performance that seems largely inspired by the comedy of Sandy Berman. Also, the climactic surgery scene may not be very sophisticated, but I can still quote most of the dialogue word for word.
Now consider 'Mister Roberts,' in which the confusion behind the camera (Ford, LeRoy, Logan?), and the fact that Lemmon manages to steal the film out from under Fonda causes the whole project to go slowly out of focus. As a result, the pathos of the film's final moments almost seems phoned in from another picture. In contrast, the climactic scene between Ives and Walker in 'Ensign Pulver' is remarkably effective, and reveals a depth to the main character that was scarcely imaginable when the story began.
I don't mean to demean 'Mister Roberts.' From a cultural standpoint, it's certainly an important film. However, I think that 'Ensign Pulver' is grossly underrated, and deserves, at long last, to be appreciated on its on terms.
Correction...
The previous post should have read -
"Matthau is marvelous in a performance that seems largely inspired by the comedy of SHELLEY Berman."
I guess my mind was morphing him with the memory of the late, great Sandy Baron.
Not a bad hybrid, that...
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