Considering all the behind the scene drama during the production of this film it's amazing Mister Roberts turned out as well as it did.
Henry Fonda had performed the play for three years on Broadway and was locked into his interpretation of how it should be presented. John Ford would have seemed to have been the perfect director for a story about the navy. However Fonda was extremely unhappy with the changes Ford made in the play. The end result was Ford leaving the picture and Mervyn LeRoy finishing it.
You can certainly tell what parts Ford directed. All of the exterior shots on the ship and at Midway Island are Ford's work. The later scenes set in the studio have that phony sound stage look to them.
Still, the film turned out pretty well. Fonda is very good as Mister Roberts.
123 minutes.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment