A Masterpiece!

Blistering performances.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Blistering performances.

The DVD box billed this as a comedy...but it was hardly funny. Yes, you could laugh at a martinet ship captain for forbidding his crew to sing after he catches them singing a mocking song, or making an officer throw smuggled booze overboard. But there was nothing funny about his refusing compassionate leave to a sailor whose 18-month-old daughter had just died to allow him to attend the funeral. We could laugh at a petty tyrant, but not someone with no human compassion at all.The movie was a sequel to "Mister Roberts", which was far superior and had humor but did not lose sight of the seriousness of the war situation everyone was in. This was just a wretched attempt at comedy that I had to turn off after fifteen minutes. There were a number of major acting stars, as well as actors who would become big stars later. But the best performers couldn't possibly have made this movie work.

If ever there was a great movie that did NOT cry out for a sequel, it was "Mister Roberts," with its gruff, poignant, perfect ending. A bad sequel like "Ensign Pulver" is particularly disappointing.The setting here is the same as in the earlier classic -- a scroungy old Navy vessel on the fringes of the Pacific Theater late in World War II. This movie is built around Ensign Frank Pulver, the sidekick of Mister Roberts in the original movie. Unfortunately, Robert Walker Jr., who plays Pulver here, can't match the original screen Pulver, Jack Lemmon. It's almost like they're playing different people.That's the main problem, I think, too much tinkering with familiar characters. The focus of "Mister Roberts" was the battle of wits and wills between the idealistic Roberts (Henry Fonda) and the embittered captain (James Cagney). But in this film, the captain (now played by Burl Ives) finds himself psychoanalyzed by Pulver. Cagney's captain was hard to like but easy to understand, while Ives' version is as complicated as a Tennessee Williams character.And how about Doc? In "Mister Roberts," he was portrayed by an older actor, William Powell, in one of his last roles. A counterpoint to the captain, Doc was a man who had grown wise, not cynical, with age. Walter Matthau, though a fine actor, is a much younger Doc in this one, and one who's not particularly wise. He's just another madcap guy in a madcap crew."Mister Roberts" had a lot of wonderful laughs, but ultimately it was dead serious about World War II. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. But in "Ensign Pulver," the greatest conflict in history is just an excuse for humdrum hijinks. It's really too bad.

While certainly not the movie of the year(or any year, for that matter), this follow-up to Mr. Roberts was a lot of fun to watch as an adolescent, and later as an adult. It is a totally different movie than Roberts, so don't expect the same caliber or even the same genre-it's just fun to watch! The dialogue is clever, though the characters maybe a little cardboard. Matthau is great as "Doc", Ives as the evil captain, and Walker as the grandiose-yet-cowardly, slingshot and marble carrying ensign. I enjoyed seeing the familiar faces of the many character actors whom you'll quickly recognize (if you are of sufficient age or TV exposure).

I have just purchased the VHS tape of this movie and I enjoyed it very much. Mainly for the performance of Robert Walker Jr.I would like to point out that "Ensign Pulver" is not a remake of "Mister Roberts". Ensign Pulver is the same ship and same characters as Mr. Roberts only with different actors in the leads.Burl Ives continues the role of Capt. first played by James Cagney. Robert Walker Jr. continues the role of Ensign Pulver first played by Jack Lemmon. Walter Matthau continues the role of Doc first played by William Powell.Early in the movie, Doc notes that it has been only a few weeks since they found out about the death of Doug, Mr. Roberts(Henry Fonda). Pulver receives a package from someone who was on the ship where Mr. Roberts died. It is medical books that Mr. Roberts wanted Pulver to have because he knew he would like the dirty pictures.This movie is much more of a comedy than "Roberts" and is alot of fun to watch.Also in the crew you can spot George Lindsey, "Goober" from the Andy Griffith show, future TV game show host Peter Marshall, a skinny James Coco and a very young James Farentino.Too bad this movie is not on DVD. Yet.