This magnificent adaptation of the hit Broadway comedy sees Henry Fonda returning to the screen after a long absence to re-create his stage role as a supply-ship officer who longs to be part of the action during the Second World War. Fonda clashed with original director John Ford over how to play the part, which led to director Mervyn LeRoy taking over, but the transfer was seamless and the qualities of the play were retained. The film has a cast to die for: James Cagney as the captain, William Powell (his last movie appearance) as the wise old doc, and young Jack Lemmon, winning his first Oscar, as the brash, irresistible and irrepressible Ensign Pulver. The mixture of sentiment and comedy may be a little hard to take today, but in a small world where memories of war were all too recent, this work had the ring of truth.

Mr. Roberts is a Navy officer who's yearning for battle but is stuck in the backwaters of World War II on a non-commissioned ship run by the bullying Captain Morton.