Mister Roberts (1955)

 When I was a middle schooler I saw the navy comedy 'Ensign Pullver' and really liked it; but I didn't see the movie to which it was a sequel, 'Mister Roberts' until the last few weeks. Based on a hit Broadway play 'Mister Roberts' is a comedy/drama set mainly on a Navy supply ship during the closing months of World War II. It mixes humor and poignatncey well and has a first rate cast including Henry Fonda as the title character the ships first officer, James Cagney as the asshole captain, William Powell in his final screen role as the ships wise doctor (though the actor lived into the 1980s), and Jack Lemmon who won an Oscar as the good natured, but scheming and lazy Ensign Pullver; non of these actors returned for the 1964 sequel, with Burl Ives, Walter Mathieu and Robert Walker Jr. taking over the latter 3 roles respectively. I rewatched 'Ensign Pullver' after this and it's pretty fun, but 'Mister Roberts' is by far the superior movie. ***1/2