Written by Kris Land
Pulver schemes as Roberts listens to Warner
Henry Fonda repeats his stage success in the title role of Mister Roberts. Fonda's easy, laconic style is well suited to Roberts and his portrait is sympathetic. Jack Lemmon is decidedly the most fun as Ensign Frank Pulver. Whether singing a 1940s ditty to himself or planning a new attack on the Captain's sanctity, Lemmon injects energy into the otherwise lethargic proceedings. William Powell, the erudite interpreter of Nick Charles in The Thin Man, makes his final screen appearance as Doc. Powell's cynical world-weary delivery is a delight and a welcome compliment to Lemmon's silliness. James Cagney goes overboard with his posturing as the captain. His vision is narrowed to a corridor somewhere between the cargo hold and his potted palm. His explosions are deadpan slapstick, but Cagney is always fun to watch.
Jack Lemmon provides commentary on an alternate audio track. It's a privilege to share Lemmon's memories of the shoot and the actors. It may not be the best of commentaries, but Lemmon's stature makes up for whatever it lacks. His commentary builds nicely. In the early scenes, it's spotty and repetitive, but as he relaxes through the experience, there are some excellent stories. While he is mostly complimentary about the principals involved in Mr. Roberts, he does criticize a technique of director John Ford's. Ford liked to trick actors into getting performances out of them. Lemmon resents this device, but he relates a story about Victor McLaglen in The Informer and how Ford set him up for a great performance. 
McLaglen won the Academy Award as Best Actor for the role. There's no question that Lemmon holds the stars of Mr. Roberts in high esteem as he reminisces about their varied professional styles. There are gaps in the commentary throughout the DVD, but a narrator instructs you to move to the chapter where commentary is picked up again. There's a huge gap from chapter 16 to chapter 32 with no commentary. On side two of the DVD there is a short remembrance of Henry Fonda narrated by Jane Fonda and also a tape of an appearance of the principals of Mister Roberts on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Presented in 2.35 anamorphic widescreen, Mister Roberts is a welcome addition to the DVD library. Historically, the film boasts several screen legends as part of the cast. Warner Home Video should be commended on making a new transfer of the film for DVD. The source material for the transfer is quite good. Some scenes are a bit too grainy, but the overall look is pleasing. The transfer never injects itself between the viewer and the film. Images are reasonably sharp, colors adequately saturated. The soundtrack has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5:1. Dialogue is easy to understand and the Franz Waxman score, though not extensive, sounds fine.
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1944: Camano Class Light Cargo Ship was laid down for the US Army as FS-289 at Wheeler Shipbuilding in Whitestone, NY.
1945: Delivered to US Army.
1950: Acquired by the US Navy on July 1, 1950 and placed in service as USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17).
1954: The movie, Mister Roberts, was made on the USNS New Bedford (T-AKL-17).
1955 - 1963: Used as a cargo supply ship for the Texas Towers, a network of advanced radar stations located off the Eastern Seaboard. In 1957, Capt. Sixto Mangual was commander of the AKL-17 and in 1961 it was rechristened the USNS New Bedford. The New Bedford, sailing out of State Pier, was keeping vigil when Texas Tower No. 4 callapsed off the New Jersey coast during a January 1961 nor'easter.
1963: Reclassified as Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX-308).
1971: The New Bedford (IX-308) served as a Torpedo Test Firing Vessel in the Puget Sound area.
1994: Ceremony in New Bedford.
1995: The ship was struck from the Naval Register on April 4.
2004: The Sea Bird's current disposition is a tuna long liner (fishing boat) out of San Diego, CA.
2006: Design of the Tesla Turbine began on June 11, 2006. The Sea Bird was sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for commercial service.
2007: The Sea Bird was drydocked for renovations.
2008: The Sea Bird setting sail to Sea-Tac in Seattle, WA.
2009 - 2010: The Sea Bird is currently docked at Seattle Sea-Tac.
