The Mouse on the Moon | 
 enlarge | Director: Richard Lester
Actors: Margaret Rutherford, Ron Moody, Bernard Cribbins, David Kossoff, Terry-thomas
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $2.99
You Save: $11.99 (80%)
New (59) Used (16) from $2.66
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 6727
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 85
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Picture Format: Array
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.7 x 0.7
MPN: 1001280
ISBN: 0792847954
UPC: 027616855596
EAN: 9780792847953
ASIN: B00004ZBVN
Theatrical Release Date: June 17, 1963
Release Date: December 19, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
The natives are growing restless in the tiny country of Grand Fenwick! There's no indoor plumbing, no money to pay for it and no one's had a hot bath in ages! Facing a winter without warm water, the conniving Prime Minister (Ron Moody, Oliver!) convinces the U.S. government to give him a million-dollar grant by promising to use it for Grand Fenwick's space program. There's just one pesky problem: Grand Fenwick doesn't have a space program! But when a local crackpot professor discovers that the region's wine makes radical rocket fuel, the little nation determines to blast its wayinto the space race and land on the moon before the U.S., Russia or anyone else! Get readyfor a spoof on space travel and political plotting that's so funny, it'll have you howling at the moon! Full of "hilarious slapstick moments" (Boxoffice), this lunar laugh-riot is a "delightful farce" (The Film Daily) that's out of this world!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Mouse on the Moon DVD December 18, 2007
Had hoped for more footage of Margaret Rutherford, but it was greatly enjoyed by a family of mixed generations.
 Grand Fenwick Takes Center-stage in the World Again! October 18, 2005
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
In 1959, a hilarious Cold War-inspired film entitled "The Mouse that Roared" was produced about a fictional tiny country named "The Duchy of Grand Fenwick", which is no ordinary country. First, it's the smallest country in the world (about 15 square miles). Second, it's the only English-speaking country in continental Europe (located in the French Alps). Third, its primary source of revenue is its wine. When a California winery made a cheap knock-off of Grand Fenwick's wine and reduced the nation's only source of revenue, Grand Fenwick declared war on the U.S. and won! The result: the California winery stopped producing the cheap knock-off and Grand Fenwick kept a brilliant scientist, Professor Alfred Kokintz (David Kossoff, 1919-2005), that they captured in the U.S.
With the success of "The Mouse that Roared", a sequel was produced 4 years later in 1963 and entitled "The Mouse on the Moon". Unlike the first film that had Peter Sellers (1925-1980) playing three of the main characters as in the original 1959 film, each of these characters were played by separate actors: Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Margaret Rutherford, 1892-1972), Prime Minister Rupert Mountjoy (Ron Moody) and his nephew Vincent Mountjoy (Bernard Cribbins). Only David Kossoff reprised his role as Professor Kokintz.
Focusing again the Cold War between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, the story for "The Mouse on the Moon" begins with Prime Minister Mountjoy coming up with what he believes will be a brilliant way to get a loan from the U.S.: trick the U.S. into thinking that Grand Fenwick wants to start a space program, when in reality, he just wants the money to have indoor plumbing installed in Grand Fenwick's castle. The U.S., not trusting Mountjoy, goes ahead and gives a grant to Grand Fenwick thinking that it will improve how other nations view the U.S. in its race with the former Soviet Union to send astronauts to the moon. To counter the U.S., the Soviet Union sends an old space rocket to Grand Fenwick. Delighted with the gifts, Mountjoy proceeds with turning the rocket and money into indoor plumbing, but not before Professor Kokintz discovers why bottles of Grand Fenwick wine have been inexplicably exploding: they contain a new radioactive element, which Kokintz discovers can generate lift. With Vincent's eager help to become an astronaut, Professor Kokintz proceeds to prepare the rocket for space travel, which he believes will take about 3 weeks to reach the moon. To counter suspicions in the U.S. and the Soviet Union that Grand Fenwick is indeed using their gifts for space exploration, Mountjoy invites representatives from each to visit the launching of the rocket. Mountjoy asks Professor Kokintz to make it appear that the rocket explodes, but unknown to him, Kokintz and Vincent are ready to take their radioactive-wine-powered rocket for a roundtrip to the moon. Would the smallest country in the world beat the U.S. and the former Soviet Union to the moon? Just watch this charming film and find out.
Though considered not as good as the original 1959 film, "The Mouse on the Moon" is still very entertaining. Granted there are some slight mistakes with how air inside the Grand Fenwick rocket is maintained since it has no airlock, but for 1963, few people would have realized this. Other interesting characters include Maurice Spender (Terry-Thomas, 1911-1990), Cynthia (June Ritchie) and one of the American astronauts who was played by Ed Bishop (1932-2005). Some sci-fi TV series buffs may remember Ed Bishop as Commander Ed Straker in the 1970 sci-fi TV series "UFO". Overall, "The Mouse on the Moon" is a fun film and deservers a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
 Not as Good as the Original September 8, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Fitfully funny satire about the space race but it is not as amusing as "The Mouse That Roared." Sorely lacking here is the presence of Peter Sellers. It's interesting to watch political satire of it's time but the space race does not have the resonance today that the arms race did.
A delightful satire of the Cold War December 29, 2003
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
One of my favorite comedies from back when I was a kid (and they used to show old films like this on broadcast TV...) One of those rare instances in which a sequel to a cult film is still fun enough to make it on its own merits, despite losing the original lead actor. This is the followup to the kooky Peter Sellers classic, "The Mouse That Roared," returning us to Duchy of Grand Fenwick, an eccentric European backwater that makes Lichtenstein seem like the Ottoman Empire. Sellers is gone, but the farce remains, as the Grand Fenwickians inadvertently enter the Cold War space race, with the US, USSR and UK all falling over themselves to try and either control or subvert the tiny country's absurdly rickety space program. There are fine character bits, with Ron Moody and Margaret Rutherford starring, respectively, as Grand Fenwick's prime minister and queen, but what makes this film an enduring classic is how deftly it satirizes the already-farcical propaganda wars between America and the Soviet Union (that Great Britain really factored in as a "player" in the Kennedy-era Cold War is a quaint, Bond-ian affectation...) A genuinely funny film that stands on its own dramatically, but which is also a priceless snapshot of the times it was made in. Recommended!
Even funnier than "The Mouse That Roared" October 4, 2003
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I bought this movie based on reviews I read here on Amazon.com and wasn't disappointed. I watched "The Mouse That Roared" first and thought it was funny, but in my opinion this movie is even better. Magaret Rutherford is great as the clueless Grand Duchess, I wish there was more of her in the movie. Ron Moody does a great job as the prime minister who is hung up on getting running hot water for his bathtub at any cost. There was a small take off on Dr. Strangelove that I liked. Two ex-German scientists one for the US and one for the USSR give their boss a Nazi salute before catching themselves. I had some good laughs throughout the movie. If you liked "The Mouse That Roared" I'm sure you'll like this movie.
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