This is one of the strangest movies of the 1950s--starting BEFORE the opening credits and lasting until the final seconds! Just plain weird! It seems the insignificantly small Duchey of Grand Fenwick is in crisis--the nation is nearly bankrupt and there appears to be no way out of their financial dilemma. Untimately they hit upon a plan--they will declare war against the United States and quickly surrender. Then, based on how the US treated its defeated foes after WW2, the US is sure to pour mountains of financial aid into Grand Fenwick! The first problem is they don't have an army. What they do have are some old medieval suits of armor and some bows and arrows, so with these they set off for America! What happens next, you'll just have to see to believe!
This movie is very interesting because Peter Sellars appears in the movie in many different roles (apparently the gene pool in Grand Fenwick is rather limited)--ranging from the hero of the story, Tully Bascombe to the conniving prime minister to even the queen! It reminds me very much of the Alec Guinness film KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, in which Guinness played multiple roles.
The down side is that occasionally the plot lags and becomes a bit too silly. However, considering the risks they take and the overall weirdness and how funny the movie is in general, I think these lags can easily be over looked.
This movie had a sequel, MOUSE ON THE MOON, about the space race. I didn't particularly care for that--it was very silly but the magic just wasn't there.
This movie is very interesting because Peter Sellars appears in the movie in many different roles (apparently the gene pool in Grand Fenwick is rather limited)--ranging from the hero of the story, Tully Bascombe to the conniving prime minister to even the queen! It reminds me very much of the Alec Guinness film KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, in which Guinness played multiple roles.
The down side is that occasionally the plot lags and becomes a bit too silly. However, considering the risks they take and the overall weirdness and how funny the movie is in general, I think these lags can easily be over looked.
This movie had a sequel, MOUSE ON THE MOON, about the space race. I didn't particularly care for that--it was very silly but the magic just wasn't there.