The Incredible Mr. Limpet

Infobox Film
name = The Incredible Mr. Limpet


caption =
director = Arthur Lubin
producer = John C. Rose
writer = Theodore Pratt (novel)
Joe DiMona
Jameson Brewer
John C. Rose
starring = Don Knotts
Carole Cook
Jack Weston
Andrew Duggan
music = Frank Perkins
cinematography = Harold E. Stine
editing = Donald Tait
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = March 28, 1964
runtime = 102 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget = Unknown
amg_id = A24717
imdb_id = 0058230

"The Incredible Mr. Limpet" is a 1964 live-action/animated film from Warner Brothers about a human named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish and helps the U.S. Navy to defeat Nazis using his new "thrum", an intense noise that disrupts underwater instruments and weapons. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was directed by Arthur Lubin, while the animation was directed by Robert McKimson. Music includes songs by Sammy Fain, in collaboration with Harold Adamson, including "I Wish I Were A Fish", "Be Careful How You Wish", and "Deep Rapture".

Plot summary

The story begins before the U.S. becomes involved in World War II, before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shy bookkeeper Henry Limpet loves fish with a passion. Rejected by the U.S. Navy and feeling downcast, he falls off a pier into the waters near Coney Island and finds he has turned into a fish. Since he never resurfaces, his wife and friends assume he has drowned.

The animated fish Limpet, complete with his signature spectacles, discovers a new-found ability during some of his initial misadventures, his "whale-busting" thrum. During this time he falls in love with a female fish named "Ladyfish", and rejects his overbearing human wife, Bessie, in the process.

Still determined to help the Navy, Limpet finds the ship on which one of his friends, George Stickel, is stationed. Ultimately, Limpet is commissioned by the U.S. Navy, complete with advancing ranks and salary, which he has sent to Bessie, to assist in the hunt for Nazi U-boats. He plays a large part in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.

The choice of the name "Limpet" for the main character is somewhat ironic: While limpets are aquatic, in their adult form they are nearly immobile mollusks that cling to rocky shorelines. The name was probably chosen as a reference to the Limpet mine, a type of naval mine used during WWII, since Henry essentially used his "thrum" as a weapon.

Cast

* Don Knotts — Henry Limpet
* Carole Cook — Bessie Limpet
* Jack Weston — George Stickel
* Andrew Duggan — Harlock
* Larry Keating — Admiral P.P. Spewter
* Oscar Beregi Jr. — Nazi admiral
* Charles Meredith — Fleet Admiral
* Elizabeth MacRae — Ladyfish (voice)
* Paul Frees — Crusty (voice)

Remake

A computer-animated remake from Warner Brothers starring Jim Carrey was originally scheduled for 2006, but was later cancelled. It is still on the shelf.

External links

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