Mister Roberts

Capturing all the intimacy and electricity of theatre, this live TV production of Mister Roberts rekindles the rousing warmth of the production that won five Tony Awards® on Broadway.

The time is 1945. The setting, a navy cargo ship far from battles raging in the Pacific. Longing to see real action, Lt. Doug Roberts (Robert Hays, Airplane!) wages a war of wills against Capt. Morton (two-time Oscar®-nominee Charles Durning), a petty tyrant whom the rambunctious crew considers "approximately God." Allied with Ensign Pulver (Kevin Bacon) and Doc (Howard Hesseman, WKRP in Cincinnati), Roberts finds himself torn between his ambition to serve his country and his duty to serve his men.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this production relies on the original Broadway script with supervision by Joshua Logan, who cowrote and directed the stage play. Filmed before a studio audience, it gracefully combines the magic of a theatre performance and the daring of a live broadcast.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE a background essay "Mister Roberts on Stage and Screen" and cast filmographies.