The Incredible Mr. Limpet

The Incredible Mr. Limpet
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Arthur Lubin
Produced by	John C. Rose
Written by	Theodore Pratt (novel) Joe DiMona Jameson Brewer John C. Rose
Starring	Don Knotts Carole Cook Jack Weston
Music by	Frank Perkins
Cinematography	Harold E. Stine
Editing by	Donald Tait
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	March 28, 1964
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Unknown

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 American live-action/animated film from Warner Bros. It is about a man named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish resembling a tilefish and helps the U.S. Navy locate and destroy Nazi submarines. 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

The story begins September 1941 just a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shy bookkeeper Henry Limpet loves fish with a passion. When his friend George Stickle enlists in the Navy, Limpet attempts to enlist as well, but is rejected. Feeling downcast, he wanders down to a pier near Coney Island and accidentally falls in. Inexplicably, he finds he has turned into a fish. Since he never resurfaces, his wife, Bessie, and George assume he has drowned.

The fish Limpet, complete with his signature spectacles, discovers a new-found ability during some of his initial misadventures, a powerful underwater roar, his "thrum." He falls in love with a female fish he names Ladyfish, and makes friends with a misanthropic hermit crab named Crusty.

Still determined to help the Navy, Limpet finds a convoy and requests to see one of his friends, George Stickle. With George's help, Limpet gets himself commissioned by the U.S. Navy, complete with advancing rank and a salary, which he sends to Bessie. He helps the Navy locate Nazi U-boats by signaling with his "thrum", and plays a large part in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. In his final mission, he is nearly killed when the Nazis develop a "thrum" seeking torpedo, and is further handicapped by the loss of his spectacles. He manages to survive using Crusty as his "navigator", and sinks a number of U-boats by redirecting the torpedoes. After the battle, he swims to Coney Island in order to say goodbye to Bessie (who has now fallen in love with George), get a replacement set of glasses and then he swims off with Ladyfish.

In the film's coda, set in the current (1964) time, George (now a high ranking naval officer) and the Admiral are presented with a report that Mr. Limpet is still alive and working with porpoises. The two men travel out to sea in order to contact Mr. Limpet, and offer him a new commission in the Navy.

Cast

• Don Knotts as Henry Limpet
• Carole Cook as Bessie Limpet
• Jack Weston as Machinist's Mate 2nd Class (PO2) George Stickle
• Andrew Duggan as Harlock
• Larry Keating as Admiral P.P. Spewter*
• Oscar Beregi, Jr. as Nazi admiral
• Charles Meredith as Fleet Admiral**
• Elizabeth MacRae as Ladyfish (voice)
• Paul Frees as Crusty (voice)

*This is Larry Keating's last film. He died before it was finished.
**This is also Charles Meredith's last film. He died not long after it was finished.

Home video release

The Incredible Mr. Limpet was released by Warner Home Video on VHS on December 3, 1994. It has since seen two additional VHS releases. On October 1, 2002, it was released on DVD.

Film Notes

The Incredible Mr. Limpet first premiered on March 20, 1964 in Don Knotts hometown at the Warner Theatre (Morgantown, West Virginia).

Both Don Knotts and Elizabeth MacRae (Limpet and Ladyfish) were employed in Andy Griffith's Mayberry franchises, respectively as deputy Barney Fife and Lou-Ann Poovie, Gomer Pyle's girlfriend in the later seasons of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C..

During World War I and World War II, there was a mine known as a limpet, a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk. "Das Limpet" was the German Navy's identification of Don Knott's character.

The USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) was the naval ship featured in this film.

Remake

A remake of the film is in development. Knotts was aware of plans for the remake, which he wrote about in his autobiography. At the time, Jim Carrey was up for the role and Knotts offered his support. Director Kevin Lima was attached with Zach Galifianakis in the lead role, but both soon left the project. The attached director at the moment is Richard Linklater.

Popular Culture

Mr. Limpet appears in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure attraction at Disney California Adventure Park theme park.

External links

• The Incredible Mr. Limpet at the Internet Movie Database
• The Incredible Mr. Limpet at AllRovi
• Review of The Incredible Mr. Limpet at clown-ministry