Mouse That Roared, The

This delightful British satire was a sleeper hit, and represented a giant leap to stardom for Peter Sellers, who plays three roles. The tiny European nation of Grand Fenwick is completely bankrupt, so they hatch an ingenious plan: they will declare war on the United States! Of course, being wildly overmatched, they'll promptly surrender, and America will spend a fortune on "reparations". Sellers plays the Prime Minister who hatches the plot, the Marshall who leads their pitiful army into New York City, and the Grand Duchess of Grand Fenwick. Jean Seberg also stars as the daughter of a scientist (David Kossoff) who has unwittingly invented a frightfully powerful bomb, and William Hartnell, Leo McKern and Monte Landis round out the cast. Jack Arnold, who directed many of the Universal sci-fi movies of the 1950s, proves he can handle comedy just as well. Four years later came a sequel, THE MOUSE ON THE MOON, directed by Richard Lester.