This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent adaptation.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I was born end of 1959,so I was 4 or 5 years old. I recall begging my mom to buy me a goldfish, and yes, named him Mr Limpet! Had him several years, maybe 4. Still brings a smile to my face. For the life of me, I cannot find this in DVD, or any medium. Any hints? Thanks! Steve

I believe I saw this film the first time on Frazier Thomas' Family Classics, (WGN Chicago local show broadcast on Sundays). Even though I haven't seen it since then, I've remembered until today. The idea of the weakling coming back and being successful really hit home and I felt very happy for him.I see other reviewers commenting that watching it now, just doesn't do anything for them. Well, I'm going to give it a try and see if I can get my partner to watch it with me and see what she thinks. She doesn't even know who Don Knots is, so this will be a clean test of the film's ability to appeal to an adult not clouded by rosy memories from Andy Griffith and Barney Fief.

I wasn't born when this movie originally came out but when I was 7 or 8 ,I kind of remember seeing a re-release of it at a small theater in my hometown in 1973. I don't think I liked it then and seeing it again last night on TCM reminded me of why I probably didn't like it back in 1973. The whole plot of course which is ridiculous and of course fantasy plods along with Don Knotts his usual boring bug-eyed self hamming it up for the camera. I found none of the characters appealing ,in fact most are annoying from his buddy George to his annoying henpecking wife Bessie. After he turns into a fish via a live action/animated sequence that is probably the only interesting part of the movie, he spends most of it swimming around in long boring sequences . Eventually meeting up with a crusty old hermit crab - who is the only somewhat decent thing about this movie and a very annoying female fish that is a parody of what I'd call a loose woman - wanting to spawn moments after meeting Mr Limpet, wrapping herself around him and groping him. Inappropriate for kids to say the least. The rest of the movie is rather bland and boring with more scenes of swimming through generically animated ocean caverns etc and the whole Navy subplot so thoroughly a plug to get people to join I'd bet since the war had been over for almost 20 yrs when this film was released and enlistments were probably low. I'd also have to say that the worst scene in the movie takes place in Limpets mind when he is helping the Navy sink U-Boats.In this really moronic scene which is also an anachronism , Limpet sees himself back in human form being treated as a national hero ,marching in parades ,speaking to crowds ,waving etc with stock footage of most likely WW2 parades after the war was over and not only is the admirals uniform he wears of the wrong country(it's British) , it's also about 30 yrs out of date being from WW1 days. He is also shown wearing it as a fish etc. For the most part , this movie has all the wrong elements to be decent , for kids , the sexual fish on fish thing , the divorce aspects, the slimy friend moving in on his buddies wife. I give it 2/10 , only thing keeping it from a 1 is Crusty the crab who not only knows women are trouble but also wisely opts out of any sequels. Oh wait , Hollywood is remaking it , surprise surprise - another in a long list of remakes proving Hollywood is running out of original ideas.

There are not many movies that I can watch and enjoy with my grand kids, but this is one of them. This movie uses Knotts's voice, which was his greatest gift, to portray a fish who becomes a hero that Henry Limpet (classified 4f), could not be in real life. This movie is funny because it has the Navy recognizing a fish for a decoration and pay for his widow. The go between is Jack Weston, who plays the "other man" between Limpet and his wife. Weston seems more interested in Limpet's wife, while Limpet is more interested in fish. It's this gloss-over that makes it possible to watch the movie with youngsters without too many questions being asked. The ability to write scripts and make movies that can appeal to different levels at the same time seems to be lacking in today's movies.Also found in this movie, and lacking in many current movies, is the obvious desire of Limpet to do his part in facing the enemy of the time. The movie is a flash back to WWII when the Nazi sub force was decimating Allied shipping, even before war was declared. The US Navy had to have loved this movie for helping with its recruiting, and they had to laugh at some of the "career boosters" for those involved in using a fish to fight subs.Contrary to some previous posts, this movie does have enemies and victims. The Limpet and the Navy blew up a lot of ships. The nice thing about WWII was that our enemies were more clearly defined.