The Incredible Mr. Limpet 1964

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, Hawley Pratt, and Gerry Chiniquy. 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".
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.

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