Good start, but then it gets ruined

Absolutely the worst movie.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

A man who loves fish (Don Knotts) is rated 4-F and cannot join the Navy. After wishing to be a fish, he actually gets his wish. This film follows his exploits as a fish, meeting different species and helping destroy the Nazi menace.Another reviewer summed up the movie as follows: "Basic middle-aged husband's fantasy: Dump the annoying, controlling, aging wife for the younger, more submissive, slutty woman." I absolutely saw aspects of this. The wife was not lovable, but Limpet seemed rather easily swayed by the prospects of the ladyfish. Sure, he had reservations, but not until after flirting with her.I enjoyed it because it was very strange and because I like Don Knotts. But, yeah, not really sure what was all up with it. Very odd film.

This is one live animation movie I don't mind watching over and over. Sometimes a wish came be either helpful or hurtful when it is used. For Mr. Henry Limpet(Don Knotts) it came in real handy. Unhappy in the way he is, he gets a wish which help benefits mankind for a long time. The Nazis are invading the Atlantic Ocean with their U-boats, and Limpet wanted to join the military. The downside, he's labeled 4F by Uncle Sam. So one day he goes out into the dock, and he falls into the ocean. He becomes a fish with glasses! He feels much happier as a fish, and has the sonar power which comes in handy against enemies. He meets a very crusty crab who happens to be a bachelor. Calls torpedoes "torpeedy". Very smart, and resourceful Limpet helps the Navy take out the U-boats. Though married in human-life, he meets a lady-fish who ends up being his new mate since he is a fish. When you get your wish, there's no turning back. Henry Limpet may not have been happy in his human life, but he got to fulfill his life in his new specie. If only he can help clean up the ecosystem right now, but that's another story. A very entertaining story, great cast and wonder animation. This cartoon would make Bugs Bunny have a new pal that lives in the water. 5 stars!

In my neck of the woods in Queens is the facade of a building that once was quite important - the R.K.O. Keith in Flushing on Northern Blvd., in New York. The theater was originally a vaudeville house where people like Judy Garland once performed. Then it was a movie house. And it was there that I saw this film in 1964, when I was ten years old.I had liked watching Don Knotts on television, first with Steve Allan and then with Andy Griffith. When I saw he was in this fantasy movie, part of which was a cartoon, I asked to see it. My mother treated me to it around Christmas.It was shown with one or two Warner Brothers cartoons (I recall one was with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner). But MR. LIMPET was the highpoint of the afternoon for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it.Henry Limpet is a nice little man who is driving his wife Bessie (Carole Cook) crazy because of his non-stop interest in fish. Her brother George (Jack Weston) is a sailor, on home leave during World War II. He has little use for his weird brother-in-law, but he offers to take out his sister and Henry to the seaside. And while there, Henry goes out onto a pier and looks over the side. Earlier the audience heard him saying, "I wish I was a fish." Now he turns into a fish when he falls into the sea (the cartoon transmission of Limpert the man into Limpert the fish is done very nicely).Limpert soon discovers he can be of service to the nation - he can help track down Nazi submarines and enable the U.S. navy and coast guard to sink them. He manages to contact Bessie and George, and George brings in his superiors (Andrew Duggan and Larry Keating). Soon a system is set up with Limpert making a loud sonar reaching sound when he sites a submarine. And the submarines are slowly sunk.This particular description is just the bare bones of the story. There are also the problems of Limpert's break-up with Bessie, and his romance with Ladyfish, not to mention his friendship with Crusty the lobster (who thinks Limpert is a specie of fish called a "Flatbush" when Limpert tells him that he comes from there).It was a wonderful fantasy film for it's day, and I suspect it still would hold up quite well. Besides giving Knotts a role of some depth (no pun intended) as he is torn between human and fish lovers, but it had nice bits of business by Weston as George, who is stunned by the importance of his brother-in-law to the war effort. Therefore I give the film an 8 out of 10. I'm sure you'd be pleasantly surprised too.

Is there something I am missing here? I mean that this film, despite a reasonably high IMDb score, is a really dumb movie, isn't it?! Seeing a high number of glowing reviews makes me start to doubt my own sanity. I remember clearly that this movie as a stupid little fantasy movie about a fish-loving guy who is magically transformed into an ugly fish that wears glasses and helps the US Navy. Right?! Well, based only on that thin description it just seems obvious that this is a dopey movie and a real waste of Don Knotts talents. And he left The Andy Griffith Show one year later, after doing this??? But, there is definitely no consensus here. You see the film and be the judge. Maybe there is something about this movie that makes it worth seeing--I just never noticed it.