Customer Reviews

Caine Mutiny [VHS]

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

THE CAINE MUTINY remains one of the finest films ever made about the Navy. It was also one the U.S. Navy had a complex relationship with. On the one hand, the navy provided considerable access to naval vessels. Significant scenes were shot on at least three: the destroyer-mine sweeper used to represent the Caine, a light cruiser at the very end, and the U.S.S. Kearsarge, which represented Halsey's flag ship the U.S.S. Enterprise, though he later moved to the U.S.S. Missouri. Despite this remarkable cooperation, the Navy very nearly withheld its approval for the film. It was afraid that the public might imagine that the story represented actual events or that it might be imagined that there had been a mutiny aboard some ship. Only after the filmmakers agree to begin the film with a historical disclaimer did they approve.

More than anything, despite the presence of ships, the film is mainly a showcase for great acting. The quality of the cast simply can't be exaggerated. There are a host of stellar performances, and they even have such future stars as Lee Marvin in throwaway parts. Humphrey Bogart absolutely dominates the screen with one of the finest performances of his career. Most of the fan and critic polls I have seen over the years of the greatest movie stars of all time invariably place Bogart in the number one spot, and when you see him in this role, and then realize that he has 7 or 8 roles just as great, it is easy to see why. He is such a forceful presence that one would imagine that he wouldn't have been capable of a variety of roles, yet you contrast this film with THE MALTESE FALCON and THE AFRICAN QUEEN, and you realize that he had a capacity to play a surprisingly wide range of roles. Lt. Commander Queeg lacks almost all of the qualities of Rick in CASABLANCA, and possesses a host of lamentable ones as well. The scene in which Queeg cowardly has the U.S.S. Caine quickly outrun the landing crafts it is assigned to protect and then retreat to safety as fast as possible is made all the worse by the courage his characters in other films display. Queeg's final crack up on the witness stand at Lt. Maryk's court martial is justifiably famous, and is among the great scenes in cinema. It is now impossible for any character in any film to play with a pair of steel balls and not think of Bogart.

The rest of the cast is hardly shamed by Bogart. Van Johnson, as the loyal, enormously capable, conscientious Lt. Maryk is superb. (This is, by the way, the only film in which the make up department didn't cover the quite large scars on his forehead that he suffered over a decade earlier in a serious car wreck, which resulted in a steel plate being placed in his forehead.) Robert Francis, who had a promising career cut short at the age of 25 in a plane crash he suffered a year after this film, is solid as the young, idealistic Ensign Keith (though the parallels between his hesitancy to stand up to his mother and marry the woman he loves and his hesitancy to stand up to his commanders isn't developed as much as it is implied) holds his own against stiff competition. Fred MacMurray, who spent his entire career bouncing between utterly lovable and absolutely reprehensible characters, here takes the latter course as the complex, spineless Lt. Keefer. His character adds a delicious degree of ambiguity to the film. Jerry Paris, who would later play Rob and Laura Petrie's friend in THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, is excellent as the ship's other junior ensign. Tom Tully managed an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in his stellar performance as Lt. Commander DeVriess, the first commander of the Caine. Jose Ferrer (who is, by the way, George Clooney's uncle by marriage), whose screen roles never seemed to come up to the level of his talent, is outstanding in his small but memorable role as the mutineers' defense attorney.

On a minor note, I very much enjoyed the very unusual location scene in Yosemite National Park. Although we take location shots for granted today, Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties was only very slowly willing to undertake location shots. It is hard today to realize how radical it was for directors like John Huston (who shot parts of THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE in Mexico and THE AFRICAN QUEEN in Africa) or John Ford (who shot extensively in Arizona for his Westerns and in Ireland for THE QUIET MAN) to shoot on location. The general preference was to build sets on Hollywood backlots. It is so unusual to see location shots that no sound film was shot on location in Chicago (many films were made at the old Essanay Studios in Chicago in the teens and twenties) until the superb Jimmy Stewart CALL NORTHSIDE 777. The scenes in this one, therefore, set in Yosemite are pretty unique.

It's a tradition for television stations to show a selection of war movies over the Memorial Day holiday and it is fast becoming a tradition for the studios to release a slew of war themed DVDs to celebrate the contribution of the nation's veterans in time for the last Monday in May.
Special mention this year goes to Columbia who are releasing collector's editions of two classics that had already been afforded a release on those shiny silver discs.
First up is "The Caine Mutiny" which was first released on DVD back in late 1998. That bare bones version was widely panned for its poor transfer, which featured an overabundance of digital noise and was presented in basic stereo.
Those failings have been corrected for this most recent digitally remastered release. Here we are presented with a quite exceptional picture and soundtrack and a nice smattering of special features.
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk the film (which itself was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1954) details the tension between the captain of a World War II era minesweeper (played superbly by Humphrey Bogart) and his crew. Bogart's character is overly paranoid and viewed by some as displaying cowardice in the face of battle.
Playing the part of the executive officer, Lt. Steve Maryk is Van Johnson who, spurred on by third in command, the spineless Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray), finally takes control of the ship when the safety of the ship and crew are threatened. Queeg's stubborn insistences to maintain the heading of the ship in a typhoon, flying in the face of good seamanship, forces Maryk to take action and he, along with Ensign Keith, are charged with mutiny upon return to port.
It is here that the movie truly shines. Reluctantly defending the two is the always-excellent Jose Ferrer, and the scene where he interrogates Queeg on the stand is spellbinding.
Complimenting the movie Columbia have added an interesting scene specific audio commentary by Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center Richard Pena and filmmaker and producer Ken Bowser. The two detail the difficulties the filmmakers initially faced when confronted with an initially uncooperative Department of he Navy, careers of the actors involved and the context of the film in relation to a political environment that saw Hollywood filmmakers blacklisted.
Apparently the Navy has never had a mutiny onboard one of its ships (a fact which leads to the placement of a disclaimer to the beginning of the picture) and they were none too pleased with the fictitious account. However, following a change in command, they reversed their decision and offered the use of dockyards, ships, aircraft carrier and even real sailors for the movie.
Both Pena and Bowser return for the two-part documentary on the making of the movie. Running for 18:48 and 16:16 respectively they are joined by Film Critic Bob Castle.
The three begin by discussing the mood in Hollywood at the time. Apparently movie audiences declined rapidly from 1946 to 1962 with the advent of television and greater foreign competition and so a nervous industry was looking for a "sure bet." Producer Stanley Kramer had bought the film rights to "The Caine Mutiny" book before it became a bestseller for $60,000. The book was a major selling point that led to the producers being able to cast the movie with a strong ensemble. Castle mentions some of the un-credited roles to illustrate this and Bogart reportedly read the book and actively campaigned for the role of the captain.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for "Walking Tall: The Payback," "Hard Luck" and "Edison Force." None bear any thematic connection with the main feature.
Recommended

This is truly a classic movie. Based on the novel by Herman Wouk, The Caine Mutiny is a good drama. The cast includes Van Johnson as the Exec. Is he a mutineer or did he save the ship? Fred Macmurray is cast against type. Don't look for My Three Sons here. Jose Ferrer is the defense attorney who has to save the career of Van Johnson. All of these are excellent performances but pale in comparison with Humphrey Bogart's. He is totally believeable as Captain Queeg. Was he insane or just misunderstood? Who was guilty of mutiny. Look for Lee Marvin, Jerry Paris and Claude Akins in supporting roles. This is excellent entertainment and should not be missed.

Humphrey Bogart gives another top rated powerful performance in this classic drama with a first rate professional cast including Fred MacMurray, Van Johnson, Jose Ferrer, E.G. Marshall, Tom Tully, Lee Marvin, Robert Francis, Claude Atkins, and Arthur Franz.

Captain Phillip Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) is in command of the USS Caine. Very unpopular with the men he gradually becomes more and more paranoid and his chief officers believe he is no longer competent to be in charge of the ship. His Executive Officer Lt Steve Maryk (Van Johnson) suspects that Queeg is a very sick man and not fit to command the ship due to his wild and erratic behaviour. Lt Tom Keefer (Fred MacMurray) feels the same way but is not prepared to make a stand against the Captain. During a violent storm Queeg loses his nerve and Maryk takes over the command only to be accused by Queeg of mutiny. ("Mr Maryk, if you question my decision once more I'll order you off this bridge". - Bogart to Van Johnson). Maryk does take over the ship against Queeg's wishes and when back on land charges of mutiny are brought against him. The trial that follows forms the main focus of the film (and for me it was the most interesting) with some very tense and impressively acted dramatic scenes showing Bogart at his best. Lt Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) is engaged as defending counsel for Maryk who is being charged with mutiny. However, things begin to look very bad for Maryk when Tom Keefer is called to give evidence and fails to support him. Some other witnesses are also unable (or reluctant) to show that Queeg was unfit to command the ship and Greenwald appears to be losing his case. Then Captain Queeg is called to the stand and has to face some strong questioning from Greenwald leading to the dramatic climax of the film.

Some favourite lines from the film:

Humphrey Bogart (to crew): "You people think you're very clever, but you're not fooling me".

Bogart (to Van Johnson): "Mr Maryk, you may tell the crew for me there are four ways of doing things aboard my ship. The right way, the wrong way, the navy way, and my way - they do things my way we'll get along".

Johnson (to Fred MacMurray): "I don't get it. Is the captain off his head or isn't he? Is this record I've kept correct or not?".

Johnson (to Bogart): "Captain, I'm sorry, but you're a sick man. I'm relieving you as captain of this ship under article 184".

Bogart (to officers): "You'll all hang for conspiracy for mutiny".

Bogart (on witness stand): "Ah .... but the strawberries! That's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, and with geometric logic, that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox did exist".

Jose Ferrer (to the officers): "Sure, I got a guilty conscience. I defended you Steve because I thought the wrong man was on trial. So I torpedoed Queeg for you. I had to torpedo him and I feel sick about it".

"The Caine Mutiny" was directed by Edward Dmytryk who was also responsible for "Raintree County", "The Young Lions" and many other classic films. "The Caine Mutiny" was remade as a TV movie in 1988 with Eric Bogosian, Jeff Daniels, Brad Davis and Peter Gallagher. I have never seen this so I can't comment on it. However, I did see the Bogart version several times and doubt if anything else could come up to that standard. TV movies are seldom as good as the big screen originals.

Bogart was nominated for the Best Actor "Oscar" for his performance in this film but was unfortunately beaten by Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront". The film received a nomination for Best Picture but the award again went to "On the Waterfront". Actor Tom Tully was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as Captain DeVriess but the award went to Edmond O'Brien for "The Barefoot Contessa". Even though it failed to win any Academy Awards "The Caine Mutiny" remains a very important dramatic and exciting film and the acting from all the principals was excellent. Another memorable Bogart winner that should not be missed.

While the movie is a great piece of acting with a couple of exceptions, the movie does not hold a candle to the superb book of the same name.

Some actors are poor character choices. Francis is not the right man to play the baby-faced, heavy set, Willie Keith. The actress, May Winn who uses the same name as her character appears to be a whimpy, love-struck night club singer, not at all like her level-headed counterpart in the book. Van Johnson comes through even if he is not the crew-cut, barrel-chested Maryk portrayed in the book. Bogart and McMurray are superb choices for their roles, as are Jose Ferrer, E.G Marshall, and the one who plays Captain DeVries.

The movie is entertaining and worth the purchase, but my suggestion is to see the movie first, and read the book second. That way, the movie will not disappoint.

While I found the book far superior, I recommend you proceed full speed ahead with the movie.

The Caine Mutiny is a great film and featurea one of the best performance of Humphrey Bogart's life. That's high praise considering the quality evident in his body of work but he really delivers the goods in The Caine Mutiny. The film benefits from other strong perfomrances as well. Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and others all rise to the level of the unusally intelligent script. The result is a fancinating character study that I would recommend to anyone.

As good as the movie is, however, the transfer to DVD is about the worst I've ever seen. The moment the movie started, I was stunned by how much noise was evident. I wasn't looking for it or analyzing the picture, it jumped out because it was so extreme. Every face, every object, every thing was literally swimming with digital noise. And the sound is as bad or worse. No effort was made to re-master the soundtrack to even rudimentary surround sound making this the first movie I've seen in years to be presented in basic stereo. In addition, the sound is flat throughout, with even big explosions lacking punch.

The Caine Mutiny is a classic film and deserves much better treatment from the studio. As a movie, I would give it 5 stars but I deduct one for the extraordinarily poor picture and sound quality of the DVD.

What do you do with a Navy captain who has cracked under the tremendous amount of pressure exerted on him? Even worse, what do you do during a world war in this situation? These are the kinds of questions asked by the present film.

Humphery Bogart plays a paranoid and eccentric captain who has been assigned to command the CAINE. Fred MacMurray plays the insightful (although spineless) 3rd in command. The name of the ship is somewhat symbolic as the biblical brother-against-brother evolves into a story of sailor-vs.-sailor (and officer-vs.-officer).

What pushes this film across the waves are the Naval politics of the supreme position of a commanding officer. In a perfect world, nobody would ever dispute a captain's authority. In a less than perfect world, captains can become delusional and lose their ability to think clearly. The choices the crew makes in these episodes forms the crux of the plot.

The film is well done and is filmed just 10 years after WWII. Therefore, many of the ships depicted likely really did see combat during the epic struggle. The acting is top-notch, especially with Bogey having the unusual role of a character who is prone to making mistakes.

On the downside, the soundtrack is way, way over-done. It shows how far Hollywood has come in the past 50 years to make soundtracks that complement the movie instead of constantly being overly-dramatic.

Also, I found the love-interest between the ensign and his girlfriend to be a bit of an after-thought. It never really seemed to "fit" with the rest of the film. But, that's just me.

If you're a fan of Naval movies, this classic is a must-see. It is also a good film for supervisors on all levels as it is somewhat of a satire on what happens when the focus of leaders is trained on being arrogant instead of doing their job.

If you love courtroom dramas, then don't miss this film. Humphrey Bogart stars as the captain of the Caine who has been relieved from duty by his officers who believe him to be insane. This is one of Bogart's best later performances, twitching with paranoia, yet somehow oddly sympathetic. Van Johnson is excellent as the officer who takes over and ends up charged with mutiny. Fred MacMurray is also terrific as the officer/novelist with the self-professed yellow streak. Robert Francis is adequate as the new officer who finds himself tangled in the mess. And Jose Ferrer is amazing as the lawyer who defends Johnson. He delivers a show stopping final scene. The scenes demonstrating Bogart's paranoia are well done and memorable, and the courtroom scenes are full of tension. What I liked most about the film is that when all was said and done, I had to really consider if Bogart was as bad as he seemed. That's a tribute to his fine acting, not to mention the complex screenplay with its many layers. Any movie that leaves you thinking is more than worth "the price of admission".

The 1954 classic is about a naval captain who shows signs of mental instability and the resultant actions of the men in his command. It's not as simple as that, however. The characters are the key to the story, each one developing in front of our eyes into complex individuals with moral dilemmas to confront. There is Humphrey Bogart, cast a Captain Queeg whose decisions are no longer respected by his men. There's Fred MacMurray, cast as a smart and manipulative lieutenant. There's Van Johnson, cast as the lieutenant on whose shoulders the responsibility falls. There's Robert Francis, the young ensign whose perceptions change in front of our eyes. And then there is Jose Ferrer, cast as the attorney who defends Van Johnson when he is put on trial for mutiny. Put them all together in a fast paced script with enough twists and turns, and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

The special effects, of course, are nothing like they are today. But they were certainly enough. I wasn't thinking about the special effects as I watched the film. I just simply felt I was on that ship. I wasn't thinking about the actors' performances either. Instead, I was so totally involved with the story that I felt I was actually in the skin of each of the characters. Just like real life, the situations were never crystal clear and each choice that was made opened up new challenges.

These were challenging roles for all the actors and they rose to the occasion magnificently. I'll never forget the twitch in Humphrey Bogart's cheek or the way the lighting captured the white of his eyeballs. I'll long remember Fred MacMurray's speculations and the kind of choice Van Johnson had to make. Robert Francis was good, but not as great as his co-stars, and his role was hampered by a silly romance. This was a strong film, though, and this small diversion didn't matter at all.

Even though this film was about the military, I can't classify it as a war film. Here, there was no enemy but the men themselves and the choices they made. It's a wonderful theme and has the classic universality to it that can adopt the lessons it teaches to a wide variety of situations. I give it one of my highest recommendations. Don't miss it!

This film contains as thoughtful a treatment as the medium allows of many key military issues, including: how does a chain of command work; how should subordinates respond to questionable orders by superiors; what is loyalty and to whom should it be given, and why. And like any great movie, it requires the viewer to think, to be drawn in, and to re-evaluate something the viewer had before taken for granted.

This film has special meaning for me because of an incident in my own Navy career. I viewed the film, along with my shipmates, at OCS. However, I didn't fully comprehend its messages until years later and after I had been through an experience onboard that bore some resemblance to the central dilemma posed by the movie. I was ordered by a superior officer to perform an act against regulations by underpaying people going TAD. Those of you who were onboard FFG-12 in 1989 know the superior officer I'm talking about -- the one who was a TAR. Anyhow, I had the facts on my side (see JFTR U4177) and I stood my ground but I did not have the sophistication at the time to understand that my duty encompassed more than just blindly saying "I'm right." I had a further duty to try to ameliorate the situation and provide alternatives. Maybe that was too much to ask from a 24-year old Ensign, but like Caine's Lt. Maryk, I could have been more aggressive in doing the right thing while not disobeying an order.

I do have to mention one major problem about this movie. Although it is quite realistic of many aspects of the Navy and shipboard life, there is one glaring falsity. At the end of the movie, Ensign Keith is promoted the Ltjg. and is shown on another ship as an OOD. That's nutty. Every one of the mutinous officers would never go to sea again, and their careers would effectively be over. What captain in the world would want as a subordinate an officer that had been tried for mutiny, even if he'd been acquitted? What military superstructure would permit such a person to billet on a ship? It just wouldn't happen.