The Caine Mutiny

Wouk's foundational novel is the sturdy and flawless underpinning of this, but when great actors are not afraid to play unpopular parts, the movie's mechanics easily hold up their end of the bargain. Bogey, Johnson, MacMurray, Ferrar are all excellent. Holds up well under several watchings.

This Collector's Edition is worth getting for the extras alone. They have a useful discussion about the increasing challenge of TV to Classical Hollywood in the early 50s a reference to Elia Kazan,"On the Waterfront" (1954) a HUAC "friendly witness" and Edward Dmytryk, the only one of the Hollywood Ten to turn around and name names. ~ Australians here may remember the (destroyer) Voyager Incident of 1964 ~ was she cut in half by the carrier Melbourne. Inquest witnesses frequently referred to quote: "a Caine Mutiny situation" aboard Voyager.Anyway, The Caine Mutiny was made at the tail end of the "movie star era", so there's a danger of being dazzled by the "Boggie aura" and not being objective about the actions of the troubled Capt.Queeg, or even noticing the good job Bogart does in the role.Fred McMurray too, has a powerful screen presence and he plays the devious Lt. Tom Keefer with a darkness not seen since his Walter Neff in "Double Indenity;" a complete contrast to his fatherly, "My Three Sons" personae. Yet McMurray's "star appeal" can also obscure his "thinking preformance" - he clearly lets you read every "shifty" thought on Keefer's face. Keefer only verbalises his true colors (no pun) when he "'fesses up" to a "yellow streak 10 miles wide," after Maryk corners him into seeing Admiral Halsey about Queeg.There is an interesting association with cowardice and the color yellow here; we have Queeg, throwing the yellow dye marker in panic and running from duty and Keefer's calculating, "too smart to be brave" yellow as he runs from responsibility - who then, is the true coward and why?Van Johnson is on "safe" ground; Lt. Steve Maryk, is an extension of his own affable, fair minded self, a qualilty that prevents him from understanding that Keefer's duplicity and deflected hatred of the Navy will make him legally culpable of mutiny.José Ferrer is a commanding screen presence at any time, and he makes Lt. Barney Greenwald seem to have been there for the entire picture. Ferrer plays his final scene with intimidating indignation - he has been drinking he says, to assuage "his guilty conscience" and we learn for the first time of his dilemma in defending Maryk.Still you can put meditations on the complexities of human nature aside if you want and take "The Caine Mutiny" as pure wartime action, but you'd miss the little payoffs. It took me a long time, for example, to notice one small give-away detail; the dismissal of Comdr. DeVriess (Tom Tully) as a "slack" commanding officer by the rather affectless Robert Francis as Ens. Willis Seward Keith. The J.G.'s assessment seemed valid enough - until I noticed DeVriess timing Maryk's, perfomance on the paravanes with a stop-watch!DeVriess had the maturity and experience to know how and when to get the best out of his command, but he will not push his "tired crew" and "beaten up tub that ought to be melted down for razor blades," beyond their frayed limits. A "slack" commander, Willie? Sometimes you just have to trust the captain to steer the right course, even if you don't!The moral complexity of the mutiny on the Caine is further complicated by Queeg's honesty and humility in seeking "constructive loyalty" from his officers after the "yellow stain" incident. His officers' rejection of his plea raises questions about subordination to lawful authority.Greenwald carefully avoids these explosive issues in the court-martial, but not so with Keefer at the "joyful celebration." He elicits support from Maryk, "You're an honest man, Steve. Tell me, do you think it would have necessary for you to have taken command if you'd given Queeg the loyalty and support he deserved?" ~ (powerful stuff.)The Caine Mutiny is great war film: good to see it out on DVD. Also the commentary track and the extra features have a lot on interesting information on the problems in Hollywood with falling ticket sales and the reasons why war films were popular at the time.THe two extras on the blacklist and especially about Edward Dmytryk, the only one of the Hollywood 10 who eventually "named names," were interesting as well as references to Elia Kazan and his use of Terry Malloy in "On the Waterfront" to justify his own testemony before HUAC.

The Caine Mutiny is a classic film that stars Humphrey Bogart as Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg, a ship's captain losing his mind, Van Johnson as the principled second in command, Lt Steve Maryk and Fred MacMurray as the wily, but weak-minded Lt. Tom Keefer. Terrific acting and action scenes as well as Queeg's melt-down on the witness stand during the court marital, make it a movie to be owned and watched frequently.

Can’t wait to watch it again on a modern TV.

Excellent movie I’am a big movie buff love the old classics

Que buena película, recuerdo que la ví en el canal TCM del cable en Perú hace muchos años, pero no vi la película completa. Vi el catálogo de Amazon y por fín tengo la película en mis manos. La actuación de Humprey Bogart hace la diferencia, como un capitan de la marina de EE.UU llevado a juicio por sus subalternos por no tomar buenas decisiones en su desempeño como oficial.

OK - Humphrey Bogart was twenty years too old to be playing a 30-something LCDR, but his portrayal of a well-meaning but mentally ill officer under life and death conditions is perfect, and you can't help but choke up at his breakdown in the climactic scene of the court martial.Herman Wouk, the author of the original novel, was a young officer on a similar ship, and the writing and technical details, even tho they did not come from his own screenplay, are very accurate. I was also a young ensign, and Robert Francis, as ENS Willie Keith, also nails his role. I had to laugh at the opening scene in which the admiral refers to the new officers as "full-fledged ensigns". Having been a brand new ensign, I can assure you there's nothing full-fledged about it, and most of the extras portraying young officers in that scene are too old. He is so cool, my seeing this movie when it first came out may well have been a deciding factor in my decision to select the Navy as my branch of service.The story arc with Willie's mother and girlfriend is mostly distracting, but it does point up his silver spoon upbringing and efforts to grow up in spite of it.Special kudos go to the US Navy technical advisor, CDR James Shaw, and the cooperation of the US Navy. Unlike, say, "Top Gun", which was a terrible turkey, this movie crackles with realism, and the dialogue, action, sets and scenes, and details are near-perfect.Special mention goes to the effects used in the typhoon scene. Obviously shot with a model, it is nonetheless incredibly real. I can assure you of this, as I was in a similar storm in the North Atlantic in a ship of the class seen at the very end of this movie. The typhoon had to be convincing to make Captain Queeg's breakdown believable, and it is.The moment Jose Ferrer walks into his first scene, the movie belongs to him. He's an incredibly sharp, smartass Naval Aviator who doesn't even want to take the case, and, for good measure, the bandaged hand symbolically suggests that he's going to have to defend an unwinable position with one hand tied behind his back.The court martial is perfectly depicted, showing how carefully the Navy proceeds in such matters.The after party scene is also perfect. As the drunken Naval Aviator, Ferrer makes sense of the whole affair, pointing out who the real villain is and throwing champagne in the face of a much bigger and much more sober officer. I also became a Naval Aviator, and that scene could not be more perfect.Technically, the digital restoration is also perfect, including the soundtrack, and for good measure, that is easily some of the most stirring movie music I've ever heard, to this day.Get this movie! Get this particular restored version!

Très satisfait, rapide, très bon état, article bien emballé

Buena historia y una gran interpretacion de Humphrey Bogart

Good

何とも人間臭い、見事なシナリオに惚れ惚れする傑作だ。1954年の作品なので、2019年現在で65年を経ているが、小さな海軍艦艇で巻き起こる人間模様はあらゆる組織の縮図であり、今観ても十分に鮮烈で引き込まれる。受賞こそ無いがアカデミー賞は7部門ノミネートと、間違いなく歴史に残る名作ドラマだ。本作の紹介はモノクロ写真が多いが、紛れもなくカラー作品で、残念ながらDVDには日本語吹替はないが、ハンフリー･ボガートの肉声を訊かない手はない。ストーリーは米国海軍老朽掃海艦ケイン号で、クイーグ艦長とマリク副長ら乗組員との間の不協和が高じて、太平洋上の暴風雨の夜に判断力を喪失した艦長からの権限剥奪と言う、反乱行為にも取られかねない事件の顛末を描いたもの。本当は訓練士官ウィリー･キースが主役で、メインは彼が海軍の男に成長する過程を追っており、彼が理想とする軍への価値観が一皮剥けるイベントがこの反乱事件と言う設定だ。全編は大きく三章に分かれ、それぞれ違った楽しみ方が出来る。第一章が前任艦長デブリース少佐による荒くれ放任型の艦統率、第二章が新任クリーグ少佐による規律重視のガチガチ型の艦統率による混乱と反乱、そして第三章がその反乱容疑への特別軍事法廷だ。偏執症に苛まれたボガートの圧倒的演技と、士官達の緊迫感が交錯する中盤は特に目が話せない。自分の命を預けるボスなだけに乗組員達の苦悩が良く解る。軍事法廷では副長側弁護役のホセ･フェラー演じるグリーンウォルド大尉と、艦長側検査官のE･G･マーシャル演じるチャーリー大尉との論戦がスリリングだ。特にマーシャルは映画｢12人の怒れる男｣で冷静な論陣を張ってヘンリー･フォンダを散々に苦しめた証券ブローカー役で、その鋭利な風貌だけでも抜群のラスボス感だ。メインテーマである｢強い組織とは何か｣｢男が惚れる男の条件｣｢トップの孤独と猜疑心｣｢組織崩壊の生々しいメカニズム｣等は、現代企業に其のまま当て嵌まる。遡ること65年前、マネジメント理論を説いた戦争ドラマが既に存在していた事が驚きだ。ボガート艦長や裏切り者を反面教師にしての戒めや、デブリース艦長やマリク副長からの示唆は、組織人で有る限り一生涯忘れないだろう。腹に響く本当の良作に出逢えました。

I saw this movie and read the book in 1957 and was very impressed by the narration in both the versions. Of course, the movie has compressed many portions and has also eliminated several episodes in the book, probably because the length of the film could not accommodate all of it. Still, the movie is very well made, assets of the navy utilsed realistically, and the Court Martial handled very well, with Bogart practically living the character of Commander Queeg and coming across as superbly as one would have wished to see that character. I happened to see that the DVD version is available now and could not resist buying and viewing it, after so many years. I liked it just as much as I did then. A word of advice to those who have not read the book and seen the movie. Please read the book first.