L'ammutinamento del Caine

For anyone who thinks all Humphrey Bogart did was play Humphrey Bogart in every film, you have to see THE CAINE MUTINY. This is miles away from any other performance Bogart ever gave. Instead of a tough "stick my neck out for no one" personality Bogart is famous for, his Captain Queeg is a neurotic, paranoid fool. Bogart pulls it off flawlessly. The rest of the cast is also stellar, particularly the underrated Fred MacMurray. This is a wonderful film.

Historically there were two great United States Naval mutinies. In 1842 a naval sloop, the U.S.S. Somers, had a court martial for three crew members (one, Midshipman Philip Spencer, was the son of Secretary of War John Canfield Spencer), which ended with their being found guilty and hanged. To this day there is debate if Spencer (a troubled youth) was even serious about seizing the "Somers". The other occurred in 1944 at Port Chicago, California, when, a few weeks after a terrible accident that killed many men loading ammunition on a boat, their replacements refused to work under existing unsafe conditions. This led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision - against the workers, who claimed they were not under military law.

But the best known mutiny in the American navy is that on the U.S.S. Caine, during the hurricane that preceded the battle of Okinawa. That this is a fictional mutiny does not seem to attract any attention. THE CAINE MUTINY was a successful novel, Broadway play ("THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL") and a great movie. It remains the American equivalent of the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty.

The performances of the leads, Bogart, Johnson, MacMurray (his second of three great heels), Ferrer, Tully, and E.G.Marshall are all first rate, as are the supporting cast (which includes Lee Marvin, Claude Atkins, and Jerry Paris - all of whom had quite substantial careers after this film). Only Robert Francis did not have a substantial career after his fine Ensign Keith - he died in a plane crash in 1955.

There are mental images from the film (mostly connected to Bogart's Queeg) that people remember - even spoof. Every time you see some character showing nervous ticks, if he or she pulls out a pair of small metal balls and roll them in their hand, it is a salute to Bogie's originally doing it in THE CAINE MUTINY. And his magnificent moment of success: "the strawberries", and how he proved the theft with geometric precision, remains a signal that the person speaking has too many fixations.

Interestingly, the film makes Queeg better (if still sick) than the play does. When cross examined by Greenwald at the court martial of Maryk and Keith, Queeg is asked about whether or not he overused his right to free transport of liquor and other items from Hawaii to the mainland from the navy. Queeg at first denies it, but when Greenwald says he can bring in (as witnesses) people connected with the sale of the items and the transport of them, Queeg suddenly remembers that he might have. This is not in the film, but it shows that Queeg was not all that clean an officer.

That aside, the impact of the film is still terrific half a century after it was shot. It illustrates that personality flaws frequently causes the problems that affect all of us, and that we need more understanding of each other's problems to avoid the bigger ones. From a case of over-extended battle fatigue, the crew of a warship are driven to accept an act of mutiny against it's captain in an emergency situation. And it almost gets two officers disgraced or hanged.

The Caine Mutiny works well on so many levels. It is a great insight into navy life, a first rate legal drama, and an unforgettable character study. Jose Ferrer and Fred MacMurray are superb, and indeed so is the entire cast, but the film clearly belongs to Humphrey Bogart's Captain Queeg. It's a real treat to see 'Bogie' in a film where he isn't a gangster or a romantic with a gruff exterior. Bogart spectacularly conveys the sheer complexity of his character: the quirks, the devotion to duty, the demand for perfection, the refusal to accept his own fallibility. It is a truly exceptional performance. Strongly recommended, 9/10.

Humphrey Bogart received an Oscar nomination for 'The Caine Mutiny' as the eccentric Captain Queeg who finally collapses under pressure. The story leading up to his downfall is an engrossing one--and more complex than any surface description can convey. That's what makes this such a fascinating movie. Nothing is what it seems. No character is painted in black or white strokes--but beneath the surface lies deception, especially in Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray). Usually a lightweight actor, MacMurray delivers one of the film's craftiest performances. So does Van Johnson as the decent executive officer who takes over the controls when Queeg snaps. As many have pointed out, the only true weakness of the film is the attention given to a budding romance between Robert Francis and May Wynn which does nothing to advance the plot. The complex drama ends with a stunning courtroom scene in which Jose Ferrer gets a chance to do some heavy emoting. Max Steiner's score includes a jaunty, catchy main theme but is otherwise not one of his most interesting scores. An excellent film that makes you think how things might have been if--if only...but then there would have been no story. All in all, quite an achievement, well worth your time. The book by Herman Wouk was worth reading too.

You're wet behind the ears and quite naive, as you take the opposite of onshore leave, an assignment on the Caine, feelings bottled with disdain, climbing the mast you feel quite sick, and start to heave. Then the Captain is transferred and in sails Queeg, he's the kind of guy who will never concede, leaves the crew with no illusion, there can be just one conclusion, you must do all of the things that he decrees. After some time it seems apparent this guy's ill, as he's unable to enact the role, fulfil, makes decisions that are crazed, lucky the crew remain unscathed, although he does his best to scuttle and to kill.

One of Bogies finest performances.