The Caine Mutiny

The Caine Mutiny (1954) is a superb film on many levels: a powerful character drama, a pictorally-handsome epic and a thoughtful look at the pressures of military command. Producer Stanley Kramer and director Edward Dymytryk were prone to obnoxious "message films," but their adaptation of Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is an unqualified success.

Newly minted Ensign Willie Keith (Robert Francis) is assigned to the Caine, a small minesweeper run ineptly by Commander de Vriess (Tom Tully). Keith befriends the ship's officers, steadfast Lieutenant Maryk (Van Johnson) and snide would-be novelist Keefer (Fred Macmurray), but struggles in his first days at sea. Things change when Captain Phillip Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) assumes command. Queeg is a martinet who whips the crew into shape, but his erratic actions - cutting a tow line during a training exercise, turning tail during a military operation - cause his officers to question his competence. An incident involving pilfered strawberries brings Queeg's sanity into question, and Keefer convinces Keith and Maryk that mutiny is the only answer to the Caine's problems.

The Caine Mutiny is superbly crafted. This could easily have been a Mutiny on the Bounty tale of nautical tyranny, but Wouk, Dymytryk and scenarist Stanley Roberts make things far much more complex. Queeg is not a conventional villain, but a badly damaged man with crippling personality flaws. He's seen heavy action in the Battle of the Atlantic, being attacked by one submarine too many. The scenes where he half-apologizes to Keefer for his first rant, and a scenee where he practically begs his officers for help, show that he's all too aware of his shortcomings, even if he's loathe to admit it. Regardless, his obsession with shirttails and strawberries destroys crew morale, and his instability makes him a dangerous man.

The conflict between Keefer and Maryk drives the story. Keefer is marvelously complex, a cynical agitator who nudges Maryk towards mutiny, but an inveterate, self-serving coward in crunch time. Maryk knows something's wrong with Queeg, but can't think of a course of action, allowing Keefer to dictate events. The trial scenes place events in stark relief, showing that the mutiny, while justified by immediate circumstances, was not inevitable. Nor are Keefer and Maryk heroes. Instead of helping Queeg or going through proper channels, they fail to act until events force their hand. This is much more interesting than the usual "When is insubordination justified?" dilemma, which assumes the captain is always at fault.

Dramatically the film is solid, with only a few clunks. The film is marvelously fast-paced, given that it's a straight drama, alternating seemlessly between sweeping ocean scenes and quiet conversations. There's an admirable balance between high adventure and personal conflicts that few films achieve. On the other hand, we spend a lot of time on Keith's romance with a pretty singer (Mae Wynn), a subplot completely disconnected from the story. Greenwald gets a pointed final rant which spells things out for slower audience members. These bows to audience sensibility are forgiveable, however.

Dymytryk toned down the novel's rougher edges to ensure Navy cooperation, but the results seem worth the artistic compromise. Franz Planer's beautiful Technicolor photography makes the film function as an epic even with the focused drama, with use of real Navy ships, archive footage and a few well-placed miniatures. Max Steiner's score feels a bit too bombastic for the material, blaring Navy ballads even as characters plan and deliberate.

This is Humphrey Bogart's best late-career performance. Queeg seems a typical martinet at first, with barely-concealed neuroses, an eye for petty details and an obsession with discipline. But he's a much more complex character than Captain Bligh, a war hero who's simply seen too much combat to function properly but too proud to admit it. Bogart plays the part beautifully, mixing his forceful personality with scarcely-concealed inner pain, allowing us to pity Queeg even in his worst moments.

The supporting cast is phenomenal. Newcomer Robert Francis (The Long Gray Line) gives a superb performance, holding his own against his seasoned co-stars. Sadly, Francis died in a plane crash in 1955, cutting short a promising career. Fred Macmurray (Double Indemnity) has never been better, subverting his usual charm with a wonderfully snide, loathsome character. Van Johnson's (Battleground) conflicted, tormented Maryk is easily his best performance. Jose Ferrer's (Lawrence of Arabia) sardonic attorney doesn't show up until the last forty minutes, but completely steals his section of the film. E.G. Marshall (Nixon) ably plays the Navy prosecutor, and Lee Marvin and Claude Akins (Rio Bravo) can be spotted as sailors.

Strangely, of all the supporting cast only Tom Tully's brief, one-note portrayal of Queeg's predecessor received an Oscar nod. Tully is easily the weakest cast member aside from May Wynn's superfluous love interest.

A few minor flaws aside, The Caine Mutiny is a gripping, superbly made film. Rarely has a movie better explored the difficulties of military command, and the consequences of miscommunication and incorrect action.