Caine Mutiny

Buy This Item Caine Mutiny by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $19.95  on 9-22-2008     Humphrey Bogart is heartbreaking as the tragic Captain Queeg in this 1954 film, based on a novel by Herman Wouk, about a mutiny aboard a navy ship during World War II. Stripped of his authority by two officers under his command (played by Van Johnson and Robert Francis) during a devastating storm, Queeg becomes a crucial witness at a court martial that reveals as much about the invisible injuries of war as anything. Edward Dmytryk (<I>Murder My Sweet</I>, <I>Raintree County</I>) directs the action scenes with a sure hand and nudges his all-male cast toward some of the most well-defined characters of 1950s cinema. The courtroom scenes alone have become the basis for a stage play (and a television movie in 1988), but it is a more satisfying experience to see the entire story in context. <I>--Tom Keogh</I> Reader Reviews Taut and sometimes darkly and cynically amusing. Wretched, worn-and-torn veteran Queeg takes over the Caine, and the little remaining glue holding him together quickly gives way under the strain of command, as a less-than-receptive crew looks on in consternation. Brilliantly acted by all the major players, the Caine Mutiny boasted a very distinguished cast. Bogie is superb as the paranoid Queeg, being both despicable and piteous. Particularly noteworthy is Jose Ferrer's relatively short appearance at the end, as Lt. Greenwald, the rueful defense attorney for Maryk (Van Johnson), the Executive Officer charged with the mutiny. Also, Fred MacMurray is great in the role of ship's weasel. Only slightly marred by the nauseating backstory following the mawkish romance between young Ensign Keith and his "best girl" May Wynn, and by a soundtrack that leaps at you from time to time with parade music that is about as enjoyable as a tin bugle blown in your ear.

Caine Mutiny Available from Amazon Price: $19.95 Updated on 9-22-2008.

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