The Caine Mutiny [Blu-ray]

Director: Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk

Overview

Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny was the source of both a play and a film. The play, also written by Wouk, concentrates only on the court-martial which provides one of the story's many climaxes. The film attempts to telescope the entire book into two hours, and does an admirable job, despite the censorial measures taken to insure cooperation from the US Navy. The central character is Ensign Willie Keith (Robert Francis), who in the early months of World War II is assigned to the Caine, a battered minesweeper. Dismayed by the slovenliness of the crew and the seemingly lackadaisical attitude of Captain DeVries (Tom Tully), Keith is delighted when DeVries is replaced by "All Navy" Captain Phillip Francis Queeg (Humphrey Bogart). A strict disciplinarian, Queeg rapidly whips the Caine into shape. Unfortunately, he's been in combat far too long, and is nearing the end of his tether. Increasingly paranoid, Queeg makes foolish mistakes at sea while misdirecting his attention towards such details as untucked shirts and unworn hats. Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray), one of Queeg's officers, rails against the captain's erratic behavior to his fellow officers. He convinces Lt. Maryk (Van Johnson) that Queeg is a danger to himself and his men, and that Maryk should consider usurping Queeg's authority. During a storm at sea, the beleaguered Queeg panics, and Maryk, acting upon Keefer's suggestion, stages a mutiny and assumes command, with Keith standing by Maryk's decision. A court-martial follows, with Navy attorney Lt. Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) reluctantly defending Maryk and Keith. During the testimony, Keefer, who has managed to avoid any tangible connection with the mutiny, lies about his complicity. Greenwald's only hope at this point is to discredit Queeg--which he does by bringing up an incident wherein the obsessive Queeg forced his officers to conduct an extensive search for some missing strawberries. Queeg cracks under questioning, and the defendants are cleared. At a victory celebration, a drunken Greenwald rails against the "summer sailors" who ruined an essentially courageous but worn-out man like Queeg, ending his tirade by throwing a glass of champagne in the treacherous Keefer's face. Major changes in transferring the novel to the screen included Greenwald's curtain speech, which originally brought up the lawyer's Jewish heritage; also, the novel's Captain Queeg is not forcibly retired after his breakdown, but instead transferred to stateside duty, where the press lauds him as a hero! Humphrey Bogart delivers one of his most memorable (and most often imitated) performances as the neurotic Queeg, though playgoers with long memories insist that Lloyd Nolan, who played Queeg on Broadway, gave a far more powerful accounting of this complex role.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/06/2011
UPC:	0043396369276
Original Release:	1954
Rating:	NR
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:04:00
Sales rank:	17,873

Special Features

Commentary by Richard Peña and Ken Bowser; Behind The Caine Mutiny

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Humphrey Bogart	Capt. Queeg
Fred MacMurray	Lt. Tom Keefer
Van Johnson	Lt. Steve Maryk
Robert Francis	Ens. Willie Keith
May Wynn	May Wynn
Tom Tully	Capt. DeVriess
E.G. Marshall	Lt. Cmdr. Challee
Arthur Franz	Lt. Paynter
Lee Marvin	Meatball
Warner Anderson	Capt. Blakely,Ens. Rabbit,Radarman
Claude Akins	Horrible
Katherine Warren	Mrs. Keith
Jerry Paris	Ens. Harding
Steve Brodie	Chief Budge
Todd Karns	Stilwell
Whit Bissell	Lt. Cmdr. Dickson
James Best	Lt. Jorgenson
Joe Haworth	Ens. Carmody
James Edwards	Whittaker
Don Dubbins	Uban
David Alpert	Engstrand
José Ferrer	Lt. Barney Greenwald
Victor Adamson	le lieutenant Maryk
Robert Bray	Court-Martial Board Member
James Conaty	Dignitary on Dais at Graduation Ceremony
Ted Cooper	Sergeant-at-Arms
Don Dillaway	George - Chauffeur,Chauffeur
Johnny Duncan	Sailor
Don Keefer	Court Stenographer
Eddie Laguna	Winston
Dayton Lummis	Uncle Lloyd
Kenneth MacDonald	Court Martial Jury
Paul McGuire	Court Martial Jury
Tyler McVey	Court Martial Jury
Patrick Miller	Movie Operator
Richard Norris	Court Martial Jury
Gaylord Pendleton	Court Martial Jury
Jay Richards	Sailor
James Todd	Commodore Kelvey
Max Steiner	Composer

Technical Credits

Stanley Roberts

Michael Blankfort

Herman Wouk

Edward Dmytryk	Director
Stanley Roberts	Screenwriter
Stanley Kramer	Producer
Lawrence Butler	Special Effects
John P. Livadary	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Blankfort	Screenwriter
Herman Wouk	Screenwriter
Lambert Day	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

In bringing Herman Wouk's novel about life aboard a destroyer-minesweeper in the Pacific during World War II to the screen, producer Stanley Kramer was working under numerous constraints. Knowing that The Caine Mutiny would be Kramer's final film for the company, Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn made sure the budget on The Caine Mutiny was cut to the absolute bone, and took the chance that Bogart's name, coupled with the popularity of the book, would ensure a hit film. From such a financial and creative straightjacket, a great film was made, mostly by virtue of Edward Dmytryk's direction and some excellent central performances: not just Humphrey Bogart's tired, troubled Lt. Comdr. Queeg, but also Van Johnson as the well-meaning but ultimately foolhardy first officer Lt. Maryk; Robert Francis as the naïve and very foolish Ensign Keith; Fred MacMurray as the glib-tongued, manipulative Lt. Keefer; and Jose Ferrer as the unwilling defense attorney Barney Greenwald, who achieves a victory that has nothing to do with justice, right and wrong, or truth. Bogart gives one of his finest late-career performances, calling up the same mixture of bravado, fear, and irrationality that informed his performance as Fred C. Dobbs in John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre six years before, crawling with little neurotic affects that make him startling to watch. Coupled with MacMurray's smooth-talking treacherousness and Johnson's stalwart performance, plus Francis' bright-eyed, bushy-tailed enthusiasm, the characters make for a memorable and compelling two-hour-plus dramatic experience.