Caine Mutiny The (1954)
Caine Mutiny The (1954)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk (Crossfire (1947)) and starring Humphrey Bogart this Pulitzer Prize winning Herman Wouk novel was adapted by Stanley Roberts with additional dialogue provided by Michael Blankfort (Broken Arrow (1950)). Oscar nominations were received by Bogart (his last) Roberts Supporting Actor Tom Tully (his only) and producer Stanley Kramer as was the film’s Editing Sound and Max Steiner’s Score.
Featuring an all star cast which includes Jose Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)) Van Johnson Fred MacMurray E.G. Marshall Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou (1965)) Claude Akins and Jerry Paris (who sings the "Yellow Stain Blues" but is transferred off the ship before the "key" events) among others the story takes place during World War II on an aging Navy destroyer the U.S.S. Caine. Bogart is its newly assigned captain Queeg whose odd mannerisms and questionable judgment leads to an unraveling of his leadership led by MacMurray’s character. Though initially willing to give Queeg the benefit of the doubt Johnson’s character eventually relieves the panicked Captain of his duty during a storm at sea. This leads to a court-martial trial Queeg (Marshall as prosecutor) accusing Johnson’s character who’s defended by Ferrer’s character which features the classic scene and revelation of Queeg’s mental stability (or lack thereof) involving strawberries and marbles! This excellent scene is actually topped by Ferrer’s telling off of all involved especially MacMurray’s character in the end.