Some Angry Men

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2009)

"The Caine Mutiny" is one of those movies that is really noteworthy because - well, how many mutiny movies can you name? If you put mutiny as a plot keyword into IMDb, you get 110 hits. A great many of those are TV show episodes, and only a few of the movies are memorable.
"Amistad", "Mutiny on the Bounty", "The Caine Mutiny", these are a few that come to the fore. And "The Caine Mutiny" is in my view probably tied in quality with "Mutiny on the Bounty" - the latter being the 1935 version with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. I have not seen the critically acclaimed "Amistad".
The cast of "The Caine Mutiny" is really quite special. There is not a sour note in any of the performances we see. In particular Fred McMurray plays a turn as a bit of a rabble-rouser aboard the Caine. I think it is the best role he ever had. Van Johnson, as second in command, is equally well suited for his part, and it too may be his best work. Some think Bogart's interpretation of Queeg is extraordinary, but I think his role in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" may be at least its equal.
Seeds of doubt regarding the Captain (Humphrey Bogart) are sown early on. The crew of the Caine watches him perform some questionable actions, but I will leave it to you to determine if Captain Queeg is at any point unfit for duty. What some would call the crucial scene is directed superbly, with some character's lack of action as important as those in action.
Nearly all of the elements of a great movie are here. The soundtrack is not very interesting but I don't think anyone cares in this case. And the look of the movie is right, in every regard - shipboard, the courtroom, the bit of San Francisco we see while the Caine is in port there. There is even a romance as a plot thread.
The court martial, held of course towards the latter part of "The Caine Mutiny" (1954), is in its own right worth seeing. Jose Ferrer and E.G. Marshall as lawyers are worthy adversaries. It rivals in its effect the somewhat contemporary Henry Fonda classic, "Twelve Angry Men" (1957). The outcome of the trial presents we the viewers with some lingering questions, and rightly so. Mutiny is no small matter in the military, and discipline is certainly one of the cornerstones of an effective fighting force.
This is a four star picture.