Bogart, crew, & navy shine, but love interest sinks.

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2000)

First things first here. The beginning expository on Ensign Keith and his ensuing love interest with the singer May is absolutely annoying, and persistent up until the climax. It manages to be both laughable and pedantic at the same time; a real slice of cinema's version of 50's love and americana. My guess is that it was inserted to broaden the movie's appeal or extend its length, since almost all of the scenes involved can be removed without interrupting the real narrative here.
And the "real narrative" here sure is something. I'm sure from the other comments here you know the story, so let's look at performances. Ensign Keith, sorry to say, is ineffectual, but his "new man on board" character is needed to give us the perspective to watch the interplay between XO Van Johnson and Com Officer Keefer Fred McMurray, in a very nuanced role that shows a great ability to convey malevolence under a seemingly benign surface. Johnson is solid but uninteresting as the staid, honor-bound officer deciding between loyalty to his CO and duty to his crew and the navy. The XO's lawyer, Jose Ferrer as Greenwald, is slightly over the top, but appropriate to the task at hand.
The best part and signature role here is of course Bogart's as Capt. Queeg. Failing to see the malevolence of Keefer in their midst, the officers writhe under Queeg's ever more paranoid persona. Bogart's small frame manages to own the screen in the presence of these larger men simply by sheer force of will. In fact, in the courtroom scene climax, as he describes how all the men were against him, the shot is a close-up from below with nothing but Queeg's head and shoulders and ravings all about him. At this point, though, we've nothing but pity for a man too many years at sea. Finally, Keefer is laid out as the true villain and coward by Greenwald, and we understand how, in a way, all the crew really was against Queeg from the start.
What sets this film apart and makes people continue to watch it is Bogart playing a magnificent example of a navy man fallen, and wonderful counterpoint of McMurray as a cowardly Iago to the crew of the Caine. Just wish we could edit out that love interest.