A psychological drama that begs the question - who is the real villain here?

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2016)

In the 1950's films about the problems that you encounter during wartime that have nothing to do with the enemy itself began to appear. This was one of the best. WWII threw all kinds of people together from all walks of life. There were the core career Navy along with the many who were drafted into the service because of the war, maybe disrupting plans, but they planned to make the best of it.
This is the situation on the USS Caine. A new captain arrives, Lt. Commander Philip Queeg (Humphrey Bogart), professional navy man. At first, it just looks like the captain is a strong advocate of discipline, something the Caine has apparently not had much of up to this time. But then he starts seeing things that aren't there - like insisting that a man in the distance isn't properly dressed for a drill - the officers look and see that he is. He does things that indicate he could be paranoid, and that being under the strain of wartime he could have lost his nerve OR he could just be a captain that likes strict discipline. The truth would be in the eye of the beholder. You don't want to be an officer on the Caine arguing point A if the person you are making your argument to is an admiral that sees point B and believes you are just a whiner, or worse, a mutineer.
In the midst of this are the ship's three officers. The instigator that brings about the eventual mutiny is Tom Keefer (Fred McMurray), who was a writer in peacetime. He tries to convince Lt. Steve Maryk (Van Johnson) as well as the young Ensign Willie Keith (Robert Francis), that the captain is mentally ill, headed for a breakdown, and possibly taking the ship with him. Keith is easily swayed by his older fellow officers, just a high society college guy who has always done what mama told him to do. Maryk is the most independent minded of the three, most interested in doing what is right. So when Queeg seems to lose his nerve in a typhoon and refuses to give an order that will save the ship, Maryk takes in all he has been fed by Keefer, considers the situation, and takes control of the Caine based on navy regulations that are germane if the captain is incapacitated. Only thing is, the captain hasn't been shot or taken physically ill, and Maryk and Keith are put on trial for mutiny before a court martial. Keefer has managed to play both sides of this and stay safely out of harm's way, having never voiced his opinions of the captain in front of anybody but Maryk and Keith.
Second billed Jose Ferrer, who doesn't appear until the last part of the movie, earns his second billing as the navy attorney who is disgusted by his clients, yet agrees to take the case. It's a tricky business proving innocence in this case, because he is not allowed to directly attack the integrity of Queeg, because that is an infraction of naval law in itself. And on terra firma, Captain Queeg no longer feels the pressure he did at sea and is particularly charming and articulate. What's worse, Keefer is looking after his own neck and throws Maryk and Keith under the bus to save himself when on the stand. How will this all turn out? Watch and find out.
Just an aside, a few people have said that the bit about Keith and his girl are just padding. I beg to differ. It shows that in spite of being head over heels in love, Keith does not have the nerve to stand up to his mother and tell her. If Keith can't stand up to mom, what chance would he have with Keefer? He was a follower in the first degree.
Bogart was great here as a guy who is supposed to be the villain in a way, but has a completely sympathetic part. As Ferrer's character points out, when everyone else was all tucked away safe in their beds, it was people like Queeg that kept the navy going in peacetime, before the war. The scene before the mutiny where Queeg basically goes to the ship's other officers for help after he realizes he is so strongly disliked and comes up empty adds further sympathy and thus ambiguity to his part.
This is great storytelling about a group of people who have nothing in common brought together to fight a war which in this case yields tragic results. In other words, it is very realistic. I highly recommend this old film.