Powerful performances aid a strong psychological drama of what it means to be a leader.

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2010)

NOTE: The later part of this review reveals certain spoilers and twists of the later part of the film. It is best read by those who have seen the film and are interested in how others view the film's message.
While this is not the usual type of film I would choose to review (as it is one of the all time classics of American cinema), I chose to make my feelings of it known based on one interesting fact I picked up in observing several characters-particularly Humphrey Bogart's Queeg and Fred MacMurray's Keefer. It is apparent at the very beginning of the film that the embittered Keefer would like to get out of the Navy as soon as he can, but his underhanded manipulations of his fellow officers and own cowardess himself makes him one of the more interesting villains in film history. MacMurray compares the new arrival Bogart on the U.S.S. Caine to Captain Bligh, an interesting choice both considering the subject matter and the leading actors between this 1954 masterpiece and the 1935 hit "Mutiny on the Bounty". Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh is as far removed from Bogart's Queeg as Billie Hayes' Witchipoo in "H.R. Pufnstuff" is to Margaret Hamilton's Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz". They are completely different types of people.
Bogart's Queeg is a man of some charm and sensitivities, but when his nerves hit, paranoia strikes and he becomes quite irrational. There are moments when Queeg actually appears to be what today is called bi-polar. In fact, his paranoia is a symptom of a greater mental illness. In the scene where Bogart pleads with his fellow officers to understand him and give him a chance without paying with his pride, he reveals another dimension to this character that hadn't earlier been seen. The scene where he yells at Robert Francis's ensign for not fulfilling his duties to make sure the sailors keep their shirts tucked in is topped by another scene where Bogart then calmly tells Francis to forget about what happened. The switch from violent anger to gentleness is not a sign of insanity, but of something more treatable yet equally as dangerous if it isn't discovered.
But it's the revelation of MacMurray's villainy which is the highpoint of the drama. How he manipulates fellow officers Van Johnson and Robert Francis into considering mutiny, then betrays them on the witness stand after Johnson has reluctantly gone through with it, is the most surprising twist in this psychological drama. And when Jose Ferrer, as Johnson's reluctant attorney, drunkenly tells MacMurray off, that is the crowning moment to this drama. The only disappointing thing for me (other than the unnecessary plot line of Francis's overbearing mother and love for May Wynn) is that it would have been nice to see the treatment that Bogart's Queeg would get after the trial was over. Also, the fact that Johnson and Francis's feelings about Queeg went from hatred to pity could be explored a bit more. In many ways, this story is a bit ahead of its time in its tale of a form of mental illness that would not be given an actual name for many years.