Bogart Playing Against Type

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2019)

The very compelling and powerful story of the events leading up to a mutiny on a World War II US Navy Destroyer-Minesweeper 'The Caine'. As the story begins the ship's captain (Bogart) has become increasingly paranoid as a result of battle fatigue. When the ship runs into a storm the officers are torn as to what action to take as the captain becomes more and more isolated and possibly a danger to the ship and crew.
The film was well directed by Edward Dmytryk who had made several very good noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Crossfire. This was a comeback for Dmytryk though as he had been one of Senator Joseph McCarthy's Hollywood Ten and was not only blacklisted but also imprisoned for Contempt of Congress.
One of the most impressive aspects of the film is the utterly convincing Humphrey Bogart who is cast completely against type as the deteriorating Captain Queeg. The remainder of the cast including Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Tom Tully and E.G. Marshall give good performances but nothing like the performance by Bogart.
The film was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk.
The film would be nominated for seven Academy Awards, although it would win none. The film was also a huge commercial success.
At the insistence of the Department of Defense the titles at the beginning of the film tell us there has never been a mutiny upon an American Navy vessel. The studio agreed to this as they needed the cooperation of the Navy in providing the vessels on which much of the action was filmed.