Idiocies and intricacies of command

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2009)

This is a movie based on the novel by Herman Wouk. Like "Mr. Roberts," and "A Few Good Men" there is a commentary on the idiocies and dangerous behaviors that can be perpetuated on a ship or in an isolated base when a Commander thinks of himself as infallible and demands that his orders not be questioned.
One of the most famous scenes in movie history has the methodical and emotionally intelligent lawyer (Ferrer) breaking the paranoid and battle-fatigued Captain Quieg. It has been parodied many times, but the scene itself is intense. This almost certainly influenced the courtroom scene in "A Few Good Men" in both screenplay and the emotional charge.
Performances by Bogart, Ferrer and MacMurray are outstanding in this movie. MacMurray is brilliant as the officer who stirs the pot but is unwilling to shoulder the responsibility of his trash-talk, a low level junior grade officer who talks but refuses to walk. Bogart's character (Quieg) is unsympathetic; but he becomes an object of more serious contemplation and respect with Ferrer's commentary on the responsibility of subordinates to support the commander.
The screenplay is brilliant and the movie a must-see for anyone who thinks that orders must always be followed or that-- especially in time of war-- a military chain of command is nothing but institutionalized megalomania. It is always more complicated.