Uneven

Rating: 6/10 (10 December 2010)

Bogie, Johnson, McMurray, Tully, Marvin, and Akins are first rate.Bogie and McMurray are particularly good playing complex, unsympathetic characters. Johnson plays a not very bright guy, also a difficult role, which he handles nicely.
When May Winn and Robert Francis get the screen, it is awful.Their relationship (and social class differences) were part of the novel,but they don't click on screen. Who cares about them? Get back on board the Caine, quick, before I fall asleep.
Jone Ferrer chews up the scenery. His performance is not congruent with the other performers. He is supposed to be angry, but boiling over with rage? No. His loudness obscures the important point he is making during his drunk scene.
All in all, it is a slight disappointment given the great material the book provided. A main point of the book, that dysfunctional organizations make the workers within them just as dysfunctional, is not well developed.