A romantic navy-war film or a suspenseful courtroom drama?

Rating: 7/10 (19 April 2010)

Probably both. The first half of The Caine Mutiny seemed like a simple navy-war film, slow-paced and it followed a basic dramaturgical model. After the first half the film started to look more like a courtroom drama, quite a good one actually. The dialog in the court was very well written, I can only recall one better courtroom drama from that era, To Kill A Mockingbird (1964).
A young officer, Keith (Robert Francis) joins a crew of an old ship, Caine. Everything seems to be going well until the Caine gets a new captain, Philis Francis Queeq (Humphrey Bogart). Queeq is acting strange in the eyes of the crew and they start to think that he might be paranoid. When Queeq starts to lose his nerve the crew rises in revolt.
The point where the naval captain starts to show signs of mental illness is the first turning point of the story. Unfortunately it is the moment when the movie actually starts going on. On the first half it wasn't getting anywhere. Of course slow-paced narration was usual in the 50's, but this isn't just that. I would have put a few more twists in the beginning to keep the audience interested. Even that I found the film successful, I wouldn't be surprised if the people of today found it dull.
Humphrey Bogart always played cynical, but sympathetic roles. He always achieved to get the sympathy of the audience. Best examples of those roles are probably, Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep (1946) and Rick from Casablanca (1942). So if you've seen either one of those, get ready for a different kind of role. The Caine Mutiny was the second last film Humphrey Bogart made and I can use the word "make", because he always was the carrying force of a film. It's kind of sad to see him in his last roles, but also interesting.
There has never been a strike on a U.S naval ship, so why would they make a movie about it? You shouldn't forget the fact that the States just got out of the Korean war (1950-53). It's not a description of the U.S navy, but it is a very realistic survey of human mind. How does it work in a crisis. That is actually announced in the beginning of the film.
This was a good movie, I didn't find the beginning boring or anything like that, but it just seemed a bit dull after the second half. So I will probably remember The Caine Mutiny for Humphrey Bogart's unusual role and for its impressive courtroom scenes.