Unlike his lightweight roles at MGM, Van Johnson proves himself up to the strong dramatic material. Johnson delivers one of the most assured performances of his career as Lieutenant Steve Maryk, the executive officer of The Caine. MacMurray is brilliant as Lieutenant Tom Keefer, a manipulating rat whose understated approach undermines Queeg and sets in motion that chain of events that lead to the film s climatic court-martial trial. Columbia TriStar s transfer is quite good, offering a sharp and highly detailed image. In fact, close-ups of the actor s faces display every line and wrinkle, with the scars on Van Johnson s forehead are especially well pronounced.
Film grain is somewhat noticeable througout the film, but is never too bothersome.
There were times where flesh tones appeared a tad too orange, but usually they were on the money. There were a few blue flashes on the film element, which is a problem inherent with older IB Technicolor film elements. Still, nothing comes close to warm glowing colors of this long lost film process from the golden age of movie making. Compression artifacts were virtually undetectable thanks to solid DVD authoring. The Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack suffers slightly from the limitations of 1950s audio recording technology.